Al Roker is celebrating a major milestone on television, nearly 50 years after his career began in Central New York.
The “Today” show weatherman marked his 45th anniversary with NBC on Monday, looking back on his career alongside “Today” stars Savannah Guthrie, Hoda Kotb, and Craig Melvin.
“Al, my friend, you are the beating heart of this show,” Guthrie said.
“The heart and soul,” Kotb added.
Roker first joined the peacock network in 1978 at Cleveland’s WKYC, then an independently operated NBC affiliate. Since then, he’s had more than 7,000 wake-ups at 3:45 a.m. and broadcasted from 27 Macy’s Thanksgiving Day parades and 13 Olympics.
“I really am very fortunate. Nobody gets to be somewhere this long without friends and people who help you and a team behind you. Nobody does it by themselves,” Roker told his colleagues. “It’s been a very good run.”
Roker, 69, began his TV career in Syracuse at WHEN-TV (now known as CNY Central’s WTVH-5) while he was a student at SUNY Oswego in 1974. He was paid just $10 a newscast then for four weather reports on weekends.
He graduated from the State University of New York at Oswego in 1976 and still returns to his alma mater often, even wearing Oswego green-and-gold whenever he can. He helps teach a broadcasting class on campus, is a member of the Oswego College Foundation Board of Directors, has a sandwich named after him at the Oswego Sub Shop, and the student-run television station (WTOP) studio broadcasts out of the Al Roker Television Studio, named in his honor after a generous donation.
Today he’s one of the most recognizable personalities in morning television. The Emmy winner has been at the “Today” show for more than 25 years as a weatherman and co-host of the NBC morning show’s “3rd Hour Today,” on top of hosting shows on the Food Network and the Weather Channel, plus acting in movies and TV shows like “Sharknado 5,” “Good Burger 2,” “Kung Fu Panda 3,” “The Simpsons,” “Seinfeld,” “NewsRadio” and “Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs.”
Roker reportedly reunited with former “Today” show host Matt Lauer over the weekend at “Today” producer Jennifer Long’s wedding with Reid Sterrett. Roker, Lauer, Guthrie and Kotb all attended; Roker officiated the ceremony.