Tony McEwing, anchor on ‘Good Day L.A.,’ announces retirement after 30 years
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“Good Day L.A” anchor Tony McEwing, who helped lead the Fox 11 morning news broadcast for 30 years, announced his retirement during Wednesday’s broadcast.
“Nothing lasts forever, and I think the time has finally come for me to finally hang up my mic after a journey that has spanned 43 years in total,” McEwing told viewers, adding that the announcement was bittersweet. His final day will be Feb. 3. He praised the management of the station and his “Good Day L.A.” colleagues (whom he called “family”) and thanked viewers for “believing in me and hanging with me all these years.”
His exit marks the second major departure from “Good Day L.A.” in five months. Anchor Michaela Pereira announced last August that she was leaving the station after two years to pursue other opportunities.
McEwing said in a phone interview after the broadcast that he had actually planned to leave the station several years ago.
Longtime anchor Lynette Romero’s abrupt exit from KTLA kicked off a hectic week that ended with the firing of her former co-anchor, Mark Mester.
“This has been three years in the making,” he said. He was planning to depart after he signed his last contract. “I knew it was time. Then the pandemic hit,” McEwing said. He quickly made a decision to stay on.
During his tenure, McEwing has covered numerous major stories, including the O.J. Simpson murder trial, the Sept. 11 terror attacks and several earthquakes and floods.
“Six months after I was hired from Sacramento to come here, the Northridge earthquake hit,” he said.
He has also witnessed firsthand the evolution of the local morning news landscape from a relatively minor daypart into a highly competitive arena.
In a memo to the newsroom Wednesday, Pereira said she is leaving for “new opportunities.” She is expected to announce the news on air Thursday.
“The morning news has shown the most growth potential,” he said. “Viewers like tuning in to the news in the morning to see what has happened during the night. And they are very, very loyal.”
Pete Wilgoren, acting Fox 11 news director, said in a statement that McEwing was “quite simply the heartbeat of this newsroom for so many years and a huge part of the fabric of this community. Add to that, a grateful newsroom, and co-workers who will never forget their time with Tony.”
As far as his retirement plans, McEwing said his first order of business is sleep. “I don’t have to get up at zero dark thirty. Getting up at 2 and 3 in the morning gets tougher as you get older.”
Mark Mester, a co-anchor on KTLA’s popular weekend morning show, went off script over the weekend to talk about Lynette Romero’s sudden departure.
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