WCCO Television anchor Jason DeRusha is leaving the morning anchor seat after nearly 11 years.
DeRusha announced on Tuesday morning that his last day as a morning anchor will be Thursday, June 23. He will transition to a contributing role for station events and special projects.
He told WCCO Radio's Vineeta Sawkar that there were a number of reasons for his decision to transition out of the morning anchor chair.
"The schedule is tough," he said. "I wake up every morning around 2:30 a.m. and nine years of that, as you get older, it gets a little harder. I've been through a lot of colleagues over the years, largely because the schedule is really crushing. It's very difficult."
DeRusha added that he wants to see if he can succeed in doing something else.
"There's been this yearning and this searching and this desire to see if I can succeed doing something else. What do I have inside me that maybe I'm not tapping into?" he said. "I'm super excited about exploring what's next."
DeRusha, who began at WCCO TV as a reporter in 2003, did not say what his next plans would be.
"People will find out, but the important thing is I'm not leaving. Minnesota is home. We moved here. My wife, Alyssa, and I, moved here with no kids and our kids really grew up with the audience and the viewers."