In a staff email with the subject “A New Chapter,” Kenny Plotnik announced this morning that he would be stepping down as news director at WABC, a position he has held for the past decade.
“For more than half my life, I’ve called our company my home away from home,” Plotnik wrote in the email, referring to the ABC station group. “First in Buffalo, then a decade in Philadelphia followed by 25 years at the greatest station in the country, WABC…I have been honored and proud to have led our News Department to countless ratings victories and recognition as an example of the highest standards of journalism in the business.”
Plotnik, who began at WABC as the 11 p.m. executive producer in June 1987 before working his way up to news director, wrote in the email that, after “a lot of thought,” he’s decided to look “elsewhere for career challenges.”
His final day with the station will be Friday, June 1st.
No word yet on who will replace Plotnik as news director. WABC general manager Dave Davis was not immediately available for comment.
A perennial ratings winner, WABC won across virtually all dayparts during the recently concluded May sweeps, including a 6.1 household rating for the station’s 11 p.m. newscast, the highest in three years.
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