Back in September of 2010, a guy named Lloyd Robertson stepped down from the anchor desk at CTV after 42 years. 
But his retirement got me to thinking about the longest-tenured anchor in North America – and when Robertson left the first time I tried to figure this out – there were only three standing: KTRK’s Dave Ward, KING’s Jean Enersen, and WNBC’s Chuck Scarborough.
So how do things stand now that Jean Enersen has decided to hang up her spurs?
Well, Dave Ward is now 75. He started working at KTRK on November 14, 1966. The Houston Chronicle says his contract has been extended through the end of 2015, which means that next year, he’ll hit 49 years as a station employee with another 11 months to go to hit 50 years in November of 2016. But since we’re looking at the anchor gig, we have to start his count in 1968. That means he’s been behind the desk for 46 years.
Chuck Scarborough started anchoring at WNBC in March of 1974 putting him at 40 years. He turned 70 last November.
I don’t find the exact dates anywhere, but Jean Enersen completes her run with 46 years at KING, and 42 years in the anchor chair. She joined the station in 1968, and started anchoring in 1972. No matter the years though, Jean was the first local female TV news anchor-and of course has survived the longest too. And, she’s fantastic – so there is that.
With Enersen out of the race, correcting for age, Ward “leads” by three years.
So all time, it looks like it will be Ward with the gold, Scarborough with the silver, and Enersen with the bronze.
And so now we’re down to two – Ward and Scarborough for the all time championship – and when the last one hangs it up – it will mark the full, official, end to what you might call the classic version of local TV news.
