John Hook, the longest-serving news anchor in Fox 10 history, is retiring from the Phoenix station after 33 years.
Hook made the announcement during a live broadcast on Monday, Aug. 24. He was talking with Cory McCloskey, who was at Chase Field before an Arizona Diamondbacks game, and said, "After 33 years here at Fox 10, I am retiring, three weeks from today."
That's Sept. 14 — a Monday, as McCloskey noted. He and Hook joked around with each other, as is their habit.
"It's hard to believe," Hook said of his retirement. "I know there's a sense of relief in the community that this long national nightmare is finally over."
John Hook spend the vast majority of his career in Phoenix
Hook began his career in radio, as a reporter for KARZ/KOOK Radio in Phoenix. He was the news director at KBBT Radio in Casa Grande.
From there he moved into TV at KREZ-TV in Grand Junction, Colorado. In 1985 he moved to KVOA in Tucson as an anchor and reporter, before going to Fox 10 in 1993.
During his tenure at the station, he specialized in political coverage, and has interviewed Presidents George W. Bush, Barack Obama and Donald Trump. He was also the longtime co-anchor with Kari Lake, who left the station in 2022 to embark on two unsuccessful runs for political office.
Hook wasn't as controversial as his former co-anchor Kari Lake
Hook is not so overtly political — few are. But on his X account, he has espoused some eye-opening positions, particularly concerning climate change, which he often, if not outright denounces, certainly casts aspersions upon.
And after the Jan. 7, 2026 killing of Renée Good, at the hands of an ICE agent, he posted on X, "Often we miss the obvious. The loss of a life is tragic. And the officer’s actions, right or wrong, will be adjudicated. But the victim was actually in ultimate control of her fate. If you inject yourself into a law enforcement operation, you do so at immense personal risk… no matter how noble, or misguided the cause. Protest is an American bedrock. It’s vital. But was she truly aware of the potential peril she placed herself in? If she had it to do over again, would she have assumed that risk?"
It's important to note that Fox 10, while owned and operated by Fox Television Stations, a subsidiary of Fox Corporation, is not politically motivated in the same way Fox News is. Hook's more partisan leanings are mostly limited to his social media posts. On-air, he's more of a straight shooter, and a favorite of local viewers, whom he thanked in a statement on the Fox 10 website.
Hook thought of viewers as 'extended family'
"This community has been so good to me. Really from the moment I arrived at Channel 10. CBS back then in ‘93," Hook wrote. "I think viewers know if the person on TV has a connection to the community and is an Arizona guy. From my time at ASU, which brought me here, to working in radio in Phoenix, this is home. I think of viewers as extended family. They have always been so kind and supportive when I run into them. And I love those interactions."
Hook also shared on the site this memory of stories he's covered: "The seminal one was covering the Diamondbacks in the World Series on the backdrop of 9/11. When we got there weeks after it happened, Ground Zero was still smoldering and that was a really intense, emotional story to cover. People looking for lost ones and had no answers… that was really difficult."
If viewer reaction is anything like in 2021, when Hook contracted COVID-19 and was off the air for a few weeks, he will be missed.
As for his plans after leaving the station, Hook said on the site, "I want to travel and experience some parts of the world I haven’t seen. I want to dive the Great Barrier Reef… surf more… ski more… play a little more golf… play more music… volunteer, and I want to mentor."
Reach Goodykoontz at bill.goodykoontz@arizonarepublic.com. Facebook: facebook.com/GoodyOnFilm. Media commentary with a side of snark? Sign up for The Watchlist newsletter with Bill Goodykoontz.
This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Longest serving Arizona news anchor leaving Fox 10. 'Hard to believe'
