WDBJ7 remembers 1970s Sports Director Bill King

RICHMOND, Va. (WDBJ) - Bill King, who served as WDBJ7’s Sports Director in the 1970s, has died, according to an obituary published Sunday in the Richmond Times-Dispatch.

Faithful viewers from the late ‘70s remember King behind the anchor desk, delivering sports highlights during WDBJ7’s evening newscasts.

But he started his broadcasting career ten years earlier as a news reporter.

“Here at Hollins,” King said in a 1972 report, “faculty, students and administrators have begun open discussion of proposals that would introduce major changes into the college curriculum.”

It wasn’t long before King made the transition to sports.

“You’ve won so often here at Martinsville, does it give you any confidence when you are here again?” he asked Richard Petty.

King was as comfortable interviewing Petty at the Martinsville Speedway in 1974, or golfer J.C. Snead on a course in Greensboro in 1975, as he was talking with Bruce Jenner at a clinic for the W&L and VMI track teams in 1977.

King would leave Roanoke in 1980, to become the Sports Director of Richmond television station WWBT.

Former WDBJ7 News Director Ron Miller, who worked with King in Roanoke and Richmond, described him as “an eclectic guy, outgoing, funny and a pleasure to work with.”

King’s family is planning a memorial service in Richmond in March.