Josh Elliott | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | |
| Education | University of California, Santa Barbara(BA) Columbia University(MS)[1] |
| Occupations | Sportscaster and news anchor |
| Height | 6 ft 3 in (191 cm) |
| Spouses | |
| Children | 1 |
Josh Elliott is an American televisionjournalist who most recently worked forCBS News. He has previously worked as the news anchor forABC'sGood Morning America, a sports anchor forNBC Sports andToday, and was a co-anchor for the live telecast ofESPN's morning edition ofSportsCenter.
Elliott was born to Susan, who gave Elliott up for adoption.[2] He was adopted by Charles Elliott and Toni Jordan[3] and grew up inLos Angeles, California. When he was 13, his fathercame out as gay at the time of his parents' divorce. His father died when Elliott was 15.[4]
After graduating fromLoyola High School of Los Angeles,[citation needed] Elliott attended theUniversity of California, Santa Barbara. He originally enrolled at UC Santa Barbara in hopes of joining theUC Santa Barbara Gauchos men's water polo team,[2] but instead ended up working at the university paper,The Daily Nexus. He graduated from UCSB in 1993 with a B.A. degree in English literature.[5]
Elliot worked as astringer for theSanta Barbara News-Press.[2] He then moved on to graduate school atColumbia University'sGraduate School of Journalism, where he earned aMaster of Science degree in 1999.[6][7] He worked in television as a producer for Galaxy Productions before moving onto20th Century Fox. He began there in development and later worked in production. After graduating from Columbia, Elliott worked forSports Illustrated for six years, covering events in most major sports.[8][9]
Elliott first joined ESPN in 2004 as a panelist forAround the Horn andJim Rome Is Burning, as well as serving as guest co-host forCold Pizza onESPN2. OnESPN Classic, Elliott hosted the short-livedClassic Now, which aired from June 2005 to March 2006. He also started appearing as a co-anchor onESPNEWS and reporting forSportsCenter. AfterClassic Now was canceled, Elliott began contributing toESPN the Magazine andESPN.com.
When ESPN began airingSportsCenter live every weekday morning on August 11, 2008, Elliott was paired as ananchor withHannah Storm for the first three hours of the programming block beginning at 9:00 a.m. ET.[10]
In May 2011, Elliott joined the team atABC'sGood Morning America following the departure of previous news anchorJuju Chang.[11] He also started as a substitute anchor on the weekend edition ofABC World News, debuting on May 21, 2011. Joined byLara Spencer, he also anchoredGood Afternoon America, an afternoon spin-off broadcast from July 9 to September 7, 2012, as a temporary replacement for ABC's canceled talk showThe Revolution.[12]
On March 30, 2014, it was announced byABC News President Ben Sherwood that Elliott had signed a contract withNBC, and would depart ABC News andGood Morning America.Amy Robach was announced as his immediate replacement.[13] With NBC, Elliott made $4 million per year, but a six-month non-compete clause prohibited him from appearing on news-related programming, relegating him primarily toNBC Sports programming such as the2014 Kentucky Derby—where he made his on-air debut.[14] Upon his hiring, it was believed that NBC was contemplating Elliott to serve as a future host ofToday; in response, he told the press that he "[hoped]Matt Lauer is here when I step away from this gig 30 years down the road. I can tell you that the only discussions I have had, as they relate to news, [are] ways to supply sports content to them." Elliott would, eventually, serve as a sports correspondent for the program.[15]
In December 2015, it was reported that Elliott had left NBC.[15]
On March 1, 2016,CBS News announced that it had hired Elliott to serve as the lead anchor for its digital news serviceCBSN. Of the hiring, CBS News presidentDavid Rhodes explained that Elliott needed an "outlet", going on to say that "we're going to need from him as much as he can bring in these different areas of reporting and anchoring. It's another reason it's the perfect place for him because it's kind of unlimited. We have some really hard-working people at CBSN, but we don't have enough of them."[16]
On February 10, 2017, Elliott announced on-air that he would be leaving CBSN, but stated "knowing how things work around here, I may see you again on Monday morning". Elliott had been told by an executive that CBS had desired to place him in a larger role as a field correspondent, under which he would have filed reports for CBS's television news programs. However, CBS executives were caught off-guard by the abrupt announcement, and were unaware of any plans for him to be promoted from CBSN.[17][18] On February 13, 2017, Elliott was fired.[19][20]
Elliott received a localEmmy Award inNew York City in 2005 for writing and contributing toAngles onMSG Network and served as one of the co-hosts forSuper Bowl XL forWestwood One Sports.[21][better source needed] In 2018, Elliott co-hostedYellowstone Live onNational Geographic Channel with wildlife expertChris Packham, a four-night event showcasing theGreater Yellowstone Ecosystem with feeds from dozens of live cameras and seven camera crews.[22]
On July 11, 2015, Elliott married news anchorLiz Cho.[23]
