Famed Fresno TV personality Kopi Sotiropulos retiring. ‘Time to just let go’

Kopi Sotiropulos can’t say exactly why he’s choosing to step away from TV after a 30-year career that made him one of Fresno’s most iconic personalities — only that it’s time.

“The why is when,” Sotiropulos told The Bee on Wednesday, hours after announcing he’ll retire as KMPH’s signature weatherman/morning anchor next month. His final day is March 27.

“It’s been a good career,” he says, “it was time to just let go.”

Calling Sotiropulos a television staple could be a bit of a downplay.

Greek-born and Fresno-raised, Sotiropulos (or Kopi to viewers and fans) was hired at KMPH in 1971, the year the station went on air. He did commercial work at the time, writing and producing for what was then an upstart, independently owned station.

Aside from a detour in Hollywood in the ‘80s (we’ll get to that later), he’s been at KMPH since.

Kopi on Great Day

His on-air work started in 1992, when he was hired to do the evening weather after returning home from Los Angeles. In 2003, the station tapped him for a gig hosting KMPH’s newly minted morning show, Great Day. He would play comic relief for co-host Kim Stevens. He would also create one of the show’s signature segments: an “excluuuuuusive” 10-day forecast, filmed on site in the community with viewer participation.

That version of Kopi, the one with a hairpiece (which he originally tried out as a bit for the show), Hawaiian shirt, shorts and sneakers, would become synonymous with the Great Day brand and earn him some celebrity.

He was included on a Ranker.com list of Famous Meteorologists in 2017, alongside John Dalton (a guy who helped pioneer Atomic Theory) and Al Roker. This, despite not technically being a meteorologist.

He was a choice bet for the Fresno Beehive blog’s ValleyWho competition in 2012. The March Madness style bracket judged the popularity of “Fresno famous” celebrities and put Kopi up against the likes of Audra McDonald, Bobby Salazar and Chris Colfer (who was three seasons into “Glee” at the time).

There have been professional accolades as well.

The San Francisco/Northern California Chapter of The National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences inducted Kopi into its Gold Circle society in 2022, an honor for those who have been “actively engaged in television broadcasting for 50 years or more” and “made a significant contribution to their local television markets and distinguished themselves within the industry and the community.”

Earlier this year, Clovis Chamber of Commerce selected Sotiropulos for its annual “Community Impact Award.”

Kopi Sortiropulos on IMDB

What some may not know is that his local television credits play alongside a decade-long career as an actor in network television and movies. During the 1890s, Sotiropulos and his wife Elaine moved to Los Angeles so he could try his hand at acting. He became a go-to day-player, with spots across the spectrum of classic TV shows like “The Incredible Hulk,” “Three’s Company,” “Knight Rider,” “The Fall Guy, ”The Six Million Dollar Man,” “Perfect Strangers” and “Highway to Heaven.”

He also did bits parts in films.

He was reporter in “American Gigolo,” a bartender in “Beverly Hills Cop II” and a taxi driver in “9 to 5.”

Kopi says he has no regrets leaving Los Angles then and returning to Fresno, or choosing now to retire.

“I’ve been fortunate enough to do what I like,” he says.

As for his role as one of Fresno’s best-known personalities? It’s totally about appreciation.

“Thank you. Thank you. Thank you

“I’m blessed. Honored. Humbled.”

This story was originally published February 19, 2026 at 1:45 PM with the headline "Famed Fresno TV personality Kopi Sotiropulos retiring. ‘Time to just let go’."