Philly 6ABC News Anchor Jim Gardner Announces Retirement

Jim Gardner (Inquirer photo)

Jim Gardner has been the face of local news in Philadelphia for 44 years, and Wednesday’s Action News was no different than any 6 p.m. broadcast he’s delivered on 6ABC during his time in the anchor’s chair.

But at the end of the broadcast, Gardner delivered breaking news of a more personal nature — he’s retiring, reports The Philly Inquirer. 

Gardner, 73, is dialing back his schedule a bit beginning in January, when he will give up hosting the 11 p.m. edition of Action News. He’ll continue to anchor the 6 p.m. newscast alongside Ducis Rodgers and Cecily Tynan until he turns in his earpiece for good at the end of 2022.

“I look forward, for instance, to being able to watch a Sixers game on television with my wife, or, my goodness — to even go to a game on a weeknight. Or maybe even linger over dinner, or doze off reading a book before 2 in the morning,” Gardner told viewers Wednesday night. “It is a lifestyle I haven’t experienced in 45 years, and it’s time.”

It goes without saying Gardner is an institution in Philadelphia, even if he doesn’t think of himself that way. He’s the city’s longest-tenured on-air personality, and for many viewers, it’s hard to hear the famed Action News jingle and not see his face. But he was born and raised in New York City, and after graduating from Columbia University, Gardner landed radio jobs in New York before being offered his first TV job in Buffalo.

There was just one catch: Gardner’s real name is James Goldman, and he was asked by the station’s owners to use a different name on the air because of the small size of Buffalo’s Jewish population.

His professional name stuck, and after just two years in Buffalo, Gardner was hired away by 6ABC in 1976 as a reporter and their noon anchor. A year later, he was given the anchor position on the 6 and 11 p.m. newscasts vacated by Larry Kane, where he’s remained for the last 44 years.

6ABC has long been the most-watched station in Philadelphia, and for nearly 45 years Action News has been the dominant newscast. Gardner’s departure leaves a big spot to fill and comes after his longtime colleague David Murphy said goodbye to 6ABC after 31 years as a meteorologist and reporter.