Berkshire Viewers Remain Confused About Albany TV News Line-Up

Berkshire county residents take note: Since December of 2020, News Channel 13 has lost some prominent news anchors beginning with the retirement of Jim Kambrich. Months later, my near and dear friend Benita Zahn announced her departure as she left the anchor desk to embark on a new adventure as a certified health and well-being coach and YES she is STILL taking center stage either acting on a play OR singing with another former employee, Jerry Gretzinger who also left the TV business in March as he accepted a position with The New York State Office of Addiction Services and Support.

This trio played an integral part in WNYT's success during the early evening and night time hours as the Albany based NBC affiliate was enjoying a good run in daily viewership. Now the situation is confusing in nature as News Channel 13 has recently seen a vast turnover in their talent and the station's ratings are NOT getting any better.

The latest casualty is Emily DeVito, who recently anchored the noon newscast and was part of their early morning news, but management removed her from the midday post due to changes in retooling the broadcast. She will now embark in a position with The Capital District Transit Authority (CDTA) as the organization's Communications Manager.

The station has also seen an influx of producers and camera operators vacating their positions. Anchor-Reporter Sam Hessler has also stepped down. Jacquie Slater left her post earlier this year as we miss her quality skills on the field. NC 13's morning show has seen plenty of overhaul within the past few months as WNYT's News Director has not been forward in response to these massive changes. In a previous article, I mentioned you need a scorecard to fill in those blanks and it seems like our Berkshire county audience has run out of room to insert and remove names from the ever changing line-up card.

To sum it up, the revolving door has NOT stopped spinning on North Pearl Street in Menands, New York. We will try to keep you posted on these constant developments that are plaguing a once stable Capital Region TV station, What else can be said about this situation? Asia said it best: "Only Time Will Tell".