In the end, the most stoic of Pittsburgh news anchors remained as steady as ever. Stacy Smith’s voice cracked just the tiniest, almost imperceptible bit as he bid farewell to a 50-year broadcasting career, 38 years of it at Pittsburgh’s KDKA-TV. Smith anchored his final KDKA-TV newscast at 6 p.m.
KDKA-TV
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For KDKA-TV news anchor Stacy Smith, the decision to retire was less about his age, 72, than about hitting a milestone.
Now in his 50th year as a full-time broadcaster, Smith reached his five-decade goal.
“I really feel like I could go on another five or 10 years,” Smith said earlier this month. “So that begs the question, ‘Why are you leaving the anchor desk?’ I think it’s also because I have done it for 50 years, and I think it’s time for me to look at some other endeavors at this point.”
Paul Martino, a veteran KDKA-TV reporter/anchor, will retire from the station July 1.
Martino has been with the station since 1984 and until recently anchored weekend evening newscasts. He was replaced in that role by younger reporters and reassigned to weekday general assignment reporting.
KDKA-TV news director Kathy Hostetter did not respond to a request for comment.
Martino, a Chicago native, is the latest in a stream of station veterans who have exited Channel 2 in recent years, including Ralph Ianotti, Harold Hayes and Brenda Waters.
While some of KDKA’s departures have been true retirements, others have not. Waters departed KDKA in May 2020. Like Martino, she left after being removed from her role as a long-time weekend anchor at KDKA. Waters relocated from Pittsburgh to Atlanta in January to work for Georgia Public Broadcasting where she covered the Georgia legislative session earlier this year.