Signing Off in Memphis

WMC Anchor Tim Van Horn has left the building. The Weekend Anchor left the Memphis station to...say it with me...spend more time with his family.

Van Horn broke the news to viewers on his blog, writing when Dave Brown and (then) News Director Peggy Phillip took a chance on me back in June of 1999 as a part-timer, I wasn’t thinking much about parlaying the chance into a career that would last 15-and-a-half years.  I just wanted to make it through the next newscast.  In late 2000 I fell into what I thought was the broadcasting lottery, a full-time gig at WMC.  At the time such opportunities were as rare as driving 10 minutes in Memphis without seeing a BBQ restaurant or a church on the corner.  I can tell you that even to this day I still appreciate this fact.

After an extended period of time, consideration and prayer I’ve chosen however, to shut the microphone off.

Family changes priorities. When taking into account my wife’s typical office-hours schedule & my all-weekend schedule, my wife, daughter and I have rarely been awake and all together for more than three hours at a time. This isn’t a knock on anyone or anything. It’s just a fact of the business for some.

I can’t thank all of you enough for the living you’ve allowed me to earn over these many years.  Also, thank you for your trust when the weather was at its worst.  It is not an understatement when I say it is a privilege to serve you.  Without viewers, tv folks don’t have jobs.  It’s just that simple.