Bryant Gumbel’s Net Worth, Height, Age, & Personal Info Wiki

Soon after earning his degree from Bates College in the early 1970s, Bryant Gumbel entered the field of sports broadcasting. He landed his first job as a sportscaster with KNBC-TV in Los Angeles shortly after graduation. In the mid-1970s, he joined NBC Sports, where he worked as a host for several major league sporting events throughout the late 1970s and early 1980s. 

During this time, he also served as a sports correspondent for the Today Show. One of his notable achievements was hosting the prime-time coverage of the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul. Additionally, he hosted the PGA tour in 1990.

During his tenure on the “Today” show, Gumbel served as the chief sports reporter and contributed regular features to the program, including “Sportsman of the Week,” which featured emerging athletes. When Tom Brokaw announced his departure from “Today” in 1981 to anchor the NBC Nightly News with Roger Mudd, the search began for his replacement. 

Various NBC news correspondents, including John Palmer and Chris Wallace, were considered for the role. Auditions were conducted on-air throughout the summer of that year while Brokaw was on vacation.

Bryant Gumbel emerged as a strong contender for the “Today” co-anchor position when he substituted for Jane Pauley at the last minute in August 1981. His performance impressed executive producer Steve Friedman and other NBC executives, who favored him as Tom Brokaw’s replacement. 

However, some in the NBC News division believed that a news correspondent, not a sports reporter, should replace Brokaw. As a compromise, NBC News selected Gumbel as the anchor of “Today” and Chris Wallace as a third anchor based in Washington. Gumbel officially replaced Brokaw on January 4, 1982. Furthermore, the Gumbel-Pauley-Wallace arrangement was chaotic and lasted only nine months. 

In response to “Good Morning America” surpassing “Today” in ratings, NBC News decided to promote Gumbel to the principal anchor of “Today” in September 1982, with Pauley as his co-anchor. Wallace, on the other hand, was assigned to be the chief White House correspondent for President Ronald Reagan. Although Gumbel and Pauley initially struggled to find a rhythm as “Today” anchors, the show became the most popular morning newscast. 

In December 1989, Pauley left the show and was replaced by Deborah Norville, but their partnership was short-lived, lasting only a year. Katie Couric then replaced Norville in April 1991, and together, Gumbel and Couric refocused the show on public affairs during the 1992 presidential campaign. By December 1995, “Today” had regained its position as the top-rated morning news program. 

During his 15-year tenure as co-host of “Today,” Gumbel earned multiple Emmys and a substantial fan base. He is the third longest-serving co-host after Matt Lauer and Katie Couric. On January 3, 1997, Gumbel stepped down from the show. 

Following his tenure on “Today,” Gumbel transitioned to CBS, where he hosted “Public Eye with Bryant Gumbel.” Although the show was honored with a Peabody Award, it was canceled after just one season. Gumbel then became a co-host on CBS’s “The Early Show” in November 1999. On September 11, 2001, Gumbel was the first to report the attacks to CBS viewers. 

He departed from “The Early Show” and CBS on May 17, 2002. Since 1995, Gumbel has hosted “Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel,” an investigative series that has received critical acclaim and won a Peabody Award in 2012. The “Los Angeles Times” has described it as the “best sports program on television.” In addition to his journalism career, Gumbel has also appeared in television shows and movies, including “The Weather Man” and “Seinfeld.” (4)