Legendary New York City TV anchor Chuck Scarborough is leaving WNBC after 50 years, The Post has learned.
Mr. Scarborough, 81, is expected to break the news to viewers during NBC News 4 New York's broadcast Thursday at 6 p.m., officials said.
The Emmy Award-winning newspaper reporter briefed his colleagues in a meeting at 3:15 p.m. Thursday, the insider added. He said the last broadcast will be on December 12th.
Scarborough, the longest-serving anchor in New York history, has called his time at the station “historic,” a source told the Post.
“It's time to spread your wings,” the source said, paraphrasing Scarborough's own words.
A spokesperson for the network declined to comment.
No successor has been named.
“It's been a great run,” an NBC official said, noting it was expected given the anchor's setbacks after working four days a week.
The source also pointed to the turmoil in the news industry, which has been squeezed by network cuts and layoffs in recent years, and said it was a good time for anchormen to retire.
Scarborough, a Pittsburgh native and Air Force veteran, began his television career at WLOX-TV in Mississippi, then moved to WAGA-TV in Atlanta and then WNAC-TV in Boston.
He joined WNBC Television in March 1974 as lead anchor for the then-new 5 p.m. NewsCenter 4 broadcast.
Mr. Scarborough covered major New York news stories, including the 1977 “Night of Terror” power outage, the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, and the 2020 coronavirus pandemic.
Journalists also led national and international breaking news reporting, filing reports from Europe, Russia, the Middle East, the Philippines, Mexico, and South America.
Scarborough's co-anchors include Jim Hertz, Jack Cafferty, John Hambrick, Pat Harper, Dawn Fratangelo, Sibylla Vargas, Linda Baquero, Natalie Pasquarella, and most notably, Sue Simmons. Included.
Simmons joined Scarborough in 1980 on the 11 p.m. newscast. They shared an anchor desk for a whopping 32 years.
They were the longest-running anchor team in New York City television news history, according to NBC.
Earlier this year, Scarborough was praised for his incredible run on WNBC in true New York style. March 25th, Empire State Building lit up It was decorated in blue and gold to commemorate his 50th anniversary at the station.
“This was truly amazing, because it was exactly 50 years ago on Monday, March 25th, that I walked through the doors of NBC and began this career that has brought me. Celebrating my 50th anniversary. “It's a great way to start,” he said at the time.
