His photos and voice have become a staple on living room TVs across eastern Ontario. Mike Postovit has been reporting on news and sports for CKWS, and now Global Kingston, for 40 years.
“Mike is a guy who really really genuinely cares about sports in Kingston,” said former CKWS sports anchor, Mark Potter. “Always wanting to get the story, always wanting to amplify the athletes and the teams.”
“Posto tried to please everybody,” said Mike’s most recent sports colleague, Doug Jeffries. “He would do anything for any team or any individual to get the story no matter what time of the day it was.”
Postovit decided to get into the broadcasting industry while working at the Ford Motor plant in Windsor, Ont., and headed east to study at Loyalist College in Belleville. He got his start at CKWS in 1983.
“He arrived in Kingston without knowing a lot about the city,” Potter said. “In the very beginning, what’s really phenomenal is he was a part-timer, he only worked on Saturdays and Sunday nights doing the 11 o’clock sports on television.”
Postovit would continue that role for the better part of four years before landing a permanent position in 1987. By then, his style of reporting had become evident among those who worked closely with him. But just as prominent to colleagues was his character.
“No ego. Just a wonderful, wonderful guy,” Potter said.
“He’s a caring fellow. He really is. Low-key and very unsung,” said former Kingston Whig-Standard reporter, Pat Kennedy. “Never toots his own horn, for sure.”
“Posto,” as he’s affectionately known, is as much a skilled camera person as he is a reporter. He uses a keen eye to let his pictures tell the story, searching far and wide to get that perfect angle.
“We’d be at a place, and I couldn’t find him,” Jeffries said. “I’d find him on top of a roof, a very dangerous situation.”
“But he wanted to get that best shot.”
“(He was) very, very picky about each and every piece of video that appeared on the air,” Potter added. “He was always very tough on himself and wanted to get the best pictures and tell the story in the best way.”
After a short break from sports to focus on news, Mike has returned to being the face of sports after Doug Jeffries’ retirement.
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Postovit is always looking to fit as much as he can into his six-minute sports segment each and every night.
“He took a lot of pride in it,” Potter said. “He did a very professional presentation, which he still does to this day.”
“But I can tell you he puts more time, more effort and more thought into anything he puts on the air than anybody else I’ve ever known in broadcasting.”
It’s that work ethic that’s helped produce one of the most comprehensive “local” sports segments across the country.
“When guys like him and Jeffries leave, no disrespect to the people who are coming in, but they’ve got big shoes to fill because these guys just went the extra mile,” Kennedy said.
And Postovit will continue to go the extra mile to help shine a spotlight on sports in southeastern Ontario.
“Boy, oh boy, I’ll tell you, Kingston is going to miss him if he ever retires,” Kennedy said.
Hopefully, that day doesn’t come too soon.
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