Fred Hickman Obituary

Frederick Hickman was a former anchor and managing editor for the evening newscast of the African-American cable news channel Black News Channel.

Hickman was born in Springfield, Illinois on October 17, 1956. He graduated from Springfield Southeast High School in 1974 and then went on to Coe College in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, where he earned a B.S. in anthropology.

He worked at the low-power KCOE-FM radio station while there. In 1977, Hickman began his professional radio broadcasting career as a news anchor at KLWW-AM in Cedar Rapids, Iowa.

After graduating from Coe College, Hickman returned to his hometown of Springfield, Illinois to work at WFMB-AM, where he was in charge of playing country music.

Hickman joined the Springfield television station WICS-TV as an anchor and sports director in February 1978, at the age of 22.  He remained until May 1980.

He has also worked for CNN, TBS, YES Network, and ESPN. He became an original co-host of CNN’s Sports Tonight in 1980.  He won CableACE awards in 1989 and 1993 and a New York Sports Emmy Award in 2004.

Fred Hickman passed away on November 9, 2022, according to multiple reports. However, his cause of death has not been revealed.