Rico Hizon | |
|---|---|
| Born | Federico Morales Hizon March 24, 1966 |
| Education | De La Salle University |
| Occupation(s) | Broadcast journalist, business news presenter |
| Notable credit(s) | GMA Network CNBC Asia BBC News BBC World News Newsday Asia Business Report World Business Report CNN Philippines The Final Word with Rico Hizon The Exchange with Rico Hizon |
Rico Hizon (English: /ˈriːkoʊ ˈhiːzɒn/; born March 24, 1966)[1] is a Filipino broadcast journalist, currently working as a senior anchor and director for news content development at CNN Philippines.
Hizon previously worked at BBC World News, anchoring Newsday and Asia Business Report, and CNBC Asia. He was the first Filipino anchor for both news networks.[2]
After gaining a degree in Communication Arts and Business at De La Salle University, Hizon taught Radio, Television and Broadcasting courses at the university.[3] Doctorate Degree in Humanities, Honoris Causa from the University of Northeastern Philippines.
Hizon started his broadcast career at Manila-based GMA Network, from 1988 to 1995, where he was responsible for covering capital markets, banking and finance, real estate, investment and corporate developments. He anchored the daily business program, Business Today, GMA News Live and Stock Market Live from the trading floor of the Philippine Stock Exchange. During his tenure, Hizon won "The Outstanding Young Men for Broadcast Journalism" award.[2]
Hizon then joined CNBC Asia in April 1995, based in Hong Kong and later in Singapore, where he was the main anchor of the morning edition of CNBC Today, Squawk Box, Market Watch and Power Lunch.[2]
Hizon joined BBC World News in 2002, and anchored the daily business and finance programme Asia Business Report and Asia Today live from Singapore Monday to Friday.[3] Since June 2011 Hizon has co-presented Newsday, a news bulletin programme on the BBC from Singapore with Babita Sharma and Kasia Madera in London. He was also a regular on World Business Report as an Asian business correspondent. In November 2013 Rico presented Newsday live from Tacloban, Philippines following Typhoon Haiyan. In January 2014, Hizon co-presented the BBC Newsday programme from New Broadcasting House, London with Babita Sharma in Singapore for a short while.
In May 2017, Hizon once again presented from the London newsroom, with Sharanjit Leyl taking over presenting duties in Singapore. It was announced that this was only for a single week, with Hizon returning to Singapore for the next week. In March 2020, Hizon formally announced via his Instagram account that he would be leaving BBC News after 17 years.[4]
A few weeks later, it was reported that Hizon would return to the Philippines and join CNN Philippines as senior anchor and director for news content development.[5] The memo sent out by CNN Philippines president Armie Jarin-Bennett says Hizon will take over the 9 PM newscast. He also announced his move to the network on his Twitter account.[6]
By April 2020, Hizon solidified his presence as a trusted source of news in his native Philippines through his late-night newscast The Final Word, as well as anchoring CNN Philippines's newest business show, The Exchange,[7] which launched in July. Hizon was also part of the network's State of the Nation Address coverage that same month - his first SONA coverage in the Philippines since 1995. He anchored a cumulative 7 hours that day - starting with the network's 2pm coverage where he joined Chief Correspondent and Anchor Pia Hontiveros and Senior Anchor and Correspondent Pinky Webb until the President's speech ended and for a post-SONA analysis with ADR Stratbase analyst Dindo Manhit and former Presidential Spokesperson Edwin Lacierda.