RICHMOND, Va. (WRIC) – After a 22-year career at WRIC ABC 8News, anchor Juan Conde is leaving broadcast news. He’s been a nightly guest in thousands of homes across Central Virginia and he leaves the business with a legacy of dependability and trust.
“I’ve always worked on feel and tried to do the things that both feel good and make sense at the same time,” Conde said. “That’s how I started at 8News and that’s how I’m going to leave.”
Conde first joined 8News in the early 90s while he was also a morning show announcer at WCDX, a popular Richmond radio station. He worked as an 8News Weekend Weather Anchor and part-time Entertainment Reporter for about 18 months, leaving when the pressure of a seven-day workweek became overwhelming.
In 1999, Conde was poised to leave radio for real estate. But WRIC beckoned again, this time with a chance to anchor evening newscasts. For the next 22 years, Conde would cover the most compelling stories of the day including the 9/11 attacks, the Interstate-95 Sniper Shootings, Hurricane Isabel, Tropical Storm Gaston and the massacre at Virginia Tech.
Conde also co-anchored live, continuous coverage of the 2004 fire on W. Broad Street. The blaze was one of the worst fires in Richmond’s history, causing millions of dollars in damage.
“I’d never seen anything so scary unfold in real-time in our city,” he recalled.
Viewers will also remember Conde for community service. He’s made hundreds of personal appearances at local schools, civic organizations and charities.
“Juan is the consummate news professional, and it has been my good pleasure to work with him since I arrived in 2017,” said Larry Cottrill, General Manager at WRIC ABC 8News. “In conversations with viewers, they describe Juan with words like ‘trust’ and ‘respect’ and if you have had the chance to see him emcee any event like I have many times, you would understand why they say he is ‘fun’ and ‘personable.’ I know him as all of those and much more. We wish him well and he always will be part of our WRIC family.”
Conde’s new career will be in commercial real estate, the business that eluded him so long ago.
“Real estate is the only business that I’ve wanted to pursue on my own and I’m going to take the opportunity now to do it,” he said. Conde will work with local, state-wide and regional clients with a firm to be announced soon.
For the 8News viewers who’ve shared their evenings with him for years, Conde says to look forward and not behind. He is grateful for his broadcasting career.
“I am extremely humbled to have been given the opportunity to do this job. I am humbled to have been given the public trust. I hope that I’ve acquitted myself well. I thank everybody who helped make it possible,” he said.
“When you’re an anchor people always thank you for serving the community. But I’ve gotten much more than I could ever give. That makes me very humble and grateful. I love Channel 8 and always will.”
Conde signs off from 8News on Sept. 14, but you’ll still be able to see him around – from Poindexters to Pocoshock.
