Deborah Knapp, longtime anchor at San Antonio’s KENS 5, is retiring

Longtime San Antonio news anchor Deborah Knapp will retire from KENS 5 next month, ending a nearly five decade run in the TV industry, station officials said Thursday.

“It’s been an honor to serve the wonderful people of San Antonio in this city I love for nearly 50 years,” Knapp said in a statement. “I love my KENS 5 family, so it was not an easy decision. I am thrilled to continue working with our talented staff as a mentor, and I will remain active with the Alamo Colleges Foundation.”

Knapp graduated from the University of Texas at Austin with a degree in journalism and worked for San Antonio TV stations KSAT and KENS before landing an anchor job with Philadelphia’s WCAU in 1980. KENS rehired her in 1987 and she’s spent the remainder of her TV career with the CBS affiliate.

“For decades, Deborah has been the heart of our newsroom and a shining example of our commitment to both journalism and community,” KENS 5 President and General Manager Tom Cury said in a statement. “She embodies the spirit of San Antonio and the values of KENS 5 with unmatched grace and professionalism. While we’ll miss seeing her at the anchor desk every day, we wish her all the joy and fulfillment this next chapter brings.”

Knapp’s departure follows KENS 5’s layoff of at least four newsroom employees last month as its parent company Virginia-based Tegna continues an ongoing restructuring program.

In February, Tegna fired a team of 20 journalists and producers assigned to fact-check stories and stop the spread of false information, and last, year it cut jobs in its marketing operations in an effort to streamline.

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This article appears in Apr 2-15, 2025.