Two of the longest serving major market news VP personalities unexpectedly announced their retirement this past week on opposite coasts. NYC and Los Angeles
At WABC-TV, New York, NY. KENNY PLOTNIK is leaving this ABC o-and-o. He emailed his staff that his wife's retirement from nursing "sparked my interest in looking elsewhere for career challenges." Kenny worked for 25 years at WABC, the last ten as ND. He previously worked for the company at WPVI-TV in Philadelphia, and began his career in Buffalo.
At FOX TV JOSE RIOS is retiring. He's a former ND at the company's KTTV-TV in Los Angeles. Last year, after 20 years at the station, he left KTTV and was named vice president of digital news applications for the FOX owned stations. He's also spent 13 years at KCBS-TV in Los Angeles, eventually becoming news director there.
It is now time to say happy trails to both of these long running veteran broadcast news executives and to wish good luck and say - Adios, amigos...