Since he knows how live broadcasting works, Josh Elliott deems “First Responders Live” a good fit for him.
The former sportscaster for ESPN and NBC and news anchor for ESPNEWS, ABC’s “Good Morning America” and CBSN will take viewers to events as they happen as a Fox series – executive-produced by “Law & Order” and “Chicago”-drama mentor Dick Wolf — premieres Wednesday, June 12. Elliott will present feeds from various cities where cameras are stationed to capture at-that-moment activities of police officers, firefighters, EMTs and other helpers who rush into action.
“I’m sure it was influenced by this time and place that we find ourselves at in society,” Elliott says of the show. “From my first moment of wanting to be a journalist, I’ve always been interested in telling other people’s stories – and, specifically, focusing on the stories of everyday people who do the things they do because they feel driven to do them by some greater calling, or simply because it’s just something they love to do.”
A regional Emmy winner for work he did in New York, Elliott admits to having had initial concerns about filling the weekly “First Responders Live” hour: “One of my questions was, ‘What if nothing happens?’ (The producers) had already been down that road, and they assured me that, unfortunately, that would not be a problem.
“I’ve always been struck by how, when you see first responders on the scene, how calm they are,” adds Elliott. “A central part of their training is to defuse the situation, not add to the chaos. On the scale at which we are going to do it, this is unprecedented.”
Birthdate: July 6, 1971
Birthplace: Los Angeles
Current residences: Connecticut and New York
Marital status: Married to New York newscaster Liz Cho; has a daughter from a previous marriage
Other television credits include: “Yellowstone Live,” CBSN, the Kentucky Derby, “Good Morning America,” “Good Afternoon America,” “ABC World News,” “Scrubs,” “SportsCenter,” “Around the Horn,” “Jim Rome Is Burning,” “Cold Pizza,” ESPNEWS
Movie credits include: “Iron Man 3,” “Side Effects”
On knowing where to have “First Responders Live” production teams stationed: “We are doing as much as we can in terms of due diligence to lock in where we’re going to be. I think it’s a matter of making sure we can provide the full breadth and depth of what it is that first responders do, and we want to make sure we are focusing on the people who choose to run to the chaos rather than from it – and the people who see real heroism as simply their job.”