Bill Worden's retirement spells anchor changes at WKTV

[T.L. Hughes 752]

Bill Worden has announced that he will be retiring from WKTV/Utica, New York after 35 years at the station, with his final newscast being the 6 p.m. newscast on November 29. Worden has been with the Smith Media-owned station since 1977 as anchor of the 6 and 11 p.m. newscasts and was even the station's news director for a time. Worden started in television in 1971 as noon and 6 p.m. anchor at Wichita CBS affiliate KWCH (then using the KTVH callsign) in 1971, then joined Columbus, Ohio ABC affiliate WSYX (then WTVN) two years later as anchor of its 6 and 11 p.m. newscasts. Post-retirement, Worden will apparently be working and traveling with Christian music group, the Mark Bolos Band, and will also be working with a Utica area businessman on an internet radio venture.

 

NBC News president Steve Capus remarked on Worden's retirement from TV news, “Bill Worden is the kind of respected journalist who makes NBC mean something. The network, after all is a collection of cities and small towns across this great country, and there is no doubt, in Central New York, Bill has represented NBC with distinction. We wish him the best after 35 remarkable years.”

 

Worden's decision to leave the NBC affiliate will spark a series of anchor changes that will take effect on or around December 3:

* Don Shipman will shift from weekday mornings to evenings as Worden's replacement on the 11 p.m. newscast on WKTV and its 10 p.m. newscast on CW Plus-affiliated DT2 subchannel "Central New York's CW 11", and replace news director Steve McMurray as co-anchor of the 5 and 5:30 p.m. newscasts alongside Kristin Copeland.

* McMurray will move to the 6 p.m. newscast. Jason Powles, who has been WKTV's sports director since 1998, will transition to news anchor, replacing Shipman as co-anchor of the weekday morning newscast, alongside Jenel Boston.

* Weekend sports anchor Mike Levin will be promoted to Powles' soon-to-be-former position as sports director for the 6, 10 and 11 p.m. newscasts.

* Assistant news director/assignment editor Dave Dellecese, who also serves as a fill-in anchor, will become the full-time anchor of the station's noon newscast (Dellecese had been substituting on the program since September).

* Nicole Pitt, who had been an interim anchor of the weekend evening newscasts since August, will become the full-time anchor on Saturday and Sunday evenings.