Arch Campbell has reported on movies, theatre and entertainment in Washington, DC and nationally since the 1970s. The Washington Post calls him a "local legend." His career includes 32 years at NBC and NBC4 television, as well as eight years with WJLA-TV News and sister station News Channel 8. His movie and entertainment reports have continued on The Arch Campbell Podcast.
Campbell moved to DC from his native Texas in 1974, joining NBC-owned WRC-TV News as a feature reporter. He went on to create that station’s entertainment beat, hosting twice-daily segments on the local news. NBC syndicated Arch’s movie reviews nationally for several years. From 1985 to 1991 he hosted The Arch Campbell Show, a late-night comedy forum and ratings hit which won more than a dozen EMMY awards.
In 2007, Arch brought his movie and theater reviews to ABC-7 News. He created The Arch Campbell Show for News Channel 8, a comedy entertainment show which grew into the channel's most watched program.
In 2015, Washingtonian Magazine named him a "Washingtonian of the Year" as one of the city's leading arts advocates. He has won eight EMMY awards. The National Capitol Radio TV Museum honored him with the Ed Walker Lifetime Achievement Award in 2016.
Arch published a memoir of his years in entertainment in 2025. The Accidental Critic combines an informal history of local television news with humorous stories of television in the years before the internet.
Contact Arch at Arch.Campbell@gmail.com.
Contact Arch at Arch.Campbell@gmail.com.
