TVSpy
The sports director at New Orleans’ WVUE, Eric Richey, announced this week that he is leaving the station. He plans to devote his attention to his 10 a.m.-to-noon weekday radio shift at WIST AM-690.
Richey began his career as a sports anchor shortly after graduating from Clarion University of Pennsylvania in 1989. He worked in Youngstown, Toledo, Indianapolis, and Mobile before coming to New Orleans.
He joined the Fox-affiliate in June 2007, where he anchored daily sportscasts at 5:30 and 9, and produced and anchored “Final Play,” a weekly Sunday night sports show.
“This is amicable,” said Mikel Schaefer, WVUE news director.
“It’s something we’ve both been talking about for a couple of months now,” Richey said. “I have been leaving my house at 8 in the morning every day and coming home at 11 p.m. I’ve been working 14-hour days doing radio and TV and trying to work something out…I leave with nothing but positive feelings about my time here at Fox 8.”
John Henry Smith, III, who worked most recently at WPLG-Miami, has been hired to replace Richey. Smith, a 1990 graduate of Morehouse College, has an M.B.A. from the University of Rochester and a master’s degree from Syracuse University. Smith is expected to start next week and appear on the air soon after.