Longtime NewsChannel 5 sportscaster and radio personality Mark Howard died at his home on Sunday, according to his wife Debra. He was 65 years old.
In 2018, The Tennessean included Howard, real name Howard Mark Levenson, in its list of 60 over 60 sports personalities still working.
Howard, a native of West Hartford, Connecticut, became one of Nashville’s most popular sportscasters in his more than 20 years at NewsChannel 5.
“My heart is broken,” said Hope Hines, retired athletic director of NewsChannel 5. “I lost one of my best and dearest friends. He was more like a son to me and he felt the same way. thing, I was a father figure to him in so many ways. I’m heartbroken for Jack his son, and Debra. He was a great, great talent.
Howard moved to radio in the early 2000s as the host of a local political talk show.
In 2004, Howard returned to the sport when he became co-host of “Wake Up Zone” on The Zone 104.5-FM with Kevin Ingram and former Tennessee Titan Frank Wycheck.
The show eventually became the #1 show in Nashville and among the best in the country and dominated morning driving for many years.
Howard and Ingram left the show in 2020. Howard spent a total of 21 years in the employ of The Zone.
“It’s been a great run. The show (Wake Up Zone) was 16 years with me and Kevin,” Howard said at the time. “Those were some of the best years of my life. really nothing but good things to say about my experiences there.
Ingram said Howard was an influence on his arrival in The Zone.
“I loved working with Mark, but the thing about Mark was that he was a great friend,” Ingram said. “There weren’t many people who were more supportive of me or my career than Mark. He was always very encouraging and gave great advice. There aren’t too many people you’ll find who knew sport better than Mark. It was almost scary everything he knew, especially about baseball.”
Last year, Howard worked as a part-time host at The Game 102.5-FM.
Howard also spent many years as the host of a Tennessee Titans postgame show and as a co-host of the Predators pregame and postgame shows.
The final provisions have not been fixed.
Contact Mike Organ at 615-259-8021 or on Twitter @MikeOrganWriter.
