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FOX 10's John Hook is retiring
Longtime news anchor John Hook has announced his retirement from FOX 10 after 33 years, with his final broadcast set for Sept. 14.
PHOENIX - It is the end of an era at FOX 10. John Hook has announced his upcoming retirement from KSAZ-TV, with his final broadcast set for September 14. As the longest serving news anchor in FOX 10 history, Hook leaves behind a legacy spanning 33 years.
John joined the FOX 10 News team in August 1993 and quickly became a staple of Arizona broadcasting. For the past three decades, he delivered the biggest stories to Arizona audiences, live from the field and from the news desk. John also hosted Newsmaker, which ran from 1994 to 2026 as Phoenix television's longest-running public affairs interview program featuring politicians, business, education and community leaders.
A legendary career across Arizona and beyond
Hook's broadcasting journey began in 1983 as a reporter and anchor for KARZ/KOOL Radio in Phoenix. He went on to serve as news director at KBBT Radio in Casa Grande before transitioning to television production and reporting at KREX-TV in Grand Junction, Colorado. In 1985, Hook returned to Arizona to anchor and report for KVOA-TV in Tucson for eight years before making his permanent home at KSAZ-TV FOX 10 in 1993.
His FOX 10 political coverage set the bar in Arizona. It featured sit-down interviews with Presidents George W. Bush, Barack Obama at the White House in 2011, and Donald Trump. He criss-crossed the country tracking national politics across seven presidential primaries, covered both of Sen. John McCain’s presidential bids, anchored 14 national political conventions, and moderated major debates, including the nationally broadcast 2000 Republican Primary Debate at Gammage Auditorium and numerous Arizona senate and gubernatorial matchups.
During John Hook’s career, his live reports from the field placed him at the center of major national breaking news stories. He was inside Candlestick Park reporting live during the 1989 San Francisco earthquake. Five years later, in 1994, he was in Northridge, California, hours after the largest recorded earthquake in the history of greater L.A. He covered the O.J. Simpson murder trial in Los Angeles, and the 1997 Heaven's Gate mass suicide in San Diego County, Calif., the impeachments of Arizona Gov. Evan Mecham and President Bill Clinton, as well as the funerals of Richard Nixon, Ronald Reagan, and John McCain.
Of all the monumental events Hook covered in his career, "The seminal one was covering the Diamondbacks in the World Series on the backdrop of 9/11. When we got there weeks after it happened, Ground Zero was still smoldering and that was a really intense, emotional story to cover. People looking for lost ones and had no answers… that was really difficult." From the heartache seen firsthand at ground zero to the thundering applause when President Bush threw out the first pitch at Yankee Stadium. "George Bush throwing out that pitch in Game 3, one of the most electric things I’ve ever seen." Along with the Diamondbacks 2001 World Series win, Hook covered four Super Bowls, three World Series, two NBA Finals, and the ASU – Ohio State Rose Bowl game in 1997.
In 2016, John authored Who Killed Bob Crane?, securing unprecedented permission from the Maricopa County Attorney to retest DNA blood evidence in the 1978 cold case murder, setting a new precedent for journalistic access at CellMark Labs.
The viewers
Hook says it’s been a tremendous honor to bring stories to FOX 10 viewers for the past 33 years.
"This community has been so good to me. Really from the moment I arrived at Channel 10. CBS back then in ‘93. I think viewers know if the person on TV has a connection to the community and is an Arizona guy. From my time at ASU, which brought me here, to working in radio in Phoenix, this is home. I think of viewers as extended family. They have always been so kind and supportive when I run into them. And I love those interactions."
The FOX 10 team
Hook credits co-workers whom he has worked with during his 33-year career at FOX 10.
"The thing I will miss most are the people at FOX 10. Second to none. From my co-anchors to everyone who puts the newscasts on the air. It’s just a great group of people. And we have so many laughs during the day. Much of which I can’t repeat. I guess similar to what pro athletes say when they retire, ‘I miss the guys in the locker room.’ That’s where I am. It’s tough to leave that."
What’s next?
Hook is looking forward to having more time with his wife Gina, their three adult children and the freedom that comes with retirement.
"I want to travel and experience some parts of the world I haven’t seen. I want to dive the Great Barrier Reef… surf more… ski more… play a little more golf… play more music… volunteer, and I want to mentor."
Honors and legacy
Hook’s work earned him widespread acclaim, including more than a dozen Emmy Awards, five Associated Press "Anchor of the Year" honors, and induction into the NATAS [National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences] Silver Circle in 2016.
In 2002, he was inducted into the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism Hall of Fame at Arizona State University, where he also established the John Hook Journalism Scholarship Endowment to support future generations of reporters.
Viewers can tune in to watch John Hook’s final newscasts on FOX 10 through his retirement date on September 14.
The Source: Information in this report was gathered from an interview with John Hook, and KSAZ.