Ross Kinsey

Ross Kinsey is the weekend sports anchor at NewsChannel 15.

Ross has worked in nearly every department at WANE-TV since he was first hired in May of 2003. He started out as a part-time production assistant then made the move to the news department as a photojournalist at the start of 2004 before appearing on-air as the third member of the NewsChannel 15 sports team in the summer of 2007.

Ross was named the weekend sports anchor in February 2008. "I'll miss being a photojournalist, simply because of all the people I met along the way and the places I went. But now I get to do the one job I truly dreamed about doing growing up."  Don't be surprised to see Ross on the sidelines with a camera on his shoulder from time to time though as he truly loves to shoot sports.

Ross got his start in television at WANE-TV after completing his degree in Telecommunications from Purdue University-West Lafayette in 2002. An opportunity presented to his wife took the couple to the East coast for one year before returning to the Midwest to pursue his career. "My wife made a huge sacrifice to give up a great job in New Jersey to allow me the chance to pursue my dreams. Obviously, the New York market isn't the most opportune place to start a career in television, so I will be forever grateful she made the sacrifice to move back to Indiana.  I will, however, greatly miss the New York pizza and the Jersey Shore!"

From covering three Super Bowls, including XLIV in February 2010, to the Indianapolis 500 to all of the high school action around northeast Indiana, Ross has nearly covered it all. Of all the events, being on the field as the Colts won Super Bowl XLI in Miami was definitely one of the pinnacles of his career. Still, nothing is more satisfying than capturing the emotion of the local high school sporting events. "Growing up near Angola, any time we saw a camera at a game, we would always be glued to the TV afterwards to see the highlights because being so far from Fort Wayne, getting TV coverage of a game was a big deal.  I love the enthusiasm and passion of high school sports because those players truly play for the love of the game.  That's what I want to relay to our audience because we have some special athletes in our area.  Sometimes it's just hard to believe that now I'm the one everyone's watching!"

However, Ross's biggest career highlight has nothing to do with the games.  Ross was voted WANE-TV's Employee of the Year in 2006, an award truly unmatched by anything else in his career.  "To be voted on by my colleagues to represent our station as the Employee of the Year was and is a humbling experience.  I work with some pretty amazing people and to add this accolade to my career was unexpected and fulfilling.  It actually feels a little weird to talk about it, but I'm very proud of this accomplishment.  I'm just appreciative that I work for LIN Television because not very many companies offer a reward of this magnitude."  Ross has also been named WANE-TV's Employee of the Month three times.

In addition to his love of sports, Ross also loves his family and music.  A home-grown Hoosier - born in Fort Wayne and raised in Pleasant Lake, a small town just south of Angola - Ross married his high school sweetheart, Kourtney, and the two have their hands full with two girls, Kendyl and Kaeyln.  An avid acoustic guitar player since he was 17, Ross was actually the frontman for the classic rock band Six 'Til Midnight out of Auburn before becoming the weekend sports anchor. 

Feel free to contact Ross for story ideas or feedback at: ross.kinsey@wane.com or follow him on Twitter @ross_kinsey.