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Which TV News Anchor Has Been With The Same Station The Longest?

RadioPatrol said:
Spencer Christian had been with ABC for 4 decades all different divisions of the network, 1 decade with WABC7, 1 decade wuth Good Morning America and 2 decades with KGO ABC7.

For Bay Area Viewers we know Spencer Christian for taking over Pete Giddings spot. I think Giddings was a Paul Moyer type person as having drama behind the scenes though.

Dan Ashley another person at KGO-ABC 7 with 2 decades worth at the station and Wayne Freedman.

Frank Sommerville he is approaching the 30 year mark at his time at KTVU Fox 2 News.
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I said earlier that Cheryl Jennings used to come into my store and she was a very nice person. Pete Giddings and his wife also came in, and were...uh...not nice people, especially Ms. Giddings.

After about 3 decades at KGO-TV, he was let go - I'm not sure of the circumstances. He ended up doing the weather in Reno, and people who disliked him took some pleasure in that. I recall that he refused to do weather reports for KGO Radio, so they got revenge by hiring Joel Bartlett from TV competitor KPIX to do the job. That must have really frosted Pete's rear end. I also heard that he intensely disliked meteorologist Lloyd Lindsay Young, who he thought was way too goofy for a serious subject like weather.
 
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LKellerIII said:
I said earlier that Cheryl Jennings used to come into my store and she was a very nice person. Pete Giddings and his wife also came in, and were...uh...not nice people, especially Ms. Giddings.

After about 3 decades at KGO-TV, he was let go - I'm not sure of the circumstances. He ended up doing the weather in Reno, and people who disliked him took some pleasure in that. I recall that he refused to do weather reports for KGO Radio, so they got revenge by hiring Joel Bartlett from TV competitor KPIX to do the job. That must have really frosted Pete's rear end. I also heard that he intensely disliked meteorologist Lloyd Lindsay Young, who he thought was way too goofy for a serious subject like weather.
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Interestingly Spencer Christian has been cited for replacing Tex Antoine on WABC7 for similar reasons. Tex Antoine was caught in a rant one time that got him removed from WABC7. I know that Storm Field and Spencer Christian came to WABC 7 around the 1970's though and they were seen as replacements for the weather person that was removed for his rant.

Well Tex Antoine was viewed for having drama behind the scenes too in New York.
 
Antoine's infamous remark came on 11/24/76. Just after a story about how an eight-year-old girl was nearly raped, he inexplicably decided to make the following remark: "Confucius once say: If rape is inevitable, relax and enjoy it." He got suspended, but kept his job, though it was off-camera. Three months later WABC didn't bother to renew his contract. Antoine had offered the lame excuse when he did apologize that he didn't know it was about an eight-year-old, as if the age mattered. In 1978, he was hired by WNEW, but lasted less than a year and then died in January 1983 at the age of 59.

Regarding the Antoine comment, Bobby Knight used the same remark (without the Confucius reference) in 1987 or '88 when asked about how he dealt with stress. That got plenty of heat as well, but then it took another 12 years for him to finally melt down for good.
 
http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/ct-aging-tv-news-anchors-0319-biz-20170317-story.html

Chicago Tribune did a segment on Chicago TV Talent and the changing media landscape for DMA3

Note this also mentions retirements, health issues and decline of TV viewership over the years. Wow having to adapt to the app age is one factor here.


The American workforce is aging broadly, with the number of people still working at age 65 or older nearly doubling in the new millennium, according to a 2016 Pew Research Center analysis of data from the federal Bureau of Labor Statistics. Most aging employees, however, don't have to do it live on camera in front of hundreds of thousands of viewers.

Those viewers, meanwhile, also are growing older — and fewer — increasing the pressure on TV stations as they seek to replace familiar faces.

Recent retirees at top-rated ABC-owned WLS-Ch. 7 include longtime anchors Ron Magers and Linda Yu. In addition, veteran political reporter Charles Thomas retired this month, and Frank Mathie is calling it quits next month after 50 years as a reporter at the station. We have a long tradition and legacy of experienced talent at the television station," said John Idler, president and general manager of ABC 7. "The challenge for us is that our viewers get very comfortable, and if somebody chooses to retire and end their career, change is hard for our viewers sometimes."

Connecting on-air talent with the audience translates into ratings, revenue and an intimate relationship that can last decades. Keeping it going means navigating everything from medical and personal issues to the ultimate decision to leave in a very public manner.

Earlier this month, Rob Stafford, 58, who co-anchors the 10 p.m. newscast for NBC 5, told viewers he was going to the Mayo Clinic to undergo a bone marrow transplant and chemotherapy to fight a rare blood disorder. He expects to be off the air for four to six months, with veteran anchor Dick Johnson tapped to replace him. ABC 7 anchor Hosea Sanders revealed last month that he will be off the air for prostate cancer surgery. The station issued a news release Feb. 28 announcing Sanders' surgery.

"We do have to consider our audience and what the message is to them," Channel 7's Idler said. "But what's paramount is how the individual wants to handle it, because it's their health issue."

Average viewership for late-night local TV news has declined 22 percent since 2007, according to a Pew report published last year. Pew found that 61 percent of millennials rely on Facebook for political news, while 37 percent look to local TV news. For baby boomers, it's nearly the reverse, with 60 percent turning to local TV and 39 percent using Facebook.
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In Minneapolis/St Paul Dave Moore was an anchor from 1957-1991. He gave up the 10 PM newscast in 1985 but continued doing the 6 PM newscast until 1991. After giving up anchoring the newscasts he still did a show called Moore on Sunday which he did until 1997 when he fell ill. At the same station Bud Kraehling did weather from 1949-96 when. he retired
 
LKellerIII said:
I said earlier that Cheryl Jennings used to come into my store and she was a very nice person. Pete Giddings and his wife also came in, and were...uh...not nice people, especially Ms. Giddings.

After about 3 decades at KGO-TV, he was let go - I'm not sure of the circumstances. He ended up doing the weather in Reno, and people who disliked him took some pleasure in that. I recall that he refused to do weather reports for KGO Radio, so they got revenge by hiring Joel Bartlett from TV competitor KPIX to do the job. That must have really frosted Pete's rear end. I also heard that he intensely disliked meteorologist Lloyd Lindsay Young, who he thought was way too goofy for a serious subject like weather.
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My earliest memories of KGO go back to 1978. I'm sure reporter(and at one time midday anchor) David Louie was there even before that, even longer than Cheryl Jennings.
 
In Tampa Bay, it would be Kelly Ring for WTVT-TV, working for FOX 13, since around 1985, when they were a CBS affiliate.

If you included weatherpeople, it would go to Denis Phillips, who is as of now, the last original news talent that has been with WFTS-TV/ABC Action News since the beginning in 1994.

WTSP's longest-lasting news talent now goes to Reggie Roundtree, who has worked for WTSP since the late 80s (when Channel 10 was ABC), as Mike Deeson just retired from the station.

Currently, almost of WFLA-TV's anchors are new or only been with the station since the late 90's/early 2000s.
 
Pat Harvey KCAL9,KHJ9 and KCBS2 Los Angeles. Pat Harvey is one of the last people to see the transition from being the final anchors at KHJ9 and first staff members to KCAL9 along with the Late Jerry Dunphy.

Pat Harvey has been at KCAL9 even when CBS took over the station in 2002 and started making appearances on CBS2 also.
Most of the 1989 khj9 staff and the first KCAL9 staff are either retired, deceased or unknown status.
 
Rob Jennings has been on WPVI-TV's Channel 6 Action News from 1977 until his retirement on July 21, 2013. Action News was NEVER the same after he left.
 
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CraigS1996Television said:
Rob Jennings has been on WPVI-TV's Channel 6 Action News from 1977 until his retirement on July 21, 2013. Action News was NEVER the same after he left.
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I'm surprised any market still has "Action News." It's very 1970s. I still remember the somewhat pompous Judd Hambrick on KTVU in the Bay Area, intoning - "...coming up on ACTION NEWS!!...at 10:00!" But KTVU dropped "Action" about 1980, for "The 10 O'clock News."
 
LKellerIII said:
I'm surprised any market still has "Action News." It's very 1970s. I still remember the somewhat pompous Judd Hambrick on KTVU in the Bay Area, intoning - "...coming up on ACTION NEWS!!...at 10:00!" But KTVU dropped "Action" about 1980, for "The 10 O'clock News."
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It may have originated then, but at least in WPVI's case, they've managed to bring it into the modern era quite well (it may have been slower to ramp up, but they got there), keeping the legacy of the name...and yes, music. But it works--no need to toss it aside simply because the name has a long history.


As to Rob Jennings, certainly a class act, but in fairness, Walter Perez on weekends has been a fine replacement and deserves credit.
 
AbrahamJSimpson said:
It may have originated then, but at least in WPVI's case, they've managed to bring it into the modern era quite well (it may have been slower to ramp up, but they got there), keeping the legacy of the name...and yes, music. But it works--no need to toss it aside simply because the name has a long history.


As to Rob Jennings, certainly a class act, but in fairness, Walter Perez on weekends has been a fine replacement and deserves credit.
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Maybe it's just major markets, but there's been a trend the last couple of decades, or more to make news brands generic. In the Bay Area:

KRON 4 (Ind, formerly NBC) was NewsCenter 4, now KRON4 News

KPIX 5 (CBS) was Eyewitness News, now KPIX5 News.

KGO-TV (ABC) was Channel 7 News Scene, then Channel 7 News, now ABC7 News

KNTV(NBC, formerly Ind) was News Channel 11, now NBC Bay Area News.

KPIX was the last to go 'generic' - maybe 3 years ago.
 
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