Chris May
Chris May, who left Little Rock in 1998 to become a big-market anchorman in Boston and then in Philadelphia, is returning to ABC affiliate KATV-TV, Channel 7, beginning Aug. 1.
KATV News Director Nick Genty confirmed the hiring early Wednesday afternoon, but said details were still being worked out and that he couldn’t get into specific terms.
“We’re still working on exactly what Chris will be doing, but anchor is his obvious strength,” Genty said. “I can say that we’re very excited to have him back.”
May is the successor to anchor Scott Inman, a 15-year mainstay who left KATV in early March to join GenWealth Financial Advisors, which has offices in Little Rock, Bryant, El Dorado and Lonoke.
“Scott was a great anchor, and it was a big loss for us,” Genty said. “We wanted to take our time naming a replacement.”
May, a Little Rock native and graduate of Arizona State University’s Walter Cronkite School of Journalism & Telecommunications, left KATV as primary anchor to join WBZ-TV, Boston’s CBS affiliate. In 2007 he joined KYW-TV, a CBS owned-and-operated station in Philadelphia, as co-anchor of its weekend broadcasts.
For several years before leaving KYW, he co-anchored newscasts at 5, 6 and 11 p.m. For awhile, he anchored newscasts alongside Jessica Dean, another Little Rock native and former KATV-er who joined KYW in 2013.
May announced his departure from KYW with a Twitter post at the end of June 2015. Chief meteorologist Kathy Orr and sports director Beasley Reece, the former NFL star, left the CBS-owned station the same day.
Genty said he had announced May’s return to KATV personnel on Wednesday, and that the reaction was overwhelmingly positive.
“They’re excited, as I am,” Genty said.
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