Molly Hughes will leave the anchor desk at KCNC-Channel 4 after the next ratings book.
After helping the newscast to a long-sought ratings boost in the November sweeps, Hughes will step down to become a “special correspondent” for Channel 4 next year. The station will exercise an option in her contract. Not doing so now would have meant waiting another two years to make an anchor change.
KCNC announced Tuesday that Hughes wants to “spend more time with family.”
KCNC general manager Walt DeHaven said it was time to replace “a good team” with “a great team.”
“We are on the verge of overtaking (KUSA-Channel 9) in every area,” DeHaven said. “We wanted the right person in the right place. We think we can do better. She was looking to make a lifestyle change as well. It worked out for everyone.”
The change will take effect March 1 after sweeps.
In appointing a successor, DeHaven said he will consider Brooke Wagner, an up-and-comer who joined the station from San Diego in 2002, “then look everywhere across the country.”
Incoming candidates will be tested opposite Jim Benemann and put through the focus group evaluation process.
Hughes, who has co-anchored the 5, 6, 6:30 and 10 p.m. newscasts, joined KCNC in 2001 from WDTN-TV in Dayton, Ohio. She began as co-anchor of the early newscasts, 5 a.m., 6 a.m. and noon, then graduated to the evening newscasts in 2002. She served as co-anchor with Bill Stuart, then with Benemann after he returned to the station in 2003.
Because of the window in her contract, this departure may be seen as by mutual agreement, Hughes said. She acknowledged that “the timing is strange” in view of her recent positive contributions, but she said, “I’m embracing the change.”
In the future she will provide a range of profiles and reported features in her “Molly Hughes Reports” franchise (for which she recently did a Clint Hurdle profile). The winning November book was a highlight of her time at KCNC, she said. And she won’t miss some of the nights and weekends spent as an anchor-ambassador for the station.
Hughes’ e-mails on Channel 4’s website Tuesday indicate that viewers are “shocked” at the announcement.
KUSA, Colorado’s ratings kingpin for 30 years, slipped in the recent ratings sweeps as KCNC came within a rating point at 10 p.m. In the 10 p.m. average ratings for the November sweeps, KCNC grew to a 7.6 rating, 14.5 share. KUSA declined to an 8.6 rating, 16.4 share. KMGH (Channel 7) stayed flat with a 6.0 rating, 11.3 share. That was the closest Channel 4 has come to Channel 9 in more than a decade.
Channel 9 managers said the strength of CBS’ primetime entertainment schedule and the weakness of the NBC lineup was partly to blame for the narrowed race.
The local late-night news audience has been declining in recent years as viewers seek alternatives on cable, the Internet and elsewhere.
Joanne Ostrow: 303-954-1830 or jostrow@denverpost.com
