Paul Moyer - Early Career

Early Career

Moyer was born in Los Angeles, California. He attended Torrance High School and the University of Arizona (class of 1964), and tried out for the Pittsburgh Pirates, before beginning a broadcasting career. He served positions at KTIV in Sioux City, Iowa, WMBD-TV and WMBD radio in Peoria, Illinois, KTVI in St. Louis, KDKA-TV and KDKA radio in Pittsburgh, and then WCBS-TV in New York City before returning to Los Angeles and joining KNBC in March 1972 as reporter and weekend anchor. The KNBC Newservice, as it was known, then featured Jess Marlow, Tom Snyder, and Tom Brokaw as the main nightly anchors and was the first serious competition in the local news ratings against KNXT's The Big News with Jerry Dunphy. Moyer soon moved to the 11 p.m. newscast in July 1973 and to the 6 p.m. newscast in December 1974 with the respective departures of Brokaw and Snyder (the latter instance followed the addition of John Schubeck to the late news).

Moyer would anchor at KNBC and host its Sunday program, in both cases working alongside longtime KNBC anchorwoman Kelly Lange. However, after the station relieved him of his anchor duties, he moved over to rival KABC-TV in 1979 initially as a "special correspondent" for Eyewitness News. Soon, however, when the weekday operation expanded to three hours in the early evening in the fall of 1980, Moyer was named co-anchor of the 5 p.m. hour with Ann Martin. He soon replaced Dunphy (who had moved to KABC in 1975) on the 11 p.m. news after the latter was shot during a robbery attempt near the studio in 1983; the appointment would become permanent a year later.