{"id":639068,"date":"2026-05-12T19:01:14","date_gmt":"2026-05-12T19:01:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/639068\/"},"modified":"2026-05-12T19:01:14","modified_gmt":"2026-05-12T19:01:14","slug":"a-longtime-fox-26-anchor-is-leaving-houston-tv-news-after-decades","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/639068\/","title":{"rendered":"A longtime FOX 26 anchor is leaving Houston TV news after decades"},"content":{"rendered":"

After nearly four decades in TV news<\/a>, including nearly 28 years at FOX 26,<\/a> longtime Houston anchor Tom\u00a0Zizka<\/a> is signing off.<\/p>\n

On Tuesday,\u00a0Zizka announced on social media that his last day at the station will be May 29.<\/p>\n

“After more than 38 years of doing this\u2014nearly 28 years here at FOX 26<\/a>\u2014 the time has come for me to unplug the microphone and step away from the TV business and do something else,” Zizka said in the video announcement.<\/p>\n

The veteran anchor made clear the decision was his own.<\/p>\n

“In fact, the bosses here at FOX 26<\/a> have been very understanding,” he said. “They’ve been very gracious in my desire to step away.”<\/p>\n

Zizka said several factors went into the decision, but ultimately, he felt it was simply time.<\/p>\n

“After nearly four decades, I have done just about everything I could reasonably expect to do in TV news, which is pretty cool,” he said. “On top of that, I finally get to spend some time with Mrs. Zizka because right now we don\u2019t have any days off together.”<\/p>\n

The announcement appeared to catch many viewers off guard, with\u00a0commenters on the post sharing messages of shock, gratitude and sadness over his departure.<\/p>\n

Zizka said the people he’ll miss most are the viewers who welcomed him into their homes for decades.<\/p>\n

“It is the viewers who keep the lights on at a TV station<\/a>, and it has been a privilege to meet so many of you and to tell so many of your stories,” he said.<\/p>\n

Earlier this year,\u00a0Zizka briefly stepped away from the anchor desk while recovering from surgery for a painful foot condition.<\/p>\n

Since joining FOX 26<\/a> in 1998,\u00a0Zizka has served in several high-profile roles at the station, including investigative reporter, consumer advocate and reporter for the station’s Predator Check franchise, according to his station biography<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Over the years, he also helped cover some of the region’s biggest moments and disasters, including the\u00a0Aggie Bonfire collapse, the Space Shuttle Columbia disaster, hurricanes Katrina and Rita, the Astros’ 2005 World Series run and two Super Bowls at NRG Stadium<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Before arriving in Houston,\u00a0Zizka worked as a consumer reporter at WSYX in Columbus, Ohio, from 1992 to 1998. Earlier in his career, he reported for WSAZ in Huntington, W. Va. He earned a bachelor’s degree in communications from Oakland University.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"After nearly four decades in TV news, including nearly 28 years at FOX 26, longtime Houston anchor Tom\u00a0Zizka…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":639069,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[54],"tags":[138621,138622,88,92],"class_list":["post-639068","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-tv","tag-chronnews","tag-chronstaff","tag-entertainment","tag-tv"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/639068","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=639068"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/639068\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/639069"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=639068"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=639068"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=639068"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}