Mike Roy of KATV
Mike Roy, who took a technical job at KATV-TV straight out of college and never worked anywhere else, becoming one of the longest-serving directors of news production in Little Rock television history, died last week at 63.
The 42-year Channel 7 veteran had recently received a diagnosis of pancreatic cancer, the station said.
Over his long career, Roy oversaw technical operations at KATV’s studios at Main and Fourth Streets, coloring the look, style and presentation of newscasts over six decades: the 1970s, ’80s, ’90s, 2000s, 2010s and 2020.
“Mike was KATV,” News Director Nick Genty told Arkansas Business. “He loved being a part of big events and small ones, and he led by example. Hanging lights, pulling cable, teaching, coaching, and problem-solving. He will be remembered for all he brought to the KATV ranch.”
Colleagues remembered Roy’s wry catch-phrases and utterances, known as “Mike-isms.” One favorite was, “Hell, we got this!” said Genty. “That’s exactly what he’d say right now with this current situation,” covering the breaking coronavirus story. “I learned so much from Mike. He didn’t mince words. He was direct and on point.”
Station General Manager Mark Rose agreed, saying Roy “had a very special way with words.”
A 1978 graduate of Arkansas State University in Jonesboro with a bachelor’s in radio and TV, Roy moved to Little Rock after graduation and stayed in central Arkansas, a crucial but unseen hand on the controls through dozens of huge Arkansas news events, including the explosion of a Titan II intercontinental ballistic missile near Damascus in 1980, the election of five-term Arkansas Gov. Bill Clinton as president of the United States in 1992, and the transformation of downtown Little Rock after the opening of the Clinton Presidential Center in 2004. Through the decades, he kept KATV humming through countless weather warnings and major political campaigns.
Evening anchor Chris May described Roy as “insanely talented, occasionally foul-mouthed,” and a lover of rock ‘n’ roll. “He was ornery, and he was ours. And we loved him.”
“It’s those people behind the scenes that don’t get the recognition they deserve,” Genty said. “Mike’s dedication to KATV was unmatched. … He was always there for me to bounce production and personnel ideas off of. I trusted Mike to make the decisions that were in the interest of our viewers.”
Meteorologist Todd Yakoubian, who worked with Roy for nearly 15 years, summed up KATV’s obituary this way: “You needed something, he found a way to make it happen with a smile. We are all better people because we knew Mike.”
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