Saying Goodbye...
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Two Anchors, Two Cities, Two Goodbyes....
Two longtime Anchors are signing off tonight from careers that made them famous in their market and a lot of money.
Ron Magers signs off from WLS in Chicago. Magers came to Chicago in the early 80's, working at WMAQ. He left the station when they brought Jerry Springer on as a news commentator in 1998. He crossed the street to No. 1 WLS and has been there ever since.
How big is Ron Magers? The Chicago Sun Times featured him on the front-page on Today's newspaper.
Down in Orlando, Bob Opsahl leaves WFTV in Orlando. Opsahl has been anchoring the news in O-Town for as long as most people can remember.
The Mayor of Orlando declared that Today is Bob Opsahl day in Orlando. Which we guess means he can speed to work and not worry about getting a traffic ticket.
Both Anchors are the last few on the high priced TV Anchors. You can bet that no one will ever make as much money as Ron and Bob at their respective stations ever again.
TV news has changed so much since both Ron and Bob started, some for the good and often for the bad.
When those two started, TV news was much more about news and less about making money and doing anything to grab ratings.
TV news back then did not have Reporters that did "all about me TV". Reporters then just reported the news and stuck to the facts.
Ron and Bob sign off and both will be replaced with people making a lot less money and will worry more about ratings than the facts of a story.
The business has changed and Today's retirements and a big reminder of that.
Good luck Bob and Ron and good night.
