KSL's Bruce Lindsay to retire

Longtime KSL-TV anchorman Bruce Lindsay has announced he's calling it quits. A fixture at the station for 34 years, he'll be retiring in late May or early June.

He said it was a decision he made three years ago.

"It's just kind of a life-stage thing," Lindsay said. "You don't want to be on the stage when it's time for you to make your exit. This is just a really good time."

Lindsay has certainly had the kind of longevity few anchors at any TV station in America achieve.

"Bruce is the pre-eminent male anchor in this market," said Tanya Vea, KSL's executive vice president of news. "The number of people who have said, 'I grew up watching him' — they're just everywhere you turn."

Lindsay first came to KSL in 1974, then, after a stint in Los Angeles, returned to Channel 5 in 1978 and remained.

"It's clearly lack of ambition," he said with a laugh.

Not that he didn't have opportunities — KUTV-Channel 2, among others, tried unsuccessfully to hire him away.

"We had two real close brushes with Channel 2 during the time that I was here. Took one of them very seriously," Lindsay said. "But I have no plans to do anything else in TV. Most people aren't looking for 62-year-old anchormen.

"There's life beyond this. But this has been great. There's not any kind of dissatisfaction. There's a little wistfulness, but your life kind of happens when it happens."

KSL has launched a "nationwide search" for Lindsay's successor, but Vea did not rule out promoting from within.

"We haven't ruled anything out," she said. "But Bruce is not going to be easy to replace. We can't replace him. We're just looking for his successor."

spierce@sltrib.com