Some sad news from the Big Easy…

Eric Paulsen, whose five decades on New Orleans television placed him on a list of the country’s longest-tenured broadcasters, with more than 40 years as the top-rated and enormously popular morning news anchor and reporter for WWL Louisiana, died Saturday morning.

Paulsen had been away from the anchor desk for more than a month, announcing on September 18 that he had been recently diagnosed with a “fairly aggressive” form of cancer. “I’m not a person who worries about a lot in life, and I've always been a fighter. This is a fight I don’t welcome, but I’m ready for this battle,” he said in a message to viewers.

“I’ve had such a wonderful ride here in New Orleans,” Paulsen said in a 2021 online interview with Tipitina’s TV. “When I came here, I was young, 25 years old maybe, and my plan was to go to the network. But things changed, opportunities opened up here and I fell in love with the city and it’s just been a great ride.”

Here’s how the Tegna station announced his death to viewers. Sadly, the station put a preroll ad on the front of the video. Do you have to try and make money off the death of your Anchor?

H/T WWL