ocal broadcasting veterans Lobel, Kulhawik to leave WBZ-TV

By James Vaznis, Globe Staff

Local television sportscasting legend Bob Lobel is leaving WBZ-TV (Channel 4) as part of a workforce reduction announced earlier this week at the station.



Veteran entertainment reporter Joyce Kulhawik and newsman Scott Wahle will be leaving, too, said Ro Dooley Webster, a station spokeswoman, in an interview early this morning. She declined to discuss specifics of their departures.



She did, however, say that she doesn't expect any other high-profile talent to leave.



The station, like other media outlets across the country, is facing increasing pressure to cut costs as it grapples with declining ad revenues and viewership. On Monday, the station announced plans to reduce by 10 percent its overall workforce of 220.

Lobel joined the station in 1979 as a weekend sports newscaster and moved to the weeknight position two years later, according to a biography posted on the station’s website. On Sunday nights, he also hosts "Sports Final," a weekly roundup of sports. The show's guests once included Bobby Orr, Ted Williams, and Larry Bird, interviewed together for the very first time.



Kulhawik, whose reporting career at the station began in 1981, has secured many an interview with top Hollywood stars, as they market their upcoming movies. According to her station biography, she has interviewed Paul Newman, Robert DeNiro, Meryl Streep, Julia Roberts, and Barbara Streisand.

A former English teacher at Brookline High School, she was formerly a co-host of the nationally syndicated program "Hot Ticket." A three-time cancer survivor, Kulhawik has been involved with the American Cancer Society.



Wahle, who has been with the station since 1989, is currently a reporter and anchor of the station’s 9 p.m. newscast on sister station WSBK-TV (Channel 38).



Lobel, Kulhawik, and Wahle could not be reached for comment early this morning.



The dates of their last on-air appearances have not yet been decided, Webster said.