Rich Fields

Rich Fields
Born Richard Wayne Fields
(1960-11-30) November 30, 1960[1]
Bay Village, Ohio, U.S.
Occupation Meteorologist, Game Show Announcer, Show Host, Actor, Voice-over Artist, Veteran Radio Personality.
Years active 1979–present
Website http://www.richfields.tv

Richard Wayne "Rich" Fields (born November 30, 1960)[2] is an American broadcaster, spokesman, announcer and meteorologist. His well-known occupation was a seven-season stint in which he announced for the American version of The Price Is Right.

Biography and Career

Fields was born in Bay Village, Ohio and raised in Avon, Ohio, before moving to Clearwater, Florida in 1976. He graduated from the University of Florida Gainesville in 1983 with a degree in broadcasting. While attending UF, Fields was diagnosed with both testicular cancer and lymphoma, both of which he survived.[3] Between 1995 and 1999, he was the announcer of the Florida Lottery game show Flamingo Fortune.[2]

In early 2000, Fields returned to college at Mississippi State University to study meteorology and later became a television meteorologist.[4] After an internship at WFLA-TV in Tampa Florida, Fields was offered the morning weather position at KPSP-LP in Palm Springs, California. Fields was later promoted to Chief Meteorologist for KPSP and was charged with the weather forecasts on the 5, 6 & 11pm newscasts for the station until May 2004.

From 2004 to 2010, he was the announcer of the American version of The Price Is Right, following the death of longtime announcer Rod Roddy.[5] The announcement of Fields' hiring was made official on March 30, 2004.[6] During a question-and-answer segment with then-announcer Johnny Olson at a taping of Price Is Right in 1978, Fields asked how he could get Olson's job. Olson brought Fields onstage and asked him to give an example of how he would call a contestant to "Come on down!"[7] Fields' stint as The Price Is Right announcer ended in July 2010. In a statement on his website, he said the show's producer was going in a "new direction", and preferred to make it "more of a 'variety show within a game show'." The experiment was a disaster, as the show's ratings plummeted to all-time lows. [8]

From 2010 to 2016, Fields had been a staff meteorologist for the CBS-owned and operated television stations KCBS-TV and KCAL-TV in Los Angeles, California. Fields was also a regular voice delivering weather forecasts on radio stations KNX-AM, KFWB and K-EARTH 101 in Los Angeles. This was a natural fit as Fields was a veteran disc-jockey having had music radio shows for over a decade on KKHR, KNX-FM, KODJ and KCBS-FM, all of which were broadcast out of CBS's Columbia Square on Sunset Boulevard in the 80's and 90's.[9]

Fields also served as the announcer on 55 episodes of Wheel of Fortune in 2010 following the death of Charlie O'Donnell, and provided post-production voice-over work for over eleven weeks of episodes, plus specials. Fields also holds the record for announcing the most differently titled game shows (7) in a single season. He has voiced a total of (9) in his lifetime.[10]

References

  1. ↑ Shipp, Laura (September–October 2010). "Coping with Cancer Celebrity Interviews". copingmag.com. Archived from the original on March 17, 2014. Retrieved March 17, 2014. Rich Fields
  2. 1 2 "Come On Down". Cleveland Magazine. December 2004. Retrieved 24 May 2013.
  3. ↑ http://copingmag.com/cwc/index.php/celebrities/celebrity_article/rich_fields
  4. ↑ "Rich Fields bio". Richfields.tv. Retrieved 3 January 2010.
  5. ↑ http://nl.newsbank.com/nl-search/we/Archives?p_product=AK&s_site=ohio&p_multi=AK&p_theme=realcities&p_action=search&p_maxdocs=200&p_topdoc=1&p_text_direct-0=109A319FCE816F07&p_field_direct-0=document_id&p_perpage=10&p_sort=YMD_date:D&s_trackval=GooglePM
  6. ↑ http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/mydesert/access/1811545831.html?FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:FT&type=current&date=Apr+08%2C+2004&author=Bruce+Fessier&pub=The+Desert+Sun&desc=Rich+Fields+invited+to+%60come+on+down%27+to+TV+show&pqatl=google
  7. ↑ Blits, Stan. Come on Down! Behind the Big Doors at The Price Is Right. ISBN 978-0-06-135011-5.
  8. ↑ Susman, Gary (July 21, 2010). "Ready for Changes at 'The Price is Right?' Come on Down!". Huffiest TV. Retrieved 2015-03-27.
  9. ↑ http://www.adweek.com/tvspy/kcal-meteorologists-contract-not-renewed/173505
  10. ↑ New York Times / About.com: Rich Fields to take an additional 35 Wheel of Fortune episodes
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