Longtime Richmond television anchors Cheryl Miller and Tracy Sears have signed off from WTVR CBS 6 as parent company E.W. Scripps continues deep workforce cuts and a shift toward artificial intelligence and automation.
Miller, who had anchored the station’s noon newscast since 1984, delivered her final regular weekday broadcast on Friday, November 6, closing a 42-year run. Sears, a native of Newport News who spent more than 25 years at the station, anchored her last newscast on Monday. Both departures are part of roughly 15 job losses at the Richmond station.
Scripps has eliminated 431 positions company-wide in its latest round, about 10 percent of its workforce, with cumulative cuts this year affecting nearly 20 percent of employees. CEO Adam Symson has described the changes as an “enterprise-wide transformation” that leans into AI, automation, technology, and the centralization of some roles. The company expects roughly $100 million in annualized savings while creating about 100 new positions focused on local reporting and community connection.
Miller told viewers her last newscast was not a final goodbye. She will continue hosting the station’s long-running Battle of the Brains program and co-hosting the Richmond Christmas Parade, roles she has held for years. Sears, who continued on a reduced schedule after a cancer diagnosis during pregnancy, said she is grateful for the support of news director Sheryl Barnhouse that allowed her to balance work and family. She plans to focus next on community outreach.
The cuts arrive as fewer viewers treat local newscasts as appointment television. During the recent midterm elections, YouTube outperformed every linear television network. Cord-cutting and the migration of advertising dollars to digital platforms have pressured traditional broadcast models for years.
Those market forces do not eliminate the need for reporters who are physically present. Local journalists still cover courthouses, boards of supervisors, school boards, and the scenes of major incidents. When the press is in the room, elected officials know they are being watched. Artificial intelligence can assist with production, editing, and distribution. It has not yet replaced a reporter sitting in a public hearing or speaking with a business owner about a new store opening.
Virginia has watched this pattern before. Newspapers including the Potomac News and Manassas Journal Messenger endured years of reductions before their eventual decline. The same economic pressures are now reaching television newsrooms.
Scripps stations in other markets have experimented with anchor-less newscasts and greater reliance on field reporting and centralized production. Whether the model produces more local journalism or simply fewer people remains an open question for viewers in Richmond and across the country.
The departures of Miller and Sears mark a visible change for central Virginia households that have known their faces for decades. What replaces that presence on the air, and whether the remaining newsroom can still cover the institutions that govern the region, will shape local accountability in the months ahead.
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