By convention Bill Hudson should have been a print journalist. His small town childhood was largely spent hanging around the local newspaper office, where both his father and grandfather worked. Instead, the Elk River native took a slightly different path. It was the summer of 1973, and he was mesmerized by network coverage of the Watergate hearings. Television journalism became his calling.

After graduating St. Cloud State University, Hudson interned at WCCO-TV in Minneapolis where he met producer, John Hoffland. Their paths would cross again, a year later, with Hudson’s first job at WEAU-TV in Eau Claire, Wisconsin.

“It was the greatest possible start to a gratifying career,” Hudson recalls. Despite the meager pay of small market television, salary was supplanted with learning. “Things would have been tough had it not been for my wife Julie’s nursing job,” he chuckles. Hoffland became his first news director, laying a solid foundation. John was the ultimate teacher to this young, green talent. He instilled the elements of clear, concise writing, the lure of unique characters and the beauty of pairing words with pictures.

Three years later, Bill and Julie packed up and headed to WITI-TV in Milwaukee. He’d hone his skills covering politics and environmental issues. He was sent to cover the 1984 Democratic National Convention in San Francisco and 1988 DNC in Atlanta. In 1986, with newborn daughter Ellen at home, Hudson spent the summer traversing the country. As much of the nation was gripped in drought, Hudson produced an award winning national documentary series for all Storer Broadcast stations, “Water, The Great Divide.”

By spring of 1989, it was time to fulfill his ultimate dream. Although it was difficult leaving close friends and colleagues, the pull of returning to Minnesota was powerful. WCCO-TV was the station he’d grown up watching, home to legendary anchor Dave Moore, acclaimed documentaries and investigative reports - and countless network correspondents.

Back then, ‘CCO was like its own mini-network. Hudson was given a constant flow of national and international assignments. In fact his first reporting duty sent him to Chicago to cover a national student protest over the Chinese crackdown at Tiananmen Square. He’d do a 6 p.m. live shot from Navy Pier then catch a flight home.

It didn’t stop. Later that summer came the tragic crash of United Flight 232 in an Iowa cornfield. A short while later, the couple’s second daughter, Anna was born and it seemed dad was still never home. A packed bag was always under his newsroom desk, as he never knew if he’d be home that night. Other assignments included Hurricane Andrew, National Guard missions to Bosnia, Panama and Honduras, California wildfires, the Branch Davidian tragedy in Waco, Texas and visiting Gulf War soldiers in Saudi Arabia.

For 20 years Hudson served colleagues as their SAG/AFTRA shop steward, negotiating contracts and solving union issues. His retirement in September 2020 enabled him and Julie to provide daycare to their grandsons during the height of Covid-19.

This past May, Hudson joined daughter Ellen O’Brien as consultant and trainer for her new company, Hudsons Media and has enjoyed the chance to slow down and spend more time with family.