Jill Becker retiring at 11 Alive in August after 23 years
CREDIT: WXIA-TV
Jill Becker, a fixture in the Atlanta TV market for three decades, announced today that she’s going to retire in August when her contract is up.
“It was a surprise to the staff,” said news director Ellen Crooke. “She’s the heart of our morning news team. She will be very hard to replace.”
By giving seven months notice, Becker is giving 11 Alive plenty of time to find a replacement.
“After more than two decades, I am leaving a news team and a news show that I truly love,” Becker said in a press release. “I am however, looking forward to volunteering and to catching up on 30 years of sleep!”
In an interview later in the day, she said she had been thinking about retirement the past year but only recently told management. She wants to work more with Cure Childhood Cancer, a charity group. (She has a son who had T-Cell Lymphoma at age three. He is now 23 and cancer free.)
“I’m so incredibly grateful that I’ve had this long a run,” she said. “I don’t think people in television expect this type of run in one city.”
She’s worked side by side with several male anchors over the years, including Keith Whitney, Clarence Reynolds, Chuck Moore, Ken Watts, Dennis Douda and even Wes Sarginson for a brief time. Her current co-host is, for the first time, a woman: Karyn Greer.
According to her bio on the WXIA-TV website, she hails from St. Louis and graduated with a bachelor’s degree on mass communications at the University of South Florida in Tampa. She began her TV career in Jacksonville, Fla. then moved to Little Rock, Ark. before coming to Atlanta in 1981 to work for Channel 2 Action News. She joined 11 Alive in 1988.
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By Rodney Ho, rho@ajc.com, AJCRadioTV blog
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136 comments Add your comment
Philip
January 26th, 2011
8:16 am
What a class act she has been throughout the years. She will be missed.
Buckeye
January 26th, 2011
8:20 am
Jill is simply a natural – the friendly next door neighbor. Class and grace.
I question if she has had enough of the new liberal ” we help you” crapola imparted by management.
We watched 11Alive for years and years and we knew all was right with the world when Jill threw it to Guy Sharp for the ” hot, hazy and humid” forecast.
11Alive has lost this household, however, and not because of Jill Becker. The “Wizometer”? Please.
They are clearly appealing to Atlanta’s black segement of the market. And the “Help Desk” during the snow storm. Please. Based on some of the questions aired it appears we live in a city full of idiots.
Best wishes, Jill.
Buckeye
January 26th, 2011
8:22 am
In the meantime, find Dagmar Midcap and bring her back to replace Jill. Love those sweaters!
Road Scholar
January 26th, 2011
8:37 am
Jill, just a warning about your pending retirement….it’s not as good as they say…it’s better! Since you have spent so much time helping and informing Atlantans, I hope you and your family the best of health for a long retirement. I stopped watching Channel 2 a few years ago because of the “blood and guts” stories strung together. Channel 11 reports the news but doesn’t linger on the sad stories.
Whoever asked Jill’s age, you were in bad taste (but not as bad as Sam S). She is still 39!
SamS: Bless your heart!
LL
January 26th, 2011
8:50 am
Jill is a “class act”…she will be missed….enjoy your retirement!
Listener42
January 26th, 2011
8:57 am
When I worked in the 11Alive newsroom, I don’t think I ever saw Jill get angry or flustered. Of course, I was rarely there until after 8am, but still. She was a great colleague and while she definitely deserves the break, it’ll just be… strange… to not see her there.
If her replacement is internal, my money’s on Jennifer Leslie or Jaye Watson. But I’m fairly certain it’ll be someone from outside the market.
tman
January 26th, 2011
8:59 am
Will miss you Jill and I wish you the best.
Vashtai
January 26th, 2011
9:24 am
Jill is the best and will be missed by many of us long time viewers. I just hope and pray that this is truly voluntary on her part, and that she is not being forced out.
GA Peach
January 26th, 2011
9:36 am
I watched Jill every morning UNTIL she just kept running her mouth about how FAT people were and she was always quick to judge people who did not look like her. I am glad she is leaving. Those of you have mentioned the names of Guy Sharpe and John Pruitt she does not belong in the same sentence as them. They were true New Icons she is a look down her nose at you person.
Kevin
January 26th, 2011
9:38 am
I agree with John V at 5:45 pm. AJC needs to use some discretion so that free speech is also respectful.
BubBye
January 26th, 2011
9:39 am
Jill is a classy lady, and still darn fine looking. I wish her well.
Sigh
January 26th, 2011
9:40 am
Congrats Mrs. Becker, have a great rest of your life, I grew up watching you and you will be missed!
Rob
January 26th, 2011
10:01 am
Sam Sung: You are not a genius comedian. You’re just a run-of-the-mill jerk.
Sincerely,
Society
To the Surprise of Atlanta’s WXIA, Anchor Jill Becker Announces Retirement - TVSpy
January 26th, 2011
10:39 am
[...] was a surprise to the staff,” Ellen Crooke, WXIA’s news director, told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. “She’s the heart of our morning news team. She will be very hard to [...]
Brett Martin of flickedup.com
January 26th, 2011
11:25 am
I never met her personally but I always thought she was a wonderful addition to the morning show over at 11. As the Road Warrior for many years over at Fox 5 (1999-2007) I can relate to her willingness to want to catch up on sleep. The shift is very unforgiving on the body and mind.
Jill performed her news duties well and I hope she has a great retirement. I know their morning show was neck and neck with us in the ratings when I was there. In recent years they (WXIA) has pulled ahead of Good Day. I am sure she is a big part of that reason.
Cheers,
Brett
tvBoy
January 26th, 2011
11:33 am
kevin – free speech is free speech – it is not limited to respectful or nice, feel-good speech. you can paint it over with pretty colors all you want, but you’ll change your mind one day when you go to express your opinion on something you don’t like, and find some1 doesn’t feel what you are saying is nice, kind or respectful. then what will you do?
The hard truth
January 26th, 2011
12:02 pm
Sam Sung, you are such a waste of internet space. Go back to sports talk radio or just slither under a rock
Vashtai
January 26th, 2011
12:59 pm
Why have a live sports segment at 5:am to 7:am when no live sporting events are taking place during that time? I am sure Randy Waters doesn’t miss that schedule.
If you watch with any regularity, it’s quite apparent there is a genuine chemistry between Jill, Karyn and Chesley. Chesley is a very snappy dresser, unlike Cheryl Lemke, who hasn’t bought a new piece of clothing since the 80s.
'Bie Jones
January 26th, 2011
2:29 pm
What a class act she is! The cause of curing childhood cancer is as noble as any, and very near to far too many people.
Best of the Best to Jill in her future endeavors.
Tweets that mention Jill Becker retiring at 11 Alive in August after 23 years | Radio & TV Talk -- Topsy.com
January 26th, 2011
3:51 pm
[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Laura Scholz, tvebookdotcom. tvebookdotcom said: Jill Becker retiring at 11 Alive in August after 23 years http://bit.ly/fP7z6V [...]
Eric
January 26th, 2011
5:02 pm
I didn’t see this coming. I hope she’ll likely come back as a free-lance reporter and contributor… and her not disappear from local TV news completely.
As for who’ll be her successor… I could picture Valerie Hoff as the only in-house pick… Val moving to the weekday morning shift… Jennifer Leslie re-claiming the weekend morning anchor position.
If 11 is considering thinking outside the box, I could picture 11 attempting to woo 1 of the following names to Atlanta…
– Dan Kloeffler, formerly of MSNBC
– Sarah Broadhead, WXMI-TV morning anchor
– Makayla Zurn, former KTVZ-TV anchor/reporter
– Jed Mescon, WRCB-TV morning anchor
Just some thoughts.
Eric
January 26th, 2011
5:03 pm
I’ll certainly miss waking up to Jill on 11Alive’s morning show.
DGF
January 26th, 2011
5:58 pm
For all the people who are going on and on about how great Jill is and how humble and nice and kind, etc., I’d like to share my recollection of her from a time I met her.
My grandfather was a news editor at 11Alive and on one occasion I went with him to the station. During the newscast there was a problem with the footage shown. Afterwards I was eating breakfast with my grandpa in the break room and Jill was at another table. I was about 12 or 13 at the time. Jill proceeded to make an insulting comment to my grandpa about his mistake with the news footage in front of me. Not only was I shocked then but I still remember the incident to this day.
So for all you people that think Jill poops gold and is some kind of perfect person…she’s not. She’s like everyone else. She obviously does good things, but she also does bad things…like insult a co-worker in front of his young grandson.
Oh, and to Mike V who “for the first time” thinks comments should be moderated because of what Sam Sung wrote, you must be incredibly unobservant. What Sam Sung said would only rate about a 3 on a scale of 1 to 10 for harsh comments on the AJC. Mike, go read the comments on the political blogs.
i love kim
January 27th, 2011
12:37 pm
to all the censors out there. move to china
GJ
January 27th, 2011
12:59 pm
May God continue to Bless you and your family. You will be missed!
Jill and Karen were a great team.
Too Long
January 27th, 2011
1:21 pm
Wow it is about time!! Now they need to SHAKE THE TREE and get rid off more, STARTING WITH THE MANAGEMENT!!!!!
Lurkinator
January 27th, 2011
7:05 pm
The end of an era… Jill Becker, you will be sorely missed!
Dee
January 27th, 2011
7:10 pm
I wish Jill the best in her well-deserved retirement, but I am sad she won’t be around anymore. She really has been a bright spot in my morning news viewing for years. It won’t be the same without her. What a classy lady.
Janice L Cook
January 28th, 2011
4:22 am
Jill, what a shocker. You, Karyn, and Chesley, are my morning favorites. Love the banter between the three of you. However, I can understand your wanting to volunteer more, and catch up on your sleep.. And yes, I second the motion: You are definitely a Classy Lady.
lexijay
January 30th, 2011
9:04 am
Really going miss Jill on the morning news. Great job Jill, a hard act to follow!!!!
willdave
January 30th, 2011
7:28 pm
I thought Jill Becker had joined WSB-TV back in the 1960s. It seemed like she had been there forever before she made the jump to 11Alive. So I actually thought she had been a fixture on Atlanta television for over forty years. Or perhaps it just seemed that way.
At any rate, I congratulate Ms. Becker for having established an exceptionally long career in a very competitive industry. My best wishes to her in retirement.
Bob
January 31st, 2011
8:01 am
She joined the news team just as I arrived a transplant from St. Louis. Sad to see her go, but understand completely that at some point the long road must come to an end. Morning news in the ATL will not get any better.
Julie
January 31st, 2011
9:07 am
Atlanta local news will never be the same when Jill Becker retires. She is truly a class act.
Connie
February 1st, 2011
3:59 pm
Your easy going attitude and light humor have been a great way to start my day at 5AM, Jill. Enjoy this next chapter in your life!
Pita
February 1st, 2011
7:42 pm
Jill, I will really miss you on the morning news! You are a class act and I love to start my day with you, Chesley and Karyn. You are the reason I love 11Alive news in the morning. Congratulations!
P.S. ‘Sam Sung’ is an a_ _ who probably has a small, wizened and withered body part of his own. Anyone else agree with me?
Pita
February 1st, 2011
7:48 pm
‘Jelly Sandwich Meat’ – Ditto what I said about ‘Sam Sung’