Dave Ward coming back to KTRK
Dave Ward is returning to the Houston airwaves.
The long-running news anchor at KTRK (Channel 13), who spent more than 50 years at the ABC affiliate before leaving last year, is coming back to the station next month with special segments called “Dave Ward’s Houston,” reflections on the city’s history, mythology and quirks.
“I could not be happier to have this unique opportunity to reconnect with my viewers and KTRK colleagues as we explore the history of what I consider to be the greatest city in the world and connect with a new generation of viewers,” he said in a statement.
After nearly a decade in radio, Ward came to KTRK on Nov. 9. 1966 as a reporter and was moved up to anchor a year later. He went on to cover wars in Vietnam and the Middle East as well as natural disasters and presidential elections.
Ward signed off as an anchor in May, 2017 where he fought back tears during his last broadcast. “In my 50 years on television, I have never cried on the air. And I came close to it that night, closer than I ever have,” he told the Chronicle. “I knew it was going to be emotional. I thought I could get through it without a trembling lip, but lots of luck on that.”
Even then he said he was not using the word “retire.” “I am not retiring, oh no, definitely not,” he said. “I’m just going into other things.”
And one of those things was, prophetically, “Dave Ward’s Houston.”
“I would love to do a feature … with little-known facts about our history,” he said last year in the Chronicle. “There are many
things about Houston that most people don’t realize. For example, our Main Street is the longest Main Street of any major city in the country, possibly the world. I want to share Houston’s history with millennials and young people who are coming up. I want to stay in touch with viewers.”
The more things change … .