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Ginny Ryan and Doug Emblidge, venerable television journalists who have reported the news on Channel 13 for parts or all of five decades, announced they will retire from the TV set this fall.
Ryan and Emblidge have co-anchored the station’s 5 p.m. newscast since 1990 — making them perhaps the country’s longest-running anchor team.
Ryan also co-anchored the 11 p.m. newscast with Channel 13 icon Don Alhart from 1991 to 2020, and then with Emblidge the past two years. Alhart, 78, continues to anchor the 6 p.m. newscast, adding to his Guinness World Record for longest television news career (56 years).
Ryan and Emblidge were inducted into the New York State Broadcasters Hall of Fame in 2018.
“You won’t find two better journalists who care more about their community than these two Hall of Famers,” Chuck Samuels, station vice president and general manager, said in a news release. “Their dedication to making 13WHAM News the best it can be is second to none. I am very happy for them as they take on new challenges and extremely grateful for the legacy they will leave here.”
Both said they were at the point in their careers where they weren’t sure they wanted to commit to another three-year contract, and that they were eager to see what a more normal work life would resemble.
So, while they are leaving broadcast news, neither is retiring. Ryan’s last day on the air will be Oct. 7, after which she will join Canandaigua National Bank & Trust as senior vice president and director of community engagement. Emblidge will anchor his last newscast on Nov. 29. He will then move to Alesco Advisors to pursue his hidden passion of working in the financial field and helping nonprofits.
“I still love the job but I want to try something new; I’m ready to love my new job,” Ryan, 59, said on Friday morning. “I’ve been doing nights since my son was 6 years old. I want to go out to dinner with my friends. I want to have the same schedule as my husband (Jeff Curran). 13 was gracious and offered other opportunities but I truly believe it is time to do something new.”
A 1981 graduate of Cardinal Mooney High School (which was located in Greece), Ryan began her career in television at WENY-TV in Elmira and was hired at Channel 13 in 1987.
Emblidge, 61, graduated from Rush-Henrietta’s Roth High School in 1979 and has been at Rochester’s ABC affiliate (first identified as WOKR, now 13 WHAM) since 1983. That was 10 years after he told father, Roger, following a tour of the station from the late Dick Burt, “that’s where I want to work.”
“I really am a lucky man,” Emblidge said. “I’m not running away from what I’ve been doing, I’m running to something else. I have four grandkids and the idea of more normal hours and some weekends off is appealing.”
In a joint statement issued by the station, Ryan and Emblidge said, “It’s been a great run. This job has been our calling and our passion for a combined 75 years. There are so many things we will miss — the privilege of being reporters and storytellers, the buzz of the newsroom, the adrenaline rush of live television and, most of all, the people.
“We’ll miss connecting each day with the viewers who have treated us so well for so long. It has been an honor. We took the job seriously. Hopefully, we served them well.”
Both acknowledged that the industry has changed, “but what profession hasn’t changed?” Ryan said.
“The newsroom always perseveres and I know they’ll continue to do great work,” Ryan said. “We’re handing off to the next generation of viewers and reporters, and that’s a good thing.”
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