"Voice of Action News" will root for the Philadelphia Eagles from his Arizona home
Charlie Van Dyke is a proud, even if unseen, member of the Action News family.
PHILADELPHIA (WPVI) -- His may be among the best-known voices in all of Philadelphia.
"Action News, Delaware Valley's leading news program..." is the announcement you hear every day from Charlie Van Dyke.
He is one of America's most prolific voice-over artists and lives near Phoenix, Arizona - the site of Super Bowl 57.
Van Dyke is also a proud, even if unseen, member of the Action News family.
"Well, to be part of a station that big and that impressive is kind of a hallmark of my career," he said. "6abc is royalty, so it's an honor to be part of that."
Charlie has been recording promotional content for 6abc for more than 20 years, many of them from his home studio in a Phoenix suburb.
With that voice, it doesn't take much more than a microphone and a computer to let folks back in Philadelphia know, it's time for the news.
"Beautiful city, friendly people," he said.
Before he was the voice of 6abc and several of our sister stations across the country, Van Dyke had a pioneering radio career. He would wake up the population in major cities from coast to coast.
That includes Dallas, Detroit, San Francisco, Los Angeles, San Diego, Chicago, and Boston.
He was also the primary fill-in for the legendary Casey Kasem on American Top 40.
"That was a remarkable experience because that's broadcast around the world," Van Dyke said.
In those days he hung out with the likes of Cher, Sonny Bono, Elton John and Olivia Newton-John.
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Spinning records at some of America's top rock stations, he was a tastemaker, propelling all kinds of careers for budding stars that are now household names.
"All for remarkable radio stations. I had a great time doing it. It's just, I was always a morning guy, so I got tired of the 3 a.m. alarm clock," he said.
That means radio's loss was television's, and 6abc's, gain.
And this tastemaker has pretty good taste himself. He may live near Phoenix, but he bleeds Eagles green.
"I'm a giant Eagles fan," he said. "Oh my Gosh. The heart and the spirit and they don't give up. They keep pushing and there's a camaraderie among them."
