Veteran WTVQ anchor Tom Kenny has been forced out of his job after the Lexington, Ky., ABC affiliate decided to go in a different direction.
“The station came to me and said that they were terminating my contract as the main anchor because they wanted to go in a different direction,” Kenny told the Herald Leader. “I was offered another position in the newsroom that I respectfully declined and so we parted ways.”
Normally stations stay quiet about their intentions regarding personnel moves, but WTVQ news director Miranda Combs confirmed the decision was a “tough one.” Kenny’s last day was Friday.
“We absolutely adore Tom but we decided to go a different direction on the anchor desk and offered him a different role and he declined that,” said Combs. “Tom was incredible in the newsroom—and he will be dearly missed.”
Kenny started working at WTVQ in June 2001 as a general assignment reporter. In his station bio, which has since been removed, WTVQ said “Tom has more than three decades of experience in broadcast journalism. He is the only broadcast journalist in Lexington television history to be honored with a national Edward R. Murrow Award. ”
“I have no ill will and wish nothing but success for them,” said Kenny. “It was decided that I wasn’t a part of the future on air plans and that is just how our business works.”