KOMO News Anchor Eric Johnson Retiring In June

Eric Johnson

Sinclair ABC affiliate KOMO Seattle announced the upcoming retirement of news anchor/reporter Eric Johnson after a broadcasting career spanning more than three decades. His last day will be Thursday, June 6. Johnson anchors KOMO News at 5pm and 6pm and writes/produces his award-winning series, Eric’s Heroes, which airs every Wednesday on KOMO News at 6 p.m.

“Eric is one of the best writers and storytellers in the country,” says KOMO News Director Philip Bruce. “He is a master at capturing special things in ordinary places and shining a light on them, with just the right words and pictures.”

KOMO News will celebrate Johnson’s retirement by airing stories that showcase his career in Seattle, starting on Monday, April 29, at 6 p.m. and continuing on subsequent Tuesdays until June 4. KOMO News Anchors Mary Nam and Molly Shen will take viewers on a journey of Eric’s early days, his impactful documentaries and also remembering the 700-plus stories that honored Eric’s Little Heroes and Eric’s Heroes through the years. KOMO Sports Director Niko Tamurian will showcase Johnson’s sports career in the early days.

Johnson first joined KOMO News in 1993 as a weekend sportscaster, then became the lead sports anchor when Bruce King retired. Johnson was promoted to KOMO news anchor in 2010. Johnson also worked at KBCI and KTVB in Boise, KREM in Spokane and KGW in Portland, Ore.

Johnson has won 50 regional Emmy Awards and seven National Edward R. Murrow Awards. He has also produced several award-winning documentaries, including Seattle is Dying and the follow-up documentary, The Fight for the Soul of Seattle. These two documentaries have been viewed more than 30 million times.

Johnson was raised in the Spokane Valley and majored in broadcasting in the Edward R. Murrow School of Communications at Washington State University.