Ralph Renick

Ralph Apperson Renick (August 9, 1928 – July 11, 1991) was a pioneer American television journalist for Miami's WTVJ, channel 4 (now channel 6), Florida's first television station. He was WTVJ's first and longest running news anchor and the driving force behind television news in South Florida from the station's inception in March 1949 until his departure nearly 36 years later in 1985.

Career

Renick joined WTVJ as an intern in 1949 after graduation from the University of Miami, where he studied under an H. V. Kaltenborn Scholarship. Kaltenborn was an eminent CBS Radio commentator. Renick was the face of WTVJ, then channel 4, for the next 36 years.

Renick was unopposed as a South Florida anchor from 1949, when WTVJ aired programs from all networks via kinescopes, until it became exclusively a CBS affiliate in 1956. In that year, WCKT (now WSVN), channel 7 began broadcasting in Miami as an NBC affiliate station, followed in the late 1950s by WPST-TV (now WPLG-TV), channel 10, as ABC's outlet in Miami. Despite a strong attempt to challenge Renick and WTVJ over the years, he remained the dominant and number one rated news anchor for his entire 36 year run.