Suspended news anchor Heather Kovar blames slurred broadcast on ‘exhaustion’

A TV news reader who slurred her words and looked dishevelled on air has opened up about the trauma that led to the trainwreck broadcast.

An American news anchor who was suspended after an erratic stint behind the newsdesk on Saturday is blaming her slurred speech on exhaustion in the aftermath of her father’s death.

Newsreader Heather Kovar told the Times Union newspaper in a statement late on Sunday that sleep deprivation led to her alarming broadcast on WRGB, a CBS television network station based in Albany in New York State, a day earlier.

“On Friday, I notified the station I would not be renewing my contract which expires July 31,” Kovar said.

“Saturday I was scheduled to work the early morning 6am shift and the evening shift. I was sleep-deprived and exhausted.”

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Suspended news anchor Heather Korvar has blamed exhaustion for her erratic performance on air.

Kovar was incoherent at times during Saturday’s evening broadcast and at one point abruptly and bizarrely changed topics without providing background to viewers, the New York Post reported.

“And so, moving on tonight, is we have to tell you also, you know, like other news that’s happening in the area, and across the area, in the nation,” she said.

Kovar also erroneously referred to meteorologist Craig Gold as Craig Adams — another weatherman at the station.

Kovar then wrote on Twitter on Saturday she was expecting to be back on the air Sunday, but she was suspended by the station pending further investigation.

More on Heather Kovar: She had posted her work schedule on Twitter, and it’s insane. It doesn’t even give her the SAG-AFTRA guaranteed minimum turnaround time of 10 hours from Saturday to Sunday. A former producer tells me there’s a toxic work culture at WRGB CBS 6 Albany… pic.twitter.com/4zRnrtM6BV

— Mike Sington (@MikeSington) July 11, 2022

The broadcaster, who had been the station’s weekend anchor for several years, was replaced early on Sunday by Emma Quinn, who did not return a request for comment by The New York Post.

She was then replaced by weekday evening anchor Greg Floyd, who filled in late on Sunday, the Times Union reported.

Kovar had been caring for her father in Texas before he died, the Times Union previously reported. She wrote on Facebook in May that WRGB “graciously allowed” her to take time off to be with relatives before her father passed away that month.

The station’s general manager, Robert Croteau, told the Times Union that Kovar had been suspended.

This story first appeared in the New York Post and is reproduced with permission.