WTTV Channel 4 loses morning, noon anchorman

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WTTV-TV Channel 4 has lost one of the original morning anchors it hired when it became a CBS affiliate more than two years ago.

Tim Doty announced this week on his Facebook page that he has left WTTV, where he handled morning and noon newscasts since the beginning of 2015, potentially ending a broadcasting career that has spanned more than two decades. His last day was Jan. 27.

When reached by IBJ, Doty declined to say why he departed or what he might do next.

“All I'll say is my family and I love it here in the Indy area and are excited about new opportunities,” said Doty, a 1994 Michigan State University graduate.

A post on his LinkedIn page indicated he would consider leaving the broadcasting field.

Officials for WTTV and its parent company, Tribune Media Co., did not respond to requests for comment.

WTTV viewers inquired about Doty’s departure on the station’s Facebook page this week.

“Tim left the station to pursue other opportunities,” the station replied.  “Frank [Mickens] will anchor CBS4 This Morning going forward.”

Mickens joined WTTV from the CBS affiliate WFMY-TV in Greensboro/Winston-Salem, North Carolina, last month.

WTTV overhauled its morning news team as the station struggled in the early time slot to gain viewers’ attention in a crowded news market. 

Late last year, WTTV parted ways with one of its morning news anchors, Marianne Lyles, and its morning traffic reporter, Katie Solove.

In late November, Lyles left WTTV to take a corporate communications job for Medline Industries Inc. in the Chicago area.

Solove left WTTV in December to take a job as morning and noon anchor with the ABC affiliate in Lexington.

In November and December, WTTV often ranked fifth of five local news stations in the all-important 25-to-54 age demo during the 5 a.m., 6 a.m. and 7 a.m. time slots, according to Nielsen Media Research. 

WTTV’s morning news has had fewer than half the viewers in the 25-to-54 demo as the market’s top two stations, WXIN Channel 59 (which is WTTV’s sister station), and WTHR Channel 13, according to Nielsen. It also often trailed WISH-TV Channel 8 and WRTV-TV Channel 6 by substantial margins.

Doty started his career in Alpena, Michigan, before working at Michigan stations in Lansing and Grand Rapids. He joined WTTV in late 2014, just before the station replaced WISH as this market’s CBS affiliate. 

At WXMI-TV in Grand Rapids, Doty was a morning anchor and involved in the station’s news expansion, anchoring several lifestyle and sports programs before moving to the weekend morning anchor spot. 

Doty has tried his hand at acting, with small roles in "Scream 4" in 2011 and TV show "The Mob Doctor" in 2012, among others.

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