Faces and Places Mike Royer, award winning news anchor of NBC 13

Emily Etheredge, Staff Writer
Published On: 11/23/2009

Award winning news anchor, Mike Royer, recently allowed me the opportunity to interview him.

I found that being named Alabama’s best Television Weathercaster by the Associated Press 5 times and having a regional Emmy nomination as Outstanding News Anchor among his background did not prevent him from displaying a genuine and approachable personality.

When asked various questions about his career he fondly described the journey that has brought him to co-anchor NBC 13’s newscasts.

Born and raised on a family farm in Clay City, Indiana, Royer thought his niche was the subject of history, majoring in it while attending Tennessee Temple University where he considered law school as a future career.

It wasn’t until he became involved at his schools radio station during his first year in college that the world of broadcasting became his passion.

“The first time I was allowed to open a microphone and talk on the air, I was hooked” he said. From that point, Royer found that it made the most sense to pursue a career in radio or TV and sent tapes and pictures of himself to everyone in the Midwest.

WTWO-TV in Terre Haute Indiana was intrigued by Royer and hired him as a reporter. Royer adds, “I was paid $8000.00 my first year, but I was thrilled to have the job.”

Royer came to NBC 13 in 1990 after working next door at WBRC Television for ten years covering the weather. “That was a really enjoyable decade for me” he adds.

Now, he can be seen on NBC 13 where he is the co-anchor of the newscasts at 5, 6, and 10 p.m. He also produces “The Spirit of Alabama” series which airs Wednesdays at 10 p.m.

The segment was originally a news director’s idea who assigned the weekly feature to someone else. That person never covered a story, so Royer had some ideas of what he wanted to do and began interviewing people he felt fit the Spirit of Alabama label and it became his feature. The first story appeared in 1995 when he interviewed Dr. Jim Collier, a respected ophthalmologist who was dying of cancer.

Royer did a simple interview with him and ended the interview by asking: “Dr. Collier, what is your prognosis?” His answer is one that Royer will never forget. He said, “Mike, my prognosis is exactly the same as yours.”

Thoroughly impacting Royer, he now reminds people over and over that we all have the same prognosis.

“We’re each promised this day and we should do all we can to make this and every day the very best” he states.

Royer seems to do just that- doting on the blessings of his family which he affectionately describes as his joy.

Royer encourages students who might be seeking a career in television journalism to come and get it and work hard.
“Take that first low paying job and get to work. There will always be jobs for hard workers who can write and communicate important information” he adds.

Royer’s path to success seems to not affect his very down-to-earth personality, for he enthusiastically talks about a career that he loves and doesn’t mind sharing something he is passionate about, “I’m convinced there are two kinds of people in the world, those would rather take a beating than get in front of a TV camera, and then there are folks like me, who wouldn’t rather be anywhere else.”

For more information on Mike Royer, you can check out his blog at www.nbc13.com.

Email: emilye@uab.edu