WEST PALM BEACH, FLA. — On February 10, 1986, she began her career at The E.W. Scripps Co.-owned NBC affiliate that’s long dominated the ratings across the Treasure Coast and the Palm Beaches.
Now, 36 years later, she’s preparing to relocate to North Carolina and enjoy retirement, concluding a career that has involved just one television station.
That will come in May, giving WPTV-5 enough time to announce who’ll succeed Kelley Dunn at the anchor desk.
Speaking with the station’s digital news team, Dunn reflected on her time at WPTV, where she became a household name across five counties. “I have had a wonderful career and I’m grateful, but I have worked straight through since I graduated from college,” she said. “I want to spend more time with my husband, grown children and my wonderful extended family. My husband and I have always dreamed of retiring to the mountains of western North Carolina. We worked hard to get to this point in our lives and we are ready to enjoy beautiful views, a change of seasons and step back from busy lives.”
Dunn joined the WPTV news team just two months after graduating from the University of Florida. Early anchoring positions included the 5am newscast formerly known as “Action 5 News.” That job came in August 1986. From there, Dunn shifted to the midday newscast before eventually settling in to the 5pm, 6pm and 11pm newscasts, which she co-hosts today with Michael Williams. Previous co-anchors include Jim Sackett, who retired from WPTV in 2011.
With Dunn’s decision, WPTV will be Dunn’s first and last stop in television news — a rarity in such a transient profession, the Scripps station noted in its report of her retirement.
Dunn was raised in Daytona Beach since she was 12 months old.
Who could take the seat alongside Williams? Shannon Cake, who anchors the WPTV-produced “FOX 29 News at 10”; Ashleigh Walters; and morning anchor Hollani Davis are strong internal candidates.
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