Ed Murray Retires

[Tydude]

it was announced this morning on news 9 Facebook page that Ed Murray will retire from news 9 and hang up the mic they haven't announced his last day but they say he will be anchoring this weekend.He will be miss by news 9 viewers

[venture]

Lost Ogle report:

Additionally, we have learned via the Ogle Mole Network that longtime Oklahoma City broadcaster Ed Murray is resigning for “health reasons” and “because he wants out of TV.” Translation: Murray was basically going to be Gan Matthewed, and since he’s a class act, he took the high road and resigned.
Update! Here’s an email to KWTV staffers from News Director Todd Spessard about Murray’s departure:
Ed Murray has decided to make a change…and move away from his career in the TV business. As you all know, it has been a difficult past 12 months for Ed and he has decided to begin a transition away from news. This is something Ed has been thinking about (and talking with us about) for a few weeks, so it is not sudden. While we do the search, Ed will continue to anchor our weekend newscasts, so we don’t have to disrupt other schedules.
I admire and appreciate how hard Ed has worked these past few months to return to a normal routine.
Ed will be around several more weeks–and something tells me a frequent visitor after that. So there will be plenty of time to remember all he has done for News 9 for the past 30 years; a very successful three decades.
Thanks,
Todd
Todd Spressard
Director, PM Content

First Gan Matthews and now Ed Murray. You know that some of the other old timers around the KWTV newsroom have to be a little bit scared. Not only is there a youth movement going on at Oklahoma City’s former news leader, but now that OETA no longer has a news report, it’s even harder for them to find another news job.

[drumsncode]

Wow, the plot thickens. Now I wonder who will be anchoring on weekend evenings.

[adaniel]

How sad. Outside of Gary England KWTV sure does like 'em young and hot, so I guess there was no room for Ed.

How long before Kelly Ogle and Gary England decide to go?

[drumsncode]

How sad. Outside of Gary England KWTV sure does like 'em young and hot, so I guess there was no room for Ed.

How long before Kelly Ogle and Gary England decide to go?

They like the women "young and hot", but they want the men to be distinguished and authoritative. I don't look for Kelly to ever leave. They'll stuff the corpse someday and animate his mouth. ;-)

[Tydude]

the next one to retire hopefully it will be Gary England

[Thunder]

I think Gary England should stay and repeat his famous phrase, "I don't see how anyone can survive," each year in Spring during sensational tornado coverages. And don't forget the, "A tornado touched down in Frontier Country." (Tulsa metro area is Green Country...why? I dunno. OKC metro area is Frontier Country. One guess...)

[Tydude]

I think Gary England should stay and repeat his famous phrase, "I don't see how anyone can survive," each year in Spring during sensational tornado coverages. And don't forget the, "A tornado touched down in Frontier Country." (Tulsa metro area is Green Country...why? I dunno. OKC metro area is Frontier Country. One guess...)

that is one reason why i don't want news 9 during the tornado coverage i stick with KOCO 5

[MDot]

that is one reason why i don't want news 9 during the tornado coverage i stick with KOCO 5

I stick with KOCO and Jesus when a tornado comes along.

[Brett]

Sad to see Ed Murray go. He is a real pro. I was concerned about his health and it is good to know that he is able to walk away from the rat race and be able to stop and smell the roses.

[oneforone]

Gary hit 32 years a few years back. I am willing to bet he will probably retire/semi-retire in the near future. When that happens, I wonder who KWTV will pursue. Will it be Mike Morgan or Rick Mitchell, maybe Jeff George since they are looking for that young hit appeal with their female anchors and reporters. I can't see them turning the place over to Jed Castles or Mike Armstrong. I don't think either could pull the ratings Gary has over the years.

[soonerliberal]

Gary hit 32 years a few years back. I am willing to bet he will probably retire/semi-retire in the near future. When that happens, I wonder who KWTV will pursue. Will it be Mike Morgan or Rick Mitchell, maybe Jeff George since they are looking for that young hit appeal with their female anchors and reporters. I can't see them turning the place over to Jed Castles or Mike Armstrong. I don't think either could pull the ratings Gary has over the years.

I could see them scaling Gary back to just doing one or two newscasts a day, but you better believe that it will be on his terms. Like him or not, he is a ratings magnet during severe weather. There are several "legends" I have seen who do just the 5 or 6pm news in their semi-retirement, leaving the late news and other evening newscasts to the new chief meteorologist.

[kevinpate]

Sad to see Ed Murray go. He is a real pro. ...

+10
(And I still regret how they broke their morning show. Bill and Robin were one of the best balanced pairings I've ever seen on the news.)

[yukong]

Gary hit 32 years a few years back. I am willing to bet he will probably retire/semi-retire in the near future. When that happens, I wonder who KWTV will pursue. Will it be Mike Morgan or Rick Mitchell, maybe Jeff George since they are looking for that young hit appeal with their female anchors and reporters. I can't see them turning the place over to Jed Castles or Mike Armstrong. I don't think either could pull the ratings Gary has over the years.

The one they need to bring back is Zach Daniel. He was real good, and he has a lot of Oklahoma connections. Has his meteorology degree from OU. IIRC he was very popular at 9. But he wanted to be the head guy, and he went back east. Last I heard, he was at WTVR in Richmond, VA.