California TV Anchor for Nearly 40 Years Dies at 78

By Paul Greeley
817-578-6324, Paul@NewsBlues.com

Nancy Osborne, the widely respected television news anchor at KFSN, the ABC-owned affiliate in Fresno, has died at the age of 78.

Osborne joined the KFSN’s Action News team back in 1977.

She was one of the first female newscasters in Fresno and a role model for many young women in the industry.

She went on to become one of the longest-serving anchors in the country to remain at a single station.

Osborne was also a talented reporter who thrived telling stories out in the community.

She covered countless memorable events, including the inauguration of President Ronald Reagan in 1981, Queen Elizabeth II’s visit to Yosemite National Park in 1983, and both the launch of a space shuttle at Cape Canaveral and its landing in the California desert.

She also went to sea on the USS Lincoln to report on the pilots and sailors from the Valley. It was a story close to her heart after growing up in a military family.

Osborne teamed up with the late John Wallace to anchor evening newscasts with clarity and poise. She later shared the anchor desk with Warren Armstrong before her retirement in 2012.

In 2005, the Northern California chapter of the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences inducted the Emmy award-winning Osborne into the prestigious Silver Circle for her commitment of 25 years or more to the Fresno television market and the broadcast news industry.

In an interview about her retirement in 2012, Osborne shared her deep appreciation for ABC30 viewers.

She explained, “I never would have lasted 20 minutes, much less 20, 30 years. And it is because of the folks who watched us every day, who listened to us when we called and asked for them to talk with us about something that may be wonderful, happy, unhappy, sad, difficult and opened up their homes and their businesses and their hearts to letting us tell stories that make a difference in the community and enlighten the people around them, and for that, I am absolutely grateful.”

Osborne is survived by her husband and daughter.

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