Ben Hoover is thrilled to be in Birmingham covering local news with CBS 42. You can see Ben anchoring with Carly Laing on The CBS 42 News at 4:30 p.m. and with Sherri Jackson on The CBS 42 News at 5, 6, and 10 p.m.
Ben comes to Birmingham with over 22 year of broadcasting experience as an award-winning anchor, reporter, and producer in five television markets in both the Carolinas and Georgia. While at WSPA-TV in Greenville/Spartanburg, SC, he anchored weeknights at 4 and 5 p.m. He anchored and reported live for continuous coverage of several big stories including the Murdaugh Murder Mysteries, the 2020 Presidential Campaign, and Hurricane Florence that brought catastrophic damage to South Carolina.
Prior to that, he served as evening anchor at ABC Columbia where he covered one of the biggest stories of his broadcasting career when the “Thousand Year Flood” hit Columbia, SC in October 2015. Ben’s anchoring and live reporting from the devastation zones, and social media posts, gave viewers critical information during a natural disaster emergency and allowed family members in other states to keep tabs on their loved ones. He also covered the shooting massacre at Mother Emanuel Church and the following federal trials for the convicted shooter and the removal of the Confederate flag from the SC State House grounds.
The majority of Ben’s time in South Carolina was spent at WIS-TV, the #1 rated television station in the state, as evening anchor and host of “Newswatch,” a local program covering SC legislative issues and national political campaigns. It was in this role that he interviewed candidates and election officials including former SC Gov. Nikki Haley, former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich, former Texas Gov. Rick Perry, and former Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman, Jr. He also represented the station for live Q&A interviews with CNBC and MSNBC for national news coverage of the Gov. Mark Sanford Scandal, the SC GOP “First in the South” presidential primaries, and other stories of national interest.
In the aftermath of the Great Recession of 2008, Ben’s special report “Hope in Hard Times” shined a spotlight on the plight of the homeless, especially those who were homeless for the first time in their lives and trying to get back into the workforce. The special series along with a fundraising telethon helped raise more than $70,000 for a local homeless shelter. He also broke the story of Eliza O’Neill, the little girl diagnosed with Sanfilippo Syndrome, and her parents battle for the clinical trial gene therapy when it was stalled by the federal government shutdown. Ben’s report on Eliza grabbed the attention of national networks and cable stations.
Through the years, Ben has won numerous awards for his anchoring and reporting, including SC Associated Press awards for Best Health Report, Best Newscast, Best Environmental Report, and Best Investigative Report. Ben was voted “Best TV News Anchor” by Columbia Metropolitan Magazine readers and “Best TV News Anchor” by Free Times newspaper readers. When he was a student at the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music, Ben received the Ziv Scholarship after graduating at the top of the Broadcast Journalism class.
When he’s not on television anchoring the news, you’ll find Ben spending time with his family, staying busy with his 13-year-old daughter, Hollis, and 17-year-old-son, Anderson. He looks forward to exploring Birmingham and the rest of Alabama!
