SYRACUSE -- After founding and hosting Financial Fitness on WCNY-TV for the past 20 years, J. Daniel Pluff has recently resigned from the program. According to an email Pluff sent out to former guests and obtained by CNYTVNews.com, Pluff says he walked out over a disagreement with station management.
The recipient list in Pluff's announcement email was suppressed, so it's unclear who or how many people received it. One of the recipients, who wishes to remain anonymous, forwarded the message to CNYTVNews.com.
In the email, Pluff said the disagreement involved "the issue of who should guest-host the show during those times when I am absent." Pluff explained, "I should have the ability to select" guest hosts. While he acknowledges "the station has the right to reject a choice of mine," he says, "I should have the right to ... reject candidates as well. As they have moved forward with a choice of their own, I have decided to resign from the show."
Matt Michael, WCNY Public Relations Manager, confirmed Pluff's resignation, stating, "WCNY is in the process of making some changes with Financial Fitness and will announce those changes shortly. We’re excited about the changes and celebrating the 20th season of Financial Fitness this year, and we look forward to many more." Michael said he could not address Pluff's claims, as he was unaware of any disagreement, and had not seen the aforementioned email.
Jim Burns has been serving as guest host since Pluff resigned. We're told WCNY will be announcing the long-term plans for the show later this week, and as soon as we learn more, we'll keep you updated here on CNYTVNews.com. Financial Fitness airs live on Thursday nights at 8pm on WCNY.
In other WCNY news, another anonymous CNYTVNews.com reader wrote in last week with a tip about Brian Damm exiting WCNY. Michael confirms that Damm is no longer employed by the public broadcaster. Damm was overseeing the station's marketing efforts, which explains the "Director of Marketing" job posting on the WCNY website.