Longtime Detroit news anchor Devin Scillian to retire from WDIV in December: 'I feel like the luckiest guy on the planet'

DETROIT (WWJ) — Longtime Detroit news anchor Devin Scillian is stepping away after three decades at WDIV.

Scillian, 61, announced during Tuesday’s 6 p.m. newscast he will be retiring in December.

"Some news now tonight of a more personal nature. I am currently in my 30th year here at DIV, and maybe it's the roundness of that number, but I've decided it's time to move onto the next chapter of what has been a most enjoyable and gratifying book,” Scillian said on air.

Scillian said when he and his wife moved to Detroit from Oklahoma City in 1995, they thought they'd "have a cup of coffee and then move on."

"Well, the waitress kept refilling our cups and we found a very rich and lovely life for us and our four children, and two Kansans feel very much like Michiganders today,” he said.

Scillian said he wants to spend more time with his wife and enjoying his hobbies, including writing children’s books and playing in his band, Arizona Sun.

His last newscast will be Dec. 13, allowing him to cover one last presidential election and one last America’s Thanksgiving Parade.

“As we draw closer to what will be my 30th America’s Thanksgiving Day Parade, I am astonished at the passage of three decades in what feels like the snap of my fingers,” Scillian wrote in a message written on the WDIV website. “But it recently dawned on me that I am now almost exactly the age that Mort Crim was when I came to Detroit to try to follow in his legendary footsteps. And I think that struck me as a sign that it might be time to move along.”

"To close what is already perhaps too long a missive, I feel like the luckiest guy on the planet," he said. "(I always have.) And I will be spending a lot of time over these next two months trying to express my gratitude to you for welcoming me into your home and trusting me with what I feel is a deeply important and profound task. And on that subject, I’ll also be spending time in and out of the newsroom talking about the critical need for journalism that is trustworthy, clear-eyed, and dogged. As we fight the horrific consequences of mis- and disinformation, I’m mindful of the places I’ve been where people have no or very little access to information. They aren’t places you want to live. Information is the world’s most critical and valuable resource, and I’ll take it over gold, silver, platinum or petroleum. I think you value it that way, too, and that’s one more reason I’m so indebted to you."