Rob Bromley, Kentucky ‘sports broadcasting legend,’ announces retirement

Sportscaster Rob Bromley, who has worked for Lexington TV station WKYT-TV (Channel 27) for 40 years, will retire Sept. 29.

Bromley’s decision was announced during the sports segment of Monday’s 6 p.m. broadcast.

“He is without a doubt one of the most genuine people I have ever known,” said Ralph Hacker, a radio executive who was part of the University of Kentucky radio network for 29 years. “I just love Rob Bromley. ... He is one of the most well-liked people I’ve ever known.”

“He’s been the fabric of this sports community ever since I can remember,” said Brooks Downing, former director of sports information at UK. “He did a job with class. He was always fair.”

Bromley grew up in Rome, N.Y., and began broadcasting while at Butler University in Indianapolis. He graduated in 1972, and in 1974 was named sports director at WLIO-TV in Lima, Ohio.

In 1977, he moved to Lexington and went to work at WKYT-TV, where he started as a weekend sports anchor. Bromley began anchoring weekday sportscasts in 1980, which makes him the longest-serving TV anchor on the air in Kentucky.

“Rob is a sports broadcasting legend in the Bluegrass and throughout the commonwealth of Kentucky,” said Chris Mossman, WKYT-TV vice president and general manager. “Rob is everything you want in a professional.”

“He covered the University of Kentucky in a way which will never be equaled in the history of television in this city or state,” said Brian Milam, WKYT-TV sports director. “It has been an honor to learn from him and call him a friend.”

A news release from WKYT-TV about Bromley’s retirement said that during his time at WKYT, he interviewed every UK basketball coach since the days of Joe B. Hall, who retired in 1985 and led the Wildcats to a national title in 1978. Viewers from across Kentucky watched Bromley’s reports from the sidelines as the team won 17 Southeastern Conference tournament championships and four national championships over the past four decades.

In June, Bromley will be inducted into the Kentucky Athletic Hall of Fame, which recognizes outstanding athletes and sports figures.

In March, he was named the Kentucky Sportscaster of the Year by the National Sports Media Association. In 2015, the Ohio Valley Chapter of the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences inducted Bromley into its Silver Circle for more than 25 years of service to the television industry.

Bromley married in 1988. He and his wife, Diane, have one son, Robert Bromley II, a mechanical engineer at Topy in Frankfort.

“Out of everything I’ve done in my life, I’m most proud of him,” Bromley said of his son. “No matter how many games you’ve seen, or places you’ve been — what he’s accomplished, and the way he’s matured, and just seeing him, that’s what my wife and I are most proud of.”

After decades on the night shift, Bromley said that in retirement, he’ll go to bed earlier and get up earlier, “and I’ll be looking at my phone less, maybe a lot less.”

Bromley, who counts as a favorite moment the time as a youth when he shook the hand of former world heavyweight champion Jack Dempsey, said that his retirement is simply a matter of proper timing.

“I’ve had people say to me, ‘You’ll know when it’s time,’” Bromley said. “Well, it’s time.”

He said his retirement is “the best thing for the viewers and the best thing for the station.”

“There aren’t too many people who are fortunate enough and blessed enough to keep it going this long,” Bromley said. “But I have been, and I’ve got an awful lot of people to thank.”

This story was originally published April 3, 2017 at 6:28 PM with the headline "Rob Bromley, Kentucky ‘sports broadcasting legend,’ announces retirement."