One of KTRK's famous people is retiring

[bhratbrat 437]

KTRK.com interview

 

(3/26/07 - KTRK/HOUSTON) - When Ed Brandon came to me a month ago and told me he was retiring, I was shocked.

Related Links

 

* Ed through the years

* Viewer comments

* Ed Brandon's bio

 

After all, he's been on Channel 13 ever since I can remember. Who can forget watching him for days straight during troubled times like Hurricane Alicia, or laughing at his wit on a daily basis when the anchors toss to him for the weather segment?

 

Here is the interview I conducted with Ed for my blog about the reasons he is retiring and his life before and during the gaze of the ABC13 cameras.

 

First, let's look at a statement he wanted you to read:

 

March 25, 2007

 

Early this year, I decided to retire from KTRK-TV at the end of my current contract, March 31, 2007. Station management asked if, for scheduling reasons, I would extend my service until mid-April. I agreed. I am currently on vacation and will return to work my final two weeks on April 2.

 

For the past 35 years, the owners of Channel 13...first, Capital Cities Communications; then ABC Television; now, The Disney Company...have paid me well to follow a career path I dreamed about when I was 8 years old. Hundreds of thousands on Houston viewers have watched and supported me through good times and bad. That makes me one of the world's luckiest people.

 

My gratitude is limitless.

 

My absence from daily television does not imply that I am ending my career. I am looking forward to being an active member of the Houston communications community as long as I am able.

 

Houston Chronicle Story

Channel 13 weatherman Ed Brandon calling it quits

 

By MIKE McDANIEL

Copyright 2007 Houston Chronicle

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Ed Brandon is dropping out of the Doppler-monitoring biz. The longtime Channel 13 weatherman will retire in three weeks.

 

Brandon told a local blog site that the decision to leave KTRK was his own. He said he had planned to retire at the end of March but decided to stay until mid-April at the station's request.

 

He's on vacation now and unavailable for comment, but he said he will return for two weeks beginning Monday to anchor Channel 13's 6 p.m. weather report.

 

He also said he is on a list for a heart transplant. Brandon had quadruple bypass surgery in 2002 and is now coping with congestive heart failure.

 

"Two of the bypasses failed, which meant that my heart was significantly weakened," he wrote on mikemcguff.blog spot.com. (McGuff is Channel 13's tech expert.) "The risk of going back in to repair those two bypasses was not worth the reward. There was no reason to believe it would be any more successful the second time than it had been the first. ... However, I'm on the transplant list at St. Luke's, and if worse came to worst and a heart that matched me came up, I could get a heart transplant."

 

A native of Texarkana, Brandon, 64, joined Channel 13 in 1972 after stints on Austin TV and Texarkana and Longview radio. He became KTRK's primary weatherman despite lacking a degree in meteorology.

 

"One of the poorly kept secrets of my career is that I am not a trained meteorologist," Brandon said. "I got into broadcasting weather by starting on the radio and moving into television and then moving into weather. I am not, and never have pretended to be, a meteorologist; I'm a weatherman."

 

He maintained his position as chief weatherman at KTRK until 1989, when he admitted himself into a rehab center for cocaine addiction. Channel 13 rehired him in 1990, and he has been with the station ever since.

 

In 2002, KTRK hired Tim Heller to be chief meteorologist at 5 and 10 p.m. and moved Brandon to the 6 p.m. newscast only. Heller will take over at 6 p.m. when Brandon leaves.

 

A decision on who will anchor weather at 5 p.m. has not been reached. Currently, Channel 13's weather department includes Casey Curry, weekday mornings; Doug Brown, midday; David Tillman, weekend evenings; and newest hire Travis Herzog, weekend mornings.

 

Brandon said viewers should not consider his absence from daily television an indication that he is done working.

 

"I'd go crazy if I didn't do something," he said. "I would love to do a little talk show on radio if anybody was interested. I would be interested in participating in the blogosphere at some point. Maybe I don't know what I want to be."