UTICA -- Longtime NewsChannel 2 (WKTV) anchor Bill Worden has died at the age of 80. The NBC/CBS affiliate says Worden passed this morning following a brief illness.
With WKTV often dominating the ratings with a huge margin, virtually anyone who owned a TV in the Utica market between his arrival in 1977 and his retirement in 2012 could identify Bill Worden.
On the station's website, WKTV VP/GM Steve McMurray said:
“The word ‘icon’ gets thrown around a lot to describe folks whose accomplishments are noteworthy, but Bill earned that title in every sense of the word. His picture still adorns the hallway in our main entrance because, for so many years, Bill was WKTV.”
Prior to joining WKTV, Bill Worden's broadcasting career started in the 60s and 70s at former radio stations WBVM and WRUN. Jumping from radio to TV would take Worden to Kansas and Ohio before returning home to Utica and WKTV in 1977.
As of this writing, a full obituary and funeral arrangements are still pending.
