Stewart Ledbetter, the longtime host of “Vermont This Week,” is leaving the show.
Ledbetter, 61, has moderated the weekly journalist roundtable, which airs Fridays at 7:30 p.m., since 2007. He’s the third and longest-tenured host in the show’s 41-year history, a position Ledbetter held alongside his full-time gig as a reporter and anchor at NBC5.
His final show will air May 26.
“It’s the best side hustle in Vermont journalism, but I thought it was time for someone else to have a shot,” Ledbetter said on Wednesday.
The show is the flagship televised news program for Vermont Public, the entity created two years ago when Vermont Public Radio and Vermont PBS merged.
Vermont Public does not have a replacement moderator lined up, the company said in a press release. Instead, the show will lean on a cast of rotating moderators while Vermont Public searches for a permanent host and “explores ways to build deeper audience engagement through the program.”
The show used a similar approach when previous moderators Jack Barry and Chris Graff departed, according to Michelle Owens, Vermont Public’s director of marketing and audience engagement.
In a statement, Sarah Ashworth, senior vice president of content, described Ledbetter as a “strong and steady presence” who encouraged civil discussion of contentious issues. Each week’s panel features journalists from news outlets around the state.
“He’s helped Vermonters understand their world a little better and built deep trust with them,” she said.
Ledbetter compared hosting “Vermont This Week” to “having a beer with your reporter friends after work and shooting the breeze about the news.”
“What’s more fun than that?” he added.
Ledbetter will continue delivering the news on WPTZ, the local NBC affiliate.
Correction, May 17, 2023: A previous version of this story misspelled Jack Barry’s name.
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