Last week we reported longtime WGRZ sports director Ed Kilgore was planning to sign off from the Buffalo NBC affiliate in May after accepting a job with a company owned by Terry Pegula, the owner of the NHL’s Buffalo Sabres.
But those plans changed Saturday after Kilgore hosted a news conference for the HARBORcenter that veered into conflict of interest territory for the sports director when the Sabres got involved. Jim Toellner WGRZ president and general manager said, “The event became as much a Sabres event as it was a downtown development event.”
So Toellner announced a new plan for Kilgore saying, “Although we have complete faith in Ed’s objectivity we see from Saturday’s events that perceptions might not go that way for all. We will continue to pay Ed through the end of his originally scheduled end date but he will no longer be working at the station after Wednesday.”
The HARBORcenter, owned by Pegula, is described on the Buffalo Sabres website as a $172 million project featuring “two full-size NHL ice rinks, a full-service hotel, a two-story restaurant, street-level retail space and a five-level, 850-space parking structure.”
Toellner added, “We thank and salute Ed Kilgore for his long and impressive career and contributions and congratulate him on his new endeavors. His commitment and enthusiasm was constant and will be missed.”
[Talkin’ TV]