Frank Somerville


Frank William Somerville is an American journalist. He anchors the five-o'clock, six-o'clock, ten-o'clock, and eleven-o'clock news hours at KTVU in Oakland, California. Somerville has received three Emmy awards at KTVU, including one for best on-camera news anchor.

Early life and education

Somerville was born on March 19, 1958 in San Luis Obispo, California, but raised in Berkeley, California, Alameda County, United States. He attended Berkeley High School and graduated in the class of 1976. He attended San Francisco State University. He was named after his father's childhood friend, Frank Patty, and his paternal grandfather, William Somerville.

Broadcast career

He was an intern at KTVU in 1981 while attending San Francisco State. After graduation he worked at local stations in Santa Rosa, California; Minneapolis, Minnesota; and Providence, Rhode Island before returning to the Bay Area. He became co-anchor of the station's morning news program in 1992, and was the first anchor of the 5 pm newscast when it launched in 2005. In 2008 he was named co-anchor of the 6 pm and 10 pm newscasts, replacing 40-year veteran Dennis Richmond.
In 2013, Somerville apologized for an incident in which racist pilot names were read out in a broadcast on Asiana Airlines Flight 214.

Personal life

He is married and has two daughters. A picture of him styling her hair went viral on the Internet.
Somerville has been a vegetarian since the age of 12. As a lark, he occasionally ate parts of dog biscuits until he was 14, when he realized they contained some meat.
Frank works out and practices the Israeli martial art of Krav Maga.