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Rob Fukuzaki.
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APA Male Double-Team at KABC-TV
By Sam Chu Lin
Special to AsianWeek
It’s official: Rob Fukuzaki says his station, KABC-TV, has announced he will become the main sports anchor at the Los Angeles TV station beginning this September.
History will be in the making. Fukuzaki and news anchor David Ono will be on the air nightly in prime time weekly, marking the first time that two Asian Pacific American TV personalities will headline a news program in the second-largest market in the country.
This past weekend Fukuzaki co-emceed the Tofu Festival and helped to kick off the celebration of Nisei Week in Los Angeles’ Little Tokyo. During a break in the program, he talked about his future and explained why he is excited about his new promotion. He will be KABC-TV’s main sportscaster on the 5, 6, and 11 p.m. newscasts Monday through Friday.
“This means a great deal,” he exclaimed. “Back when I was in college (at the University of Laverne), I was told it was virtually impossible to get a job in Los Angeles. When I became weekend sportscaster and weekday reporter in 1994, I was shocked. I was 28 years old at the time, and I thought, ‘I got here a little earlier than I thought.’ Over the years I have grown, and now that I have the No. 1 job, it’s overwhelming to think I have come so far. I’m thrilled!”
It looks like Fukuzaki has been part of a celebration ever since he was a baby. He was born on July 4, the only child of Ann and Wil Fukuzaki. At age 3, he and his family moved to Hawai‘i, where he grew up and began his broadcasting career. Former KABC reporter — and now FBI agent — Steven Noh recommended Fukuzaki to the Los Angeles station.
“I think a lot of people who have watched me over the years have enjoyed my enthusiasm and my energy,” he said. “Frankly, I don’t know how to do it any other way.”
Fukuzaki, with his baritone voice and his boyish smile, also likes to throw in a little humor into his broadcasts. He puts together a weekly sports bloopers reel he calls “Fook’s Follies.”
“I always have to throw in a little humor,” he commented about his winning formula. “It’s sports. It’s entertainment. It’s not hard news most of the time. I think you have to draw in the viewers who aren’t sports enthusiasts and entertain them as well. A lot of women will come up to me and say, ‘I hate sports, but I watch you because you make it entertaining.’”
Pausing for a moment, Fukuzaki says he feels there’s been a lot of progress that’s been made for APA men in broadcasting.
“I know Asian men have come a long way,” he remarked. “We have always seen Asian women on television because I think a lot of the management thought it was the exotic look of women that they liked and that they could draw in a lot of viewers. You would see one on every station, but you wouldn’t see any men.”
Fukuzaki, who is a 36-year-old bachelor, also credits the Asian culture for the large number of APA women versus men on television.
“When you’re brought up in an Asian family, a lot of the men are going to become doctors, attorneys, engineers or businessmen,” he said. “They don’t think about being a journalist, but because of Ken Kashiwahara (former ABC correspondent) and other broadcast pioneers, the doors have been opened up for guys like David, Ted Chen (KNBC reporter), Gordon Tokumatsu (KNBC reporter) and myself.”
In his new role as the main sportscaster for KABC-TV, Fukuzaki feels he and Ono can continue that process and elevate it to a new level.
“I think it’s tremendous to have two Japanese Americans on the same show in Los Angeles,” he said. “I think it’s probably one of the most groundbreaking moments for Asian men in the television business.”
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