About
Bill Owen, widely known as the "King of Trivia", is a writer and radio/television announcer whose career spans six decades.
He served as host for the children's program Discovery in the 1960s and 70s, was announcer for ABC-TVs World News This Morning from 1982-1990, and appeared on Good Morning America as a sports anchor. He was also sportscaster for the American Forces Network and a classical music announcer for WLW Cincinnati.
His sports knowledge led to assignments on ABC’s Wide World of Sports and live coverage of the Olympics. In 1962 he covered the America’s Cup yacht races from Newport, Rhode Island for ABC Radio from the Goodyear Blimp.
He was also a TV cowboy named Marshal Bill, played the title role in Ellery Queen's Minute Mysteries, was one of the original Swingin' Seven DJs for WABC New York, performed in many radio convention re-creations such as The Brighter Day, and has done podcasts on assorted topics. Bill is also well-remembered for his popular trivia items on ABC-TV from 1982-1990.
The King of Trivia
In retirement, Bill wrote The Over 60 Trivia Book, All Those Things My Teacher Never Told Me, Runners-up, Bridesmaids, & Second Bananas, The Surprisingest Truck, D.J., and Do You Remember? The first two books were illustrated by his daughter Carolyn. He co-authored The Big Broadcast, an encyclopedia of old-time radio programs, with Frank Buxton.
He is also the author of Dropping Names, which takes the reader on a 60-year plus trip through the world of broadcasting, introducing readers to the famous and not-so-famous that he met and worked with along the way.
Bill is also the author of the trivia related books The Only Top 10 Lists Worth Arguing About and Say That Again!: The Homophonic Trivia Quiz.
He continues to do radio and TV commercials, the best-known being a series for the National Motor Museum Mint featuring replicas of popular cars and trucks from the past. He also appears before senior clubs with a nostalgia program about old-time radio and other memories of the 1930s and 40s.
