Beloved California news anchor Dick Cable passed away on Wednesday from an illness. He was 89.
Cable was a staple of the Sacramento news airwaves for three decades as the former anchor of KXTV.
Born Richard Arnold Cable in New York on June 23, 1936, Dick followed in his father Homer Cable’s footsteps, who worked for the military news outlet Stars and Stripes during and after World War II.
In January 1969, Cable was hired by the CBS affiliate at the time in Sacramento News10, years later KXTV would also be the place he met his wife of 48 years, Berta Gonzales Cable when she interned at the station in 1973.
In 1977, they tied the knot and they would go on to raise five children he shared from a previous marriage.
His career wasn’t without a few bumps along the way. In the late 1970’s he was taken off the air in the pursuit of a youth movement but he was back on the air by 1981.
Speaking to the Bee at the time, Cable said “I’m not a wilting flower. I have a healthy ego — sometimes maybe an unhealthy one, I don’t know, but the one thing the station has to know is that I toil here.”
His longtime co-anchor, Jennifer Smith, who he shared the news desk with, who now lives in New Orleans, told the Bee that Dick’s personality immediately appealed to her.
“He was so warm and real and no-nonsense and certainly not any kind of how some people view TV anchors as kind of pompous and slick,” Smith said. “He was the opposite of that.”
A Facebook post for News10KXTV Reunion posted about the anchor’s death from Jodie Mitchell Moreno.
“Hello friends…I have some very sad news to share. Dick Cable passed away today. I am in contact with his wife Berta and can share as I hear more, but please keep her in your thoughts and send virtual love,” the post read.
The post added, “Dick was such an amazing man, friend and colleague. Over the years we’ve stayed in touch, him sending me blonde jokes mostly. We went and visited with him and Berta this past year and it was so great to see him before his passing. Tell those you love how much they mean to you.”
Reading through the comments from people who said they worked with him, the thoughts were similar, that Cable was a great man and he would be missed.
“My heart is full of so many memories of our dear friend and colleague. So grateful to have spent nearly 20 years anchoring together with Dick Cable…a true broadcast legend. Rest in Peace dear friend,” one person wrote.
Another added, “I’m saddened by this news. I have so many memories of Dick. Not just as a coworker but as a friend. I remember those Halloween events, playing ball with my son, dinners at my house. Will miss you my friend.”
Another giant in the Sacramento broadcasting days when Cable was on the air, Stan Atkinson, who died in 2025, once described Dick and him as from another time in the news world.
“Being a good guy may not carry the weight it once did, but Dick and I came from that old school where credibility was what it’s about,” Atkinson said in a 1988 Bee interview. “He is a good guy and it shows.”
ABC10 President and General Manager Risa Omega said “Dick leaves a legacy in this building and in this town.”
Cable is survived by his wife, his five kids and 10 grandchildren.
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