Rose Parade 2024: For show announcers, giving voice to event is gig of a lifetime

Hannah Storm’s broadcast career has come up roses. And she, like several who put their voices to the Rose Parade, are set for telecasts and livestreams that will take over your screens for a couple of hours on the morning of Jan. 1.

They are the parade announcers of the 135th Rose Parade, continuing a tradition of engaging millions of viewers watching from across the U.S. and the world. But it’s not just all talk. There’s much that goes into being ready to delighting audiences.

For Storm, this will be her 14th year handling the New Year’s Day anchoring job for the network as she joins ESPN’s  Kevin Negandhi to host ABC’s Rose Parade telecast.

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“I’ve watched the Rose Parade pretty much my whole life,” Storm said in a recent interview. “I didn’t have a full understanding of all of the work and everything that goes into it until I started hosting it…I’ve learned so much about the volunteers and the tradition. I love hosting it. I love talking about it. I love sharing it, it’s a really special event.”

The Rose Parade has become a tradition in Storm’s life — one she’s come to cherish.

“To be able to come to California to spend the new year; to wake up early and do this wonderful, hopeful, beautiful broadcast; to go to the float barns year after year; see the volunteers and really, really appreciate the creativity of the floats,” she said, “and also the dedication of the people who work on them is really inspiring, and it’s a great way to kick off the new year.”

Parade Prep

The preparation of a host starts long before the floats go down Colorado Boulevard. Storm says that they visit the floats as they are being built, as well as talk to builders, sponsors and volunteers, and doing as much research as possible.

On the day of the parade, the announcers have a huge notebook full of all the facts on each float, band and equestrian unit, she said.

But even with the notebook as a guide, the ABC broadcast is not scripted, Storm said. Co-hosts need to be ready to ad lib the entire parade. It allows for time to share with audiences things that they’ve seen or learned, which she thinks makes for a more conversational and enjoyable time for everyone, including herself.

The tradition of Rose Parade broadcast announcers dates back to 1940, when experimental station W6XAO (now KCBS) broadcasted the 1940 event. Seven years later, KTLA aired the first official local TV broadcast of the parade.

By 1951, a half-dozen other local television stations began running their own broadcasts and it wasn’t long before NBC presented the first coast-to-coast parade telecast in color.

New voices, new audiences

But in the tech era, there are many more platforms to viewers in 2024, including the Tournament of Roses’ first livestream, complete with hosts.

People at home can also tune into other Rose Parade broadcast partners such as KTLA, NBC, Univision, Peacock, The Cowboy Channel, The Cowgirl Channel, Great American Family, and RFD-TV.

The live stream will be available for the first time through four streaming services – Fubo TV, Christmas Plus, Pluto TV and Local Now – and on the Tournament of Roses YouTube channel as well.

The live stream will be hosted by Jericka Duncan of CBS Weekend News, actress Gabrielle Elyse and TikTok sensation Pressley Hosbach.

Officials have touted the livestream has a whole new way to reach audiences, including folks on the parade route itself, who can listen and watch the announcers in real time from their screens. And the hosts themselves tap diverse audiences.

Some broadcast personalities have even become synonymous with the annual parade, such as beloved former KTLA hosts Bob Eubanks and Stephanie Edwards, who held the positions for decades.

They’ve passed the baton to others — including Leeza Gibbons and Mark Steines — who have now shared the spotlight, and many viewers look forward to their commentary of the parade each year.

Announcer ready for ‘the stage’

If you’re at the parade on the big day, your ears will get a robust dose of the voicing of FR Springer.

People may recognize Springer’s voice from announcements along the parade route in Pasadena, voice overs on the Tournament of Roses website, and now on the Tournament of Roses app as well.

Springer was first hired in 2016 to narrate the parade entries – parade announcer.

Springer shared that his favorite part about being an announcer is learning about each float, band and equestrian unit as he prepares and records each entry.

“I just finished recording the Banda Municipal de Zarcero, which is from Costa Rica, and they’re incredible,” he said, as well as how their colors and music relate to the theme. “Celebrating a World of Music is our theme this year, so of course everything coincides with that – which is wonderful.”

Just as many other announcers on parade day, Springer wakes up early on New Year’s Day and prepares with the sound technicians and producers to get the show on the road.

“I’m introducing to the crowd on that corner…and it is where all the performances are as well. So it really is the stage for the Rose Parade,” Springer said. “It really is just a pleasure, such an opportunity.”