Remembering a Legendary Newscaster Former Today Show Anchor and co-host of ABC's 20/20 died July 1st at age 99 ARIZONA ---- Hugh Downs otherwise known as the "founding voice in modern American media", died at his home in Scottsdale, Arizona at the age of 99. His career had a span of 60 years in broadcasting, anchoring, and hosting. According to From Yesterday to TODAY: Six Decades of America's Favorite Morning Show, written by Stephen Battaglio, an author, Hugh began his broadcasting career in 1939 as a radio announcer in Lima, Ohio before serving in the army during World War I. When he worked at the NBC Chicago station WMAQ at the age of 22, it was then when he met another legend Dave Garroway, a WMAQ personality. Dave, later on, became the first anchor of TODAY on January 14, 1952. After many years doing local inserts for TODAY, out of the WMAQ Chicago station, Hugh eventually moved to New York where he was an announcer, co-host, and sidekick on other shows at ...