Stewart Ledbetter has announced his retirement from NBC affiliate WPTZ-WNNE in Burlington, Vermont after forty years.
Ledbetter is the 5:30 p.m. weekday anchor as well as the host of the Sunday public affairs program In Depth. His last scheduled broadcast will be on Friday, February 16.
“I never imagined back in 1983, when I got my professional start, that I would spend four decades telling the story of Vermont,” Ledbetter said in a prepared statement. “It’s been an absolute joy meeting tens of thousands of people across my home state, and I could not be more grateful for the experience.”
Ledbetter joined WPTZ in 1984. He’s held multiple roles within the company, including serving as news director in the nineties. Outside of his work at NBC5, he served as moderator of the Friday reporter roundtable, Vermont This Week on Vermont Public from 2007 until 2023.
“Stewart’s unwavering passion and dedication to local journalism have done so much to better our community over the last 40 years,” said WPTZ-WNNE general manager Ryan Rothstein. “Stew’s contributions within our NBC5 newsroom cannot be overstated. He leaves behind a remarkable legacy, and we are thrilled for Stew to enjoy his well-deserved retirement.”
Ledbetter told the station he would take some time to determine what is next, but plans to return as an NBC5 political contributor later in the year.
“There are very few people who can provide the wealth of knowledge Stewart has when it comes to state politics,” said news director Michael LaFlesh. “We’re grateful to know we’ll still have access to a valuable resource to provide our community with his insight.”