A Top-Paid New York News Anchor Gets The Heave-Ho After 32 Years
One of New York City's longest-serving TV news anchors is getting the boot.
After more than three decades, Sue Simmons, who reportedly is the top-paid local news anchorwoman in the country, was told last week that her contract with WNBC won't be renewed when it expires in June, according to New York Post columnist Cindy Adams.
The station said it had been "engaged in ongoing conversations with Sue about her transition from WNBC," according to a statement provided to The New York Times.
"We have tremendous respect and admiration for Sue Simmons," the statement said. "For decades, Sue has been a critical part of New York's longest-tenured anchor team in the city and has more than earned her iconic status."
Simmons, 68, joined the NBC affiliate in 1980 and has hosted newscasts for many years with fellow newsman Chuck Scarborough, who is also 68. Until recently, the pair anchored local newscasts at both 6 and 11 p.m. But Simmons was recently cut from the earlier broadcast, the Post notes.
Scarborough, it appears, will stay on. His contract, which also expires in June, has been picked up for another three years.
Since starting at the station, Simmons has won four Emmy awards, but is perhaps best known to a broader audience as the news anchor who in 2008 dropped the F-bomb on the air after she thought her microphone had been cut off. The incident, which drew millions of views on YouTube, resulted in Simmons issuing an on-air apology to viewers who may have been offended by her salty language.
It was, as Adams writes, "a mistake, sure -- but also very New York."
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David Schepp
David Schepp has spent more than a dozen years covering business news for the electronic and print media, including Dow Jones Newswires, BBC News, Gannett Co., and most recently at AOL's DailyFinance. Nearly 10 years ago, he started writing a weekly People@Work column, looking in depth at issues facing workers in today's workplace. Follow David on Twitter. Email David at david.schepp@huffingtonpost.com. Add David to your Google+ circles.
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