Longtime WPVI anchor Jim Gardner said he is going to stop anchoring the 11 p.m. newscast after celebrating 40 years in broadcasting.
The station said Gardner let his colleagues know he’ll reduce his schedule in preparation for his retirement. Gardner will stay on as anchor of the 6 p.m. newscast with Ducis Rodgers and meteorologist Cecily Tynan.
Gardner plans to retire at the end of 2022. His last late newscast is scheduled for early January. WPVI will announce his replacement in the coming months.
“It’s hard to imagine that I have had the opportunity to spend a professional lifetime with colleagues so committed, resourceful and wonderful. They have taught me so much about television journalism and about myself. I am profoundly grateful,” said Gardner. “I have spent most of my adult life at Action News, and many of our viewers have grown up and experienced life along with me and the on-air team I’ve worked side-by-side with. I’ve been blessed to raise a family here and to be a member of this community over the past 45 years. I feel I have a special relationship with our viewers and the communities we serve, and I plan to continue to enjoy every minute with them over the next year.”
After graduating from Columbia University in 1970, Gardner worked at WINS Radio in New York. Two years later, he joined WFAS Radio in White Plains, New York. His first job in television was with WKBW in Buffalo. He joined WPVI in 1976 as a reporter and anchor of the noon newscast and was named 6 and 11 p.m. anchor one year later.
He is expected to make the announcement on-air at 6 p.m.