NBC TV Host and Anchor Retires After 40-Year Career

NBC5 anchor Stewart Ledbetter is scheduled to complete his last show as a news anchor on Feb. 16, the station recently announced. "It's been a great run," Ledbetter said of his 41-year journalism career. "I did not foresee when I started that it would provide such a wealth of opportunities to cover politics in Vermont." 

Before working as an anchor, Ledbetter was a news director. His most recent tenure was as the anchor of NBC5's 5:30 p.m. newscast. He also hosted the station's Sunday public affairs program, NBC5 In Depth. Ledbetter is beloved for her role as moderator for Vermont This Week, a Friday roundtable aired on what is now called Vermont Public, from 2007 to 2023. 

The University of Vermont graduate began his career as a radio reporter in 1983 and joined NBC5 the following year where he covered Burlington City Hall before transitioning to state government and politics. With the exception of spending a year in Plattsburgh, New York, his entire career has been in Vermont. He admits to considering leaving the state often to chase other ventures, but is proud of his choice to stay local. 

"What stands out to me is how rich Vermont politics turned out to be," he said. He's covered major advancements and moments in politics, including the creation of civil unions and legalization of same-sex marriage, the defection of then-U.S. Sen. Jim Jeffords from the Republican Party, the decommissioning of Vermont Yankee Nuclear Power Plant, and the presidential campaigns of former Gov. Howard Dean and U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt. 

"What an experience to see thousands of people come out in places like Seattle and Chicago and New York for your small-state governor," he said of Dean's 2004 run. "And it was just as exuberant for Bernie Sanders." In total, he's covered seven New Hampshire presidential primary seasons, though he sat out this year's. 

His been awarded for his stellar reporting, including winning a national Edward R. Murrow Award and a place in the Vermont Association of Broadcasters' Hall of Fame. "There are very few people who can provide the wealth of knowledge Stewart has when it comes to state politics," NBC5 news director Michael LaFlesh said in a written statement. "We're grateful to know we'll still have access to a valuable resource to provide our community with his insight."

Ledbetter desires to travel more in his retirement. He may also return to the station as a political contributor.