Traffic Anchor
Follow me on TwitterJoe Taylor is a native Austinite and has been a broadcast journalist in Austin since 2000, but he’s been talking non-stop since 1978. Joe graduated with honors from St. Edward's University in December of 2001. Joe began his career in broadcasting producing and anchoring newscasts on 590 KLBJ-AM. While working part-time in radio, Joe continued to pursue his love of play-by-play sports announcing by working freelance for several companies in where he performed as a broadcast analyst and an announcer for several live Internet and radio broadcasts.
In October of 2002, Joe was offered the full-time position of airborne traffic reporter on the Emmis Austin Radio cluster of radio stations in the Austin market. For four years, Joe climbed into a small single engine airplane twice a day to report on traffic conditions from 1,000 feet above the Austin roadways. “I had the best view out of my office window, because it always kept changing. For four years, I saw the sun rise and set over my hometown and that experience made me appreciate this town so much more.”
Joe has been a part of several breaking news events throughout his career. On February 1, 2003, Space Shuttle Columbia began to disintegrate over the skies of Texas with most of the wreckage falling near Nacogdoches. A quick phone call and Joe boarded his small traffic plane and flew to the main site where Columbia went down and was the first Austin reporter to arrive on scene to give detailed information regarding the crash, the investigations, and community reaction. Joe's live radio reports were the first local view of this horrific accident.
Joe made the move from radio to television in 2006 and was hired as the traffic reporter for Time Warner Cable's 24 hour television news station. Currently in his fifth year at YNN, Joe has worked with management to create a 24-hour traffic channel in addition to his daily reporting of traffic conditions. YNN Traffic is the only 24 hour traffic channel that delivers the most up to date road conditions throughout Central Texas. Whether you’re on your way to work or headed home, YNN Traffic will let you know exactly what the roadways have in store for you.
In addition to his YNN duties, Joe maintains a successful production company that features his work as a play-by-play announcer. In the past six years, Joe enjoyed several career milestones including broadcasting from such venues as DKR Texas Memorial Stadium, Texas Stadium in Arlington, Kyle Field in College Station, and the Alamodome in San Antonio. Joe has produced two 5A state championship football games and in 2009, was part of the broadcast crew that produced the Texas 5A State Championship game for both Sirius and XM Satellite radio.
You can watch Joe Taylor's traffic reports Monday through Friday on YNN from 6 a.m. to 9 a.m. and from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. or anytime on YNN Traffic.