Kxly Evening Co-Anchor Barry Judge Signing Off Station Gives No Reason; Source Says Judge Never Got Along With Co-Workers

Barry Judge is out as co-anchor of KXLY-4’s evening news broadcasts.

He was replaced Monday by Mark Wright, the station’s morning and midday co-anchor. Wright is now co-anchoring the 5 p.m., 6 p.m. and 11 p.m. broadcasts with Marianne Mishima.

The station gave no official reason for Judge’s departure, although one source said the parting came by mutual consent. The timing was unusual, however, since it came right in the middle of a ratings “sweeps” month when stations strive to present a consistent product.

Still, Judge’s departure from KXLY did not come as a complete surprise.

Judge was hired at KXLY in August 1995, but he never even moved his family to Spokane. He commuted back and forth from Issaquah, near Seattle, every week. He had previously been an anchor at KING-TV in Seattle before coming to Spokane.

One source at KXLY, who asked not to be named, said that Judge never got along with most of his colleagues at the station. Another colleague said the mood at the station has brightened remarkably since Wright has taken over.

Wright came to KXLY 7-1/2 years ago, right out of Washington State University, as an overnight board operator for radio. He gradually worked his way into on-air radio and TV reporting positions, and then into anchoring.

, DataTimes