Sinclair Jettisons Longtime WJLA Anchor Maureen Bunyon

Maureen Bunyon 2004

After more than 40 years of anchoring newscasts on Washington TV stations, Maureen Bunyan got some startling news of her own last week: Her employer, Sinclair Broadcast Group, told her that next month would be her last at WJLA (Channel 7), Bunyan’s TV home since 1999.

The Washington Post reports the station’s management decided it no longer needed Bunyan, 71, a pioneering figure who was among the first African American women in the nation to anchor a local evening newscast in the late 1970s. And just that quickly, Bunyan met the fate that has befallen other members of her once-familiar news team at WJLA since Sinclair bought the station in mid-2014.

According to WaPo, first it was Arch Campbell, WJLA’s entertainment reporter and a 40-year veteran of local news. Then it was veteran sportscaster Tim Brant, then anchor Leon Harris. Anchor Gordon Peterson — one of the deans of Washington TV news — retired in 2014 rather than work for Sinclair.

Sinclair, based outside Baltimore, has grown rapidly over the past dozen or so years by buying TV station chains across the country. It now stands as the largest operator in the nation, with 173 outlets spread over 81 markets. Its $985 million purchase of WJLA, and seven other stations owned by Allbritton Communications, of Arlington, was one of the largest of its many deals.

But all that acquisition, fueled largely with borrowed money, has saddled Sinclair with some $4.93 billion in liabilities, necessitating a sharp eye on overhead at its many stations. Sinclair denied any connection between its personnel decisions and its financial condition.

“When we acquired WJLA two years ago, we studied the market carefully and set a course to make WJLA a top-tier station in D.C.,” said Dan Mellon, the station’s general manager. “That plan required realigning our priorities and resources to reach our audiences where they are and with content that matters to them.”

Combined with sister cable station NewsChannel 8, WJLA — known as ABC7 — maintains the largest TV news operation in the region, he said. Sinclair has invested about $2.6 million in studios, weather-and-traffic systems, cameras, editing equipment and digital assets, Mellon said.

He added: “Decisions on on-air talent at WJLA have been made because of our desire to boost ratings.”