An upstate New York news anchor has been suspended from her job after she was accused of appearing on air while drunk.
Heather Kovar went on camera with part of her hair sticking up sideways, and slurred throughout Saturday’s report.
Kovar, who claims she was sleep-deprived, also got the weather man’s name wrong, and gave a rambling round-up that viewers complained made no sense.
Kovar, weekend morning anchor for WRGB CBS-6 News, was borderline incoherent during Saturday’s broadcast when she started to slur her words.
‘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 during the broadcast.
‘These areas are reaching such areas,’ Kovar said at one point during the bizarre broadcast, in which she appeared jittery and seemed to stray from the topic of the heatwave in the US.
‘Like, I was telling you this morning, if you watched us this morning starting at 6am, 7 am, I told you, you know what? Today, what a beautiful day outside! It is just amazing. And so, a great time for outdoor music.’
She later told The Times Union that she was sleep deprived at the time of the broadcast after working double shifts.
News anchor Heather Kovar has been suspended from CBS6 after she appeared on-air looking disheveled and began rambling during the broadcast
The news anchor was required to work both the morning and evening news shifts on Sunday in a double shift, as well as being scheduled to report the 11am news the following day until she was replaced by another anchor
She also referred to her meteorologist colleague Craig Gold as Craig Adams.
‘Anchor Heather Kovar appeared disheveled, misspoke, and slurred her words for the entire newscast,’ said Mike Sington Senior Executive at NBCUniversal. ‘Here, she tries to set up the weather and toss to the meteorologist, who’s name she gets wrong.’
‘Is Heather Kovar alright? She seems out of sorts on the air right now?’ said Twitter user Mike Garavelli.
‘I hope Heather is ok on news channel 6 But she shouldn’t be on TV she looks a wreck and she is slurring,’ said Twitter user Eve G.
‘#heatherkovar may be having a medical issue??’ said another viewer.
Kovar, who has been an anchor for the network since July 2016, said exhaustion caused the erratic on-air performance.
Kovar had been scheduled to appear back on air Sunday morning, but instead she was replaced by news anchor Emma Quinn.
The station said Kovar had been suspended from the news channel following the performance after social media users pointed our her disheveled look and slurred speech.
‘Heather Kovar has been suspended pending our internal investigation. We have no further comment at this time,’ said Robert Croteau, vice president and general manager of the Sinclair-owned station.
The news anchor was required to work both the morning and evening news shifts on Sunday in a double shift, as well as being scheduled to report the 11am news the following day until she was replaced by another anchor.
Kovar also recently took a leave of absence from the station to spend time with her dying father, reported The Times Union.
She ‘returned early from family leave following my dad’s death. On Friday, I notified the station I would not be renewing my contract which expires July 31,’ she told the news outlet.
‘Saturday I was scheduled to work the early morning 6am shift and the evening shift. I was sleep-deprived and exhausted.’
It is unclear how long her suspension will last or whether she will return to work eventually.