WEEKEND SPECIAL: Ted Henry's Goodbye

UPDATE 5/23/09 2:21 PM: OMW reader "Brad" notes that WEWS has posted a much better quality version on its YouTube page, which we've embedded below. (We didn't even realize Channel 5 HAD a YouTube page.)

Despite the availability of an "HD" version, the video appears to be 4:3 SD with its own online "sidebars". Still, it's much more viewable than the tiny, low-bandwidth version on NewsNet5.

The "Related Video" page shows a number of user-submitted video of various parts of Ted Henry's last day.

Here's the video. Use the link above if the embedding doesn't work for you...and for the online video impaired, we still offer our transcript below:



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After writing about it earlier in the week, we feel chagrined that we actually missed the final sign-off of veteran Scripps ABC affiliate WEWS/5 "NewsChannel 5" anchor Ted Henry on Wednesday night's 11 PM broadcast.

The error was technical on our part...a missed remote control press while setting up our TiVo netted us a recording of the Thursday night 11 PM show instead. (In case you're curious, Leon Bibb was the first anchor in the post-Ted Henry rotation.)

But like everything in 2009, video of Ted's exit is available online, via the station's NewsNet5 website. Well, it looks and sounds like the right one, as for whatever reason, the video is just 56 kbps (!), making it roughly postage stamp-sized.

It looked like the regular "NewsChannel 5" evening crew was on set - Henry, co-anchor Danita Harris, Andy Baskin with sports, and Mark Johnson on weather. Or, some very tiny people who looked like Harris, Baskin and Johnson. (Memo to WEWS site provider Internet Broadcasting Systems: It's 2009, look into better quality video!)

You can view it yourself via the link above (bring a magnifying glass!), and you can read our transcript below:

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(The segment opens with a "Catch 5" promo from the station's "Eyewitness News" days.)

TED HENRY: Well, here goes...nothin'.

Years ago, my Dad wanted me to take over the family hardware store in Hartville. But my heart...told me to follow another calling. And for the last 40 plus years, I've been following my heart.

And so, it is with very conflicted emotions that I say goodbye to a most rewarding career.

A simple thank you doesn't really suffice, but it's all the time they're gonna give me. (brief laughter from studio)

Thanks to the people of the E.W. Scripps Company...major, big league thanks...who have maintainted their confidence in me for 38 years.

Thanks to my co-workers here at WEWS, whom I dearly love.

Thanks to my wife, Jody, for her constant love and support.

But most of all, my enduring, most heartfelt thanks is to you...for your steady presence for allowing me to report nightly from this desk (knocks), And it is greatly appreciated.

Tomorrow, I set out to begin the next level of my life...goodness knows what that's going to be...something tells me that will be a bit of an adventure.

And so I leave you now, to begin that different, yet challenging path.

But I will never forget you. I will never forget you.

DANITA HARRIS: And we will never forget you.

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His "NewsChannel 5" colleagues then thanked Ted, and gave him his "favorite food in the world" - Costco chicken.

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TED HENRY (to those on set): I learned a new word in the last half century...the significance and deeper heartfelt meaning of the word of love, and I feel that for you....thank you very much...goodbye, and goodnight.

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WEWS will air a half-hour long special devoted to Henry's career - "Good Evening, I'm Ted Henry" - two times next week...Tuesday at 8 PM, and Friday at 12:30 PM.

Yes, we've made sure that our TiVo is going to record the right show...