By Matt Mueller Culture Editor Published Dec 17, 2021 at 7:01 PM

After more than 30 years on Milwaukee screens, WISN 12 sports anchor Dan Needles announced he will hang up his broadcasting cleats next year. 

“For a kid who grew up in Waukesha watching the news on WISN 12, I’ve been able to live out my dream by working here for more than three decades,” Needles said, in a release. "I have had the pleasure of working with so many true professionals who taught me what journalism is, and I thank the viewers who shared my passion for sports."

After growing his career in sports and news departments throughout the area – including Wausau, New London and Chippewa Falls – Needles made his way to WISN 12 in 1990. There, as sports director, the Waukesha native would become a popular mainstay on the station's broadcasts and throughout the local sports scene, commenting on and covering some of the biggest sports stories across the state and the nation over the past 32 years. 

“When sports is the big story, and in Wisconsin it often is, Southeastern Wisconsin has always been able to rely on Dan,” said Jan Wade, president and general manager of WISN 12, in the release. “For decades he’s provided our viewers with in-depth reporting, expert insight, and without a doubt, a lively sense of humor! He is an incredible vault of sports knowledge, more so than anyone I have ever seen, and his expertise and presence will be missed here at the station.”

“I look forward to spending many happy years with my wife and family, traveling and playing golf, but will always make Southeastern Wisconsin my home," Needles added.

Needles' final day on television will be March 4 – hopefully in time for the Green Bay Packers to send him off with a Super Bowl win a few weeks before.

For more updates, tune in to WISN 12, and to learn more about Needles' impresssive career, check out this Milwaukee Talks with the broadcaster from back in 2008. Congratulations on an exceptional career – and to enjoying a well-earned retirement. 

Matt Mueller Culture Editor

As much as it is a gigantic cliché to say that one has always had a passion for film, Matt Mueller has always had a passion for film. Whether it was bringing in the latest movie reviews for his first grade show-and-tell or writing film reviews for the St. Norbert College Times as a high school student, Matt is way too obsessed with movies for his own good.

When he's not writing about the latest blockbuster or talking much too glowingly about "Piranha 3D," Matt can probably be found watching literally any sport (minus cricket) or working at - get this - a local movie theater. Or watching a movie. Yeah, he's probably watching a movie.