Career
He helped take a third place television newscast to first place, where it stayed throughout his career. In 1967 Sanders, as Al Gay, worked for radio station KXLW, in St. Louis, Missouri. In 1969 he changed stations and his name.
His new station: KWK, St. Louis, his new name: Al Sanders. Sanders joined WJZ-TV in 1972 and became a news anchor five years later. Prior to his arrival on Television Hill, WJZ's news was mired in third place in a town that had three major network newscasts: WBAL-TV was #1, WMAR-TV was #2.
Three years later, WJZ with Jerry Turner, Sanders, Bob Turk (weather) and Nick Charles (sports) was a runaway #1, with more viewers than their competitors combined, and stayed there through the 70s and into the 80s. Sanders died at the Johns Hopkins Hospital on May 5, 1995, and was replaced by Vic Carter, formerly of WSB-TV in Atlanta. In Baltimore, a section of Druid Park Drive between Park Heights Avenue and Clipper Road has been named in his honor.
