About Tony Ventrella
Tony was Sport Director at two TV stations in Seattle for a total of 25 years. He also spent ten years as Digital Media host for the Seattle Seahawks. Besides doing motivational speaking engagements for local companies, Tony serves as Deputy Mayor for the city of Newcastle, WA.
When people ask Tony how he got started in the broadcasting business he smiles as he tells the entertaining story.
His Dad was a barber and taught Tony haircutting skills at age 14. By the time he was 22, Tony owned his own business, the Village Barber Shop in Wilton, Conn. Besides the two barber chairs, Tony had a typewriter in the back room so he could write his weekly sports Column for the Wilton Bulletin newspaper. Tony was also a stringer for three other local papers and worked for radio station WMMM calling high school football games on Saturdays.
As a young journalist Tony was often invited to speak at local high schools and non profit organizations. His easy going speaking style and positive message caught on quickly and soon he added a new business to his already budding career.
In 1977 a friend who worked for a well known television agent suggested Tony record a sportscast on video. The agent sent the video to three TV stations around the country and Tony was offered a job at WANE TV in Fort Wayne, Indiana.
Tony spent four years in Fort Wayne, continuing his work as a motivational speaker and radio broadcaster while doing sports on Channel 15 News five nights a week. Then in the fall of 1981 an agent in New York saw his tape and passed it along to KOMO TV in Seattle. By November of that year Tony was hired as weekend Sports Anchor/reporter for KOMO where he worked for 14 months before landing the job as Sports Director of King 5.
He spent 12 years at King-5 an d another 10 at KIRO-7 before the Seattle Seahawks brought him on as their Digital Media Host in 2006. During his 11 years with the Seahawks, Tony covered three Super Bowls and did hundreds of interviews with players and coaches. In the meantime Tony continued his positive message in dozens of speaking engagements every year across the Pacific Northwest.
One can sum up Tony’s approach to life with one of his favorite quotes. “Speak in such a way that others will want to listen to you and listen in such a way that others will want to speak to you.”