Mike Landess returned to Denver to anchor 7NEWS in 2002 after nine years as primary anchor at stations in Atlanta and Washington D.C.
That decision was rewarded after his first year at Denver's 7 with the winning of Emmys for Best Anchor and Best Newscast (7NEWS at 10). Mike's 2003 win for Best Anchor was his third in Denver (1988, 1991, 2003) and his sixth career Best Anchor win (Atlanta in 1997, 1998, and Washington D.C. in 2001).
A ninth grade speech contest in Tyler, Texas was the humble beginning of Mike's career. Winning the contest ultimately led to a weekend job at a local radio station. Over the next decade, he went from radio news to WFAA-TV in Dallas as a reporter and anchor.
He later went on to NBC News in Cleveland, Ohio, where he was primary evening news anchor for WKYC-TV for 3 years.
In 1977, he was hired by KUSA in Denver (then KBTV) to anchor the evening newscasts. Over the next 16 years, Mike and his longtime friend, Ed Sardella, anchored Denver's No. 1 rated late newscasts that at one point garnered a 50+ share.
In 1993, Mike was transferred by KUSA’s parent company Gannett Broadcasting, to it's NBC affiliate in Atlanta, WXIA ("The Official Television Station of the 1996 Summer Olympic Games.")
Over the next six years, Mike covered the preparation for the Summer Games while serving as primary evening news anchor. . It was his live coverage on NBC of the bombing at Centennial Olympic Park that won him the first of two anchor Emmys in Atlanta.
Mike says that experience was invaluable when he went to work in Washington, DC (WTTG-TV/Fox Television.) He anchored live coverage for 16 hours after the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks. The station carried 72 straight hours of coverage and won 2 Edward R. Murrow Awards. Mike was awarded Washington's Best Anchor Emmy.
In 2005, Mike was honored with another Emmy in Denver for Best Daytime Newscast (7News Now).
Where some of his peers have now retired or have left television news, Mike says he still loves doing what he does best: telling stories.
Copyright 2007 by TheDenverChannel.com. All rights reserved. This material may not be
published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
