Maury Povich, Connie Chung reflect on careers, challenges, and new memoir

WASHINGTON - In the 77 years that WTTG FOX 5 DC has served the Washington, DC television market, there has been a literal "Who's Who" of television royalty who have graced the local airwaves. That list includes Maury Povich and Connie Chung, who returned to their old stomping grounds for a virtual homecoming on Tuesday night's edition of "The Final 5 with Jim Lokay."

The duo, who recently marked 40 years of marriage, made their return as Chung promotes her new autobiography, "Connie: A Memoir," which was released on Sept. 17.

Chung, who grew up in the D.C. area as the youngest of 10, shared memories of her early days at the station as a "copy person," although when a writing job opened up, she knew she had to fight for the opportunity. "I barged into the newsroom," she recalled humorously. "Today, I’d probably be arrested at the door."

Povich, also a local product, said many people in the FOX 5 newsroom didn't know much about Chung in her early days out of the University of Maryland, but when it was evident she was angling for a better position, she took matters into her own hands.

"Mike Buchanan, the news director at the time, told her she couldn’t take on a weekend writing job because she was his assistant," Povich said. "But he gave in and told her to replace herself, so she went across the street to the nearby American Security Bank on Wisconsin Avenue, found a bank teller, and brought her back into the newsroom.

"I asked her, 'Do you want to be in TV? Do you want to be a star?' And that’s how I got my first job," added Chung, who eventually became an on-air reporter, before moving on to make history as the first Asian American and second woman to anchor a major network news broadcast during her long, illustrious career across CBS, NBC, ABC, and CNN.

Povich, meanwhile, was originally a sports anchor but eventually became a fixture on WTTG.

"I was working seven days a week for 10 years," Povich said, recalling his roles hosting "Panorama" and anchoring the weekend news.

"Panorama", a groundbreaking midday talk show created by station manager Bob Bennett in 1967, was Washington’s answer to NBC's "Today."

"It was an amazing stroke of genius by Bob," said Povich. "There wasn’t anything like it—long before CNN and cable news—and it became a staple for the White House, Capitol Hill, and government offices."

"Everybody was watching because it was the only show in town, and we got all the big interviews," he said.

Povich hosted *Panorama* for 10 years, left for several TV jobs across the country, then returned to WTTG for another three years in the 1980s before making a splash on the national scene with "A Current Affair."  

The conversation shifted to Povich and Chung’s personal relationship, which also blossomed at FOX 5. Lokay noted that their careers eventually took them to Los Angeles, where they briefly worked together on-air. "He was the only person I knew when I got there," Chung recalled.

Povich added, "but our relationship didn’t last long on air—only because I was the last person hired by a general manager who got fired, and the new GM fired me next!"

While their professional relationship in Los Angeles was short-lived, their marriage has stood the test of time. Povich humorously quipped, "She took pity on me, and that's how we’ve lasted."

Aside from a show the two co-hosted for MSNBC in the late 2000s, Chung has enjoyed retirement, but she learned that putting her stories to paper was a different challenge.

In her new book, "Connie: A Memoir*, Chung made a candid reflection on her storied career in television. "Writing it was a horrible experience," Chung admitted. "The first draft I turned in was what my editor called a 'shitty first draft,' and it was. I needed help because I was just giving the facts."

Her editor encouraged her to focus on feelings, something Chung found difficult as a seasoned journalist. "Reporters aren’t supposed to feel," she laughed. "But in a memoir, you have to tell how you felt. It was really torturous to write down how I felt, but I finally got it done."

Povich, who read drafts along the way, offered feedback like, "You can’t say that!"—a dynamic that added some levity to the writing process. Ultimately, one of their friends offered high praise, telling them, "I was on the train reading the book, and it felt like I was talking to Connie for two hours."

For Chung, the goal was clear. "I didn’t want to sound like I was crying in my soup. I just wanted to tell what happened and how I felt—without ever going ‘woe is me.’"

Lokay asked Chung about the challenges she faced as a woman in a male-dominated industry. "Every day there was sexism and racism," she said. "But I dealt with it by being ‘one of the guys.’ I had all the bravado, moxie, and toughness to match them." With her signature humor, she added, "I had a potty mouth, too. I still do!"

Chung’s "Connie: A Memoir" dives deeper into these stories and much more, offering a personal look at the barriers she broke and the lessons she learned along the way.

As the interview wrapped, Lokay congratulated Chung on her new book and thanked both her and Povich for their time, calling them "icons" of the industry.

"Connie: A Memoir" is now available at bookstores and online.