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Veteran WTHR evening anchor calling it quits after delaying retirement
John Stehr, 60, held off on leaving for several months but will finally take his last lap this week with a number of tributes to his four-decade career.
John Stehr, 60, held off on leaving for several months but will finally take his last lap this week with a number of tributes to his four-decade career.
The frenzy of deal-making inevitably leads to speculation about the future of WTHR-TV Channel 13—which, incredibly, has been under the ownership of the same family—the Wolfes of Columbus, Ohio—since 1975.
As part of its $4.1 deal to acquire Tribune Media Co., Nexstar Media must sell TV stations in numerous markets to avoid regulatory problems. Those sales are almost certain to involve stations in Indianapolis.
To complete a deal, Nexstar Media Group Inc. and Tribune Media Co. will likely have to sell off one of their Indianapolis stations to comply with FCC regulations.
WISH, the local CW affiliate owned by Nexstar Media Group Inc., announced Thursday that it plans beef up anchor roles for three existing on-air employees.
Ericka Flye, who joined WRTV-TV Channel 6 in 2000, abruptly left the station last week under unexplained circumstances.
Bob Kravitz, the longtime local sports columnist who recently lost his job with WTHR-TV Channel 13, will continue covering local sports in his new gig.
Station officials confirmed that reporter Brittany Lewis is departing, and several industry sources told IBJ that anchor Lauren Lowrey—who has been on maternity leave since late August—also is leaving.
As wintry weather descends on central Indiana, Channel 8 is filling two openings on its forecasting staff with native Hoosiers—one of whom worked for a local competitor until 2017.
After two years in Indianapolis, Ball State grad Brad Maushart will return to a station where he formerly worked as an intern.
WTHR-TV Channel 13 becomes the second TV station in the Indianapolis market to have a news director opening.
After five years, Kerri Cavanaugh is exiting her post as vice president of news for Tribune Broadcasting’s local stations.
A source told IBJ on Tuesday that Kravitz had been laid off with several others at the top-rated local TV station.
WISH-TV Channel 8 plans to extend its weekend news coverage by a half-hour on Saturdays and Sundays, the station announced this week.
Wright is the longest-serving TV station manager in Indianapolis. He joined WFYI in 1988 as director of program production before being appointed president and CEO the following year.
Auto racing analyst Derek Daly, who was fired by WISH-TV on Wednesday, said former Indianapolis Colts broadcaster Bob Lamey was completely inaccurate in his retelling of the incident, which led to both of them losing jobs.
According to the station, the story Lamey told that got him into trouble was a retelling of story Daly told nearly 35 years ago.
The team outperformed expectations in 2017-18, when just one of its regular-season games was on national television.
Sinclair Broadcast Group Inc. saw its bid to become a nationwide powerhouse collapse after its would-be partner, Tribune Media Co., withdrew from a planned $3.9 billion merger that drew the ire of regulators.
Had the deal gone through, it would have reshaped the Indianapolis television landscape. Chicago-based Tribune owns WTTV-TV Channel 4 and WXIN-TV Channel 59.