Joe Gibbs returns after 11 years and Rene Knott departs after 11 years.
Knott is leaving WJLA less than a month after the station announced his replacement as weeknight sports anchor by ABC commentator and former WJLA sports director Tim Brant.
Knott will be the main sports anchor at KSDK, the Gannett-owned NBC affiliate in St. Louis, the 21st-ranked market in the country. Washington is ranked eighth.
"It has been one of the greatest times of my life to be a part of ABC 7," Knott said during an on-air farewell at the close of the 11 p.m. news on Tuesday. "It's just tremendous and thanks, everyone, for watching as well."
Although Knott, 39, wanted to stay in Washington, he also wanted to retain a lead sports anchor position, but WJLA executives wanted him to remain in a secondary role.
WJLA executives did make him a final offer to stay on Friday, according to Knott. "It wasn't one that I could move forward with as far as my family getting ready for colleges," he said in an interview yesterday.
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He added that besides financial concerns, he couldn't envision himself as second fiddle in a department that he had led for more than a decade. "It's tough to be in a place and watch someone else do what you were doing," Knott said.
Share this articleShareBrant is the final component of WJLA's overhaul of its news lineup, which began in 1999 with the hiring of anchor Maureen Bunyan from WUSA. It continued with the acquisition of chief meteorologist Doug Hill, another WUSA alum, and anchor Leon Harris, formerly of CNN.
Brant made his WJLA debut at the top of the station's 5 p.m. news yesterday, reporting live from Redskins Park in Ashburn, Va., on the news of coach Gibbs's return to the Washington Redskins.
"I talked to Joe Gibbs about a week ago. I said, 'Hey, Joe, why don't we do this together? We'll come out Wednesday, January 7. We'll start together,' " Brant joked on the air.
Knott said it was hard to see another anchor take over his former job.
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