Editor’s note: This story has been corrected to say the “Bob Braun Show” ran 17 years.

Rob Braun, who has been a fixture of news programming in Cincinnati since the '80s, will depart from WKRC Local 12.

The departure was confirmed Tuesday by Jon Lawhead, the general manager of the station. Lawhead said in a brief phone conversation that Braun will depart from WKRC at the end of June.

Days after his departure was announced, Braun took to Facebook to clarify that he was not being forced out.

"I want you to know that I am not retiring. Ch 12 is NOT forcing me out. In fact, they offered me a generous contract. I am choosing to leave," Braun said.

He said there is no "real story," but he feels it is time to move on.

"I don't feel I fit well with the Sinclair News model," he continued. "It has been an unbelievable run. More than any Newsman can ask for and that is all do (sic) to you."

Braun's tenure at WKRC began in the fall of 1984, according to the station's website. Braun started as a weekend anchor. Two years later, he took the helm of anchor for "Live at 7," a new program described by the station as "entertaining as well as informative."

From there, he assumed the evening anchor role, working the late afternoon and 11 p.m. newscasts for some 30 years.

"I promise to do my best to answer everyone but it may take some time. Thank you all for the love and support," he said in the Wednesday post. "I'll have more to say at 6 on Friday the 28th on the air. I hope you can be there."

Braun and Cammy Dierking were two broadcasters featured in a viral video posted last year by Deadspin that showed dozens of anchors around the country reciting an identical script. The anchors were forced to read the script by their parent company, Sinclair Broadcast Group, according to CNN.

The script included a lament that some media outlets publish "fake stories ... stories that just aren't true, without checking facts first," according to Deadspin.

Some in Cincinnati criticized Braun and Dierking for their participation, and some called for a boycott of the channel as the video circulated.

Braun’s father, Bob Braun, led a live noon variety show on WLWT-TV (Channel 5), the “Bob Braun Show,” for 17 years, ending in 1984. Before that, he was a sidekick on the “50-50 Club” hosted by legendary Cincinnati broadcaster Ruth Lyons, which ended its run in 1967.

Viewers tuned in to see Braun’s cast of singers and musicians and his celebrity guests, who included comedians Bob Hope and Red Skelton, TV host Dick Clark, Tony Bennett, Bill Cosby, Ronald and Nancy Reagan, Jimmy Carter, Gerald Ford, Barry Manilow, Lucille Ball and the Supremes.

Bob Braun also had several movie credits, including "Die Hard 2."

Early in his working life, Rob Braun tried to distance himself from television. He opened a food concession business with his brother, working at events such as Cincinnati's River Fest, fairs and festivals.

Braun also ran restaurants in Cincinnati and North Carolina.

But he started dabbling in acting, according to WKRC's website, and at age 24, he launched his full-time news career in Knoxville. At the NBC affiliate there, Braun hosted a syndicated news magazine show before becoming a general assignment reporter.

Braun could not be immediately reached for comment.

Braun's departure follows fellow journalist Jeff Hirsh, who announced earlier this year he was retiring from WKRC after a decades-long career as a reporter in Cincinnati.

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