Hey gang,

I came across this site today and figured why not answer the question...

Like many in television, we leave at some point to either get out of the business or move to another city. In my case, after 11+ years, I decided to retire from television. Often you don't hear when an anchor/reporter leaves, there is no announcement, they are just gone. That's the way television works. It is actually rare to see a goodbye on a grand scale. I worked 7 years at KOCO and all I got was "delete". I feel for the viewer in that situation because it's you guys that changed your viewing habits for me. Maybe you watched another station until I came along or maybe you stopped watching 5 because I came along! ;-) The point is that you deserve to know what happened and it's a disservice to you by the station for not telling you.

Fortunately, in today’s world of blogs, internet chatter, talk forums, wiki, etc, it's much easier to get that answer you desire. Case in point, here's mine.

Although I enjoyed what I did, I grew tired of the job and wanted a change. You have to remember that a TV personality is working 24/7. For example, when you leave your office, you don't have to take your work home with you. With us, we are like a salesman without a day off, always representing the station, we're always "so and so from channel X". There is no privacy and you are not allowed to have a "bad day". Sometimes you just don't want to be bothered. You probably get a feel from that by watching all of the Hollywood gossip and seeing the actors dealings w/the "paparazzi". Again, for them it comes down to privacy and wanting to leave work at work. How many of you have people call/email your boss on a daily basis and tell him what they saw you do or heard you do, or maybe just lie about what you did? Then have that boss grill you over something you were innocent about just because that's the way it is. Welcome to life in television.

It's not all bad of course, otherwise people wouldn't be in it. I can tell you that outside of a few, no one makes the kind of money you think we make. I would guess that the average range for reporters in this market is $35-$45K a year. Anchors $45-65K depending on how long they've worked here. Sure the top dogs, all 10 of them in this market could make anywhere from $70-$100+, but that's where trouble lies. The more you make, the more you are likely to be let go. Local television news stations were a hugely profitable business in the early years up through the early 90s. Now, with all of the competition from cable, satellite, iPods, internet, etc, the formula has changed. The new formula is cheap labor, overworked, fired/released, back to cheap labor, etc. This is typically why you see so many new faces at each station every couple of years. Out with the old, in with the new. But I digress...

Back to my particular case, I just couldn't see myself doing the same thing 5 years from now and had a great opportunity to work for the federal government. I'm part of a team of meteorologists and engineers that work at the FAA next door to Will Rogers Airport. We maintain the TDWR, Terminal Doppler Weather Radar. These radars are deployed at 45 of the major airports across the country and are used by Air Traffic Controllers and Pilots to prevent plane crashes due to hazardous weather. So in essence, I'm still saving lives but on a grander scale. This job is completely different from television, normal working hours, holidays/weekends off. More time to spend with my family, church, etc.

Anyway, I just wanted to chime in here to let you know a little about the business and my particular situation. Thanks for inquiring; that shows that I made an impact in your daily lives, and hopefully it was a positive one.

Aaron Tuttle
Former Met KOCO-TV
TDWR & Meteorological Support FAA