Marty Radovanic Returns to News Anchor Chair at WTAJ (Altoona).

After retiring over five years ago from WJAC-TV, Marty Radovanic is making a comeback to the news anchor chair, but this time for Nexstar’s WTAJ-TV, a rival organization.

Radovanic had a long and distinguished career at WJAC, where he started in 1974 as a staff announcer and covered several significant events such as the Johnstown flood, the rescue of the Quecreek miners, and the Penn State child sex abuse scandal. He retired from the organization after nearly 44 years of service.

Radovanic is excited to get back to work and support young journalists in their careers. "I never thought about getting back into the business," he said. "It was as far from my mind as anything, but there were two factors at play here. No. 1, I hate being retired. I am not a person to sit around and do nothing, and when you work in the news field, you have to be aware of what’s happening all the time."

WTAJ General Manager Phil Dubrow said Radovanic's experience and knowledge of news in the market area make him a valuable addition to their team. "We had an anchor opening and had been searching nationwide," he said. "Marty reached out to folks here. There had been mutual respect over the years, and from there, we had a discussion. He has that passion. We are excited he still does."

Radovanic has expressed his admiration for WJAC and is not looking at his new role as a competition. "WJAC was good to me," he said. "They allowed me to have a wonderful career there for way more than half my life. I never thought of the other guy as being somebody we were out to beat. We both had a job to do."

Radovanic is set to begin anchoring for WTAJ later this month, commuting from his home in Adams Township to the station's headquarters. He is eager to get back into the news field and continue doing what he loves.