It's true: After 37 years here in L.A., anchoring at both KNBC and KABC, Paul Moyer is set to retire.
I just broke it over at Variety. Some details:
Moyer informed the KNBC newsroom Wednesday afternoon that he intended to anchor his last broadcast in the near future.
Moyer, who currently handles KNBC's 5 p.m. and 11 p.m. newscasts with Colleen Williams, has had a regular L.A. TV presence since 1972 – making him the market's longest-running anchor.
"I have given Los Angeles my loyalty and my professional best, and if I was able to illuminate a dark and dangerous corner with an investigation, or communicate a complex story in a meaningful way, I have been more than repaid for my devotion to this remarkable city," Moyer said in a memo to KNBC staffers.
"Los Angeles has sustained me and will continue to with a vast store of amazing memories that I will carry close to my heart as I move on to the next adventure."
Moyer is still mulling an exact departure date; station will also announce his successor at a later date.
In a newsroom note, KNBC news director Bob Long said Moyer "perfected the role of news anchor in the town that can lay claim to inventing it, becoming all an anchor can be: a team leader and a link to our community.
"Paul's contributions to KNBC over the years are many and profound, and we will watch with great interest as he contemplates his next adventure," he said. "Our personal bond of respect and affection for Paul will never diminish, and we thank him for everything he has done for our station and the industry."
This reps the end of his second tour of duty at KNBC, having rejoined the Peacock-owned station after a fierce bidding war with rival KABC in 1992.
Moyer is said to make as much as $3 million annually. As station groups like NBC look to cut costs, rumors had begun to float that Moyer and his NBC counterpart, Chuck Scarborough, were being bought out of their contracts. But Peacock insiders insist that Scarborough is staying, and that it was Moyer's decision to retire.
Who will replace Moyer? His nephew, Micah Ohlman (who seems to have disappeared from KABC's roster of talent bios on its website)? The return of John Beard? Chuck Henry? Stay tuned.
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