Veteran Vegas meteorologist Janison wants better life balance
For Kevin Janison, New Year’s Eve countdown was a time to stop the clock.
The popular KSNV Channel 3 meteorologist’s final forecast was Thursday, and it was his own. The veteran weatherman told his audience at the close of that day’s 5 p.m. telecast that he was leaving the station. His contract with the NBC affiliate expired on New Year’s Eve.
“This has been one absolutely awesome and amazing journey,” Janison said on air, with his weather map in the background. “It’s a good chance this is the last weather cast I’ll ever be involved with. At some point, I will formulate exactly what I want to say as to why.” He then thanked his supporters.
More to come.... pic.twitter.com/qx5tUwIv0E
— Kevin Janison (@KevinNews3LV) December 31, 2021
Having taken a couple of days to decompress, Janison said Saturday he simply wanted more time to himself, better balance in his life.
“I said from the very beginning this was all about the time, and that the days are getting longer,” Janison said. “The days off, the time off, is golden to me.”
Janison spent 15 years at KSNV beginning in 2007, after eight years at KLAS Channel 8. He and KSNV execs initiated meetings two months ago about renewing his contract. Janison said he had not planned to leave the air when he walked into what would be the final negotiations with KSNV GM Larry Strumwasser and News Director Stephanie Wheatley.
That meeting was Thursday afternoon, just before the 5 p.m. newscast. At impasse, Janison then took to the set and stunned his viewers.
— Kevin Janison (@KevinNews3LV) January 1, 2022
The broadcast vet might have been as surprised as anyone at the turn of events.
“I thought all along that I would stay. I didn’t even bring any boxes with me to work on Thursday,” Janison said. “I thought we would reach an agreement. I guess what surprised me was that I kept throwing out ideas, and I don’t think they had any ideas.”
Janison said he had no personal animosity toward the execs with whom he negotiated.
“Larry and Stephanie will always be friends,” Janison said. “I told them from the beginning that nothing was ever adversarial.”
In a phone chat Saturday, Strumwasser praised Janison. The executive also said the hunt has already started to fill the vast void left by Janison’s departure.
“We tried to keep Kevin, but he unfortunately declined,” Strumwasser said. “I love Kevin, and I wish we could have kept him. But he chose to leave on his own. He did a really good job, he’s a great colleague and a friend.”
Strumwasser said the station is digging deep in its search for a replacement. “It’s a high-profile position at the strongest news station in the market,” said Strumwasser, who has lived in Las Vegas for four years. “I’m sure we will have a ton of really good applicants.” The executive said the position would be filled “as soon as I get the right person.”
Janison’s reports from the field, especially on Fremont Street Experience with former Las Vegas Mayor Oscar Goodman and current Mayor Carolyn Goodman, had become a turn-the-calendar tradition. Rather than brave the elements, and revelers, on New Year’s Eve, he had a quiet dinner with friends and watched the year-end fireworks at his home.
“I am happy to report I was not groped by any drunks this New Year’s Eve,” said Janison, a highly regarded and well-liked member of the Vegas media community. Grabbing at Janison had indeed become something of a New Year’s Eve sport on the FSE promenade.
Janison also reported frequently from Toshiba Square at T-Mobile Arena prior to Vegas Golden Knights games. But many of the community events he attended were on the weekends, and outside of his usual daily work routine.
Janison’s departure ends a year in which News 3 was undercut by a nationwide ransomware attack in October, an an going crisis that curtailed news-gathering an broadcast capabilities.
The station also lost several key on-air and behind-the-scenes professionals. In March, Sinclair laid off a dozen News 3 staffers in a nationwide cost-cutting move. Hundreds of Sinclair employees across the country were also let go.
Morale at Channel 3 reportedly dipped as a result of the cuts. At the time, it was also reported that several high-ranking Sinclair officials had enacted bonuses in the millions in 2020. That news did nothing to lift spirits at Channel 3.
But Strumwasser stressed Janison’s move was “in no way related” to the events in March. He said, repeatedly, “We wanted him to stay.”
Janison considered many personal concerns in his decision to step down. He lost a dear friend and colleague, “Chopper” Tom Hawley, this year after a brief battle with pancreatic cancer. He wrote of Hawley in a Facebook post Saturday, it was “devastating to watch someone so healthy lose a cancer battle so quickly.” Janison said as a result, he and his wife, Terri Janison, reflected on how they choose to spend their time. Janison says at the moment the couple is “semi-retired and rewired.”
Janison also plans to devote time to his “Deputy Dorkface” series of children’s books. He’s written two tomes about the cartoon watchdog since 2007. “It’s really been a source of joy,” Janison said. “I’ve actually done author presentations at schools in 14 states. I should be able to grow that a little more, have more fun with that project.”
And Janison says he is not disqualifying another stint with a Vegas TV station, provided he can fulfill his personal passions, too.
“For me, time is golden,” Janison said. “When I croak, they won’t say, ‘He he did 15 newscasts a day for 50 years.’ I want the memories to be of the travel and everything else I love to do.”
John Katsilometes’ column runs daily in the A section. His “PodKats!” podcast can be found at reviewjournal.com/podcasts. Contact him at jkatsilometes@reviewjournal.com. Follow @johnnykats on Twitter, @JohnnyKats1 on Instagram.
