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Saturday, July 15, 2023

Philly TV: Retired Anchor Jim Gardner Launches Podcast


After more than six restful months following his retirement as the long-time main anchor at 6abc’s top-rated Action News, Jim Gardner is heading back to work, albeit in a new medium.

The Philly Business Journal reports the 75-year-old legendary anchor, who led Action News for 45 years, last month launched a podcast called "More to Explore," which will feature interviews with a wide variety of guests.

He said podcasting has taken him back to his days in radio between 1970 and 1974, when he worked for 1010 WINS in New York City and another station in nearby White Plains, New York, before starting his television career.

“Whatever skills that I learned however many years ago all of a sudden are useful again,” Gardner said. 

“And I'm really enjoying doing that in terms of audio editing and trying to figure out how to take an hour and 15 minutes of material and get it down to 45 minutes. When you're in television news, you're dealing with a minute here, two minutes there, 25 seconds here. If producers are being very tolerant of you, you might be able to do a three-minute piece. Now, I'm able to do 45 minutes.... It’s just an opportunity that I haven't had in years. And it's not just fun, but it's a chance to really delve and explore in ways that television most of the time doesn't allow you to do.”



The idea of starting a podcast came to Gardner as his retirement approached. In late December, as he prepared to anchor his last newscast, Gardner dealt with the same issue so many people face when taking that step.

He brought the concept of a podcast to 6abc President and General Manager Bernie Prazenica, who liked the idea. But Gardner admittedly doesn’t know much about podcasts as he is neither a regular listener nor technologically savvy enough to lead such an effort. So he enlisted the help of Matteo Iadonisi, a community journalist at 6abc known for his videography and storytelling talents.

Gardner also struck an agreement that would make his new venture accessible via the 6abc digital universe as well as on national platforms such as Apple and Spotify. Gardner settled on an interview format and after being delayed a few months while 6abc's parent company The Walt Disney Co. ironed out distribution issues, the first podcast dropped a few weeks ago featuring Gov. Josh Shapiro. 6abc has begun promoting Gardner’s podcasts, as they are owned by Disney and co-produced by 6abc and Gardner.

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