Tenney talks about decision to leave News-3
Fifteen years has come down to three weeks for Kendall Tenney. As officially announced by the station today, the 4 and 6 p.m. weekday co-anchor on KVBC-TV, Channel 3 will depart when his contract expires on Dec. 31, though his last day on the air will be Dec. 23, as he burns off remaining vacation days.
“I feel it’s the right time and the right move for me,” Tenney said between newscasts, adding that he plans to open a public relations firm in town on Jan. 4. “I’m excited about the opportunity to do something I feel this job has prepared me for. For 15 years I’ve been on the receiving end of PR pitches, and I certainly know what works and what doesn’t.”
Referring to the contract not being renewed — and that many stations are shedding personnel and salaries to cope with declining ad revenue — Lisa Howfield, the station’s general manager, said that “money plays into everything we do anymore, but it’s not 100 percent of it. He came in and told us about the public relations firm he’s getting ready to open, so it was really more of a mutual thing.”
Still, Tenney — who joined Channel 3 in 1994 as a morning anchor and moved to the afternoon anchor chair in 1999 — acknowledged that the recession had him thinking about career alternatives as stations continue to struggle. “The economy has us all thinking we need to make sure we have a Plan B. I have five kids to feed, so I definitely was making sure a Plan B was in place just in case Plan A didn’t go well. And as I continued to develop Plan B, it became Plan A.”
Tenney’s departure will reshuffle Channel 3’s anchor lineup, notably adding to the responsibilities of Jim Snyder, who now will join Sophia Choi at 6 p.m., piling onto his 5 and 11 p.m. duties, plus his 10 p.m. co-anchoring on KTUD (Channel 25, Cox Cable 14), all with Sue Manteris. Choi will handle 4 p.m. solo.
“Jim’s a friend and I know it’s going to be a tougher schedule for him, but if anybody can handle it, I know he can,” Tenney said. “And Sophia is more than capable of handling 4 p.m. on her own.”
High profile in Las Vegas for his charitable work, most notably as current chairman of the Make A Wish Foundation, Tenney said the station will continue to support his events. “I have my annual run the day before the Super Bowl and they’re going to continue to sponsor that,” Tenney said, adding that he also will show up periodically on “Wake Up with the Wagners” to tell the story of a child who has had a wish granted by the Make a Wish Foundation.
“I’m not going to disappear from view.”
