Long-time WRAL News Director Rick Gall to retire at end of May 2024

WRAL is marking a significant milestone in 2024. Rick Gall, who has served as news director since 2005, will retire at the end of May.

Joel Davis, WRAL-TV vice president and general manager, announced Gall's plans to the staff last summer.

"After this remarkable stretch of dedicated service, both Rick and his wife Pam have made the decision to embark on a well-deserved retirement. Rick was kind enough to tell me of this decision some time ago, and we’re announcing it now in order to allow ample time to search for his successor," Davis wrote in an email to staff.

Gall is the leader in the WRAL newsroom, overseeing television and digital news with a staff that numbers more than 100 reporters, photographers, producers, editors and all of those behind the scenes who bring WRAL News into your home, onto your computer and alert you on your mobile device.

Davis said, "I often say Rick is like a CEO of news. Our news department has more employees than many entire TV stations in our market size. Despite how that can stretch one’s oversight, Rick has the ability to stay on top of it all. He can simultaneously be kind while also pushing us to a higher level of performance."

Under Gall's leadership, WRAL News has won consecutive Emmy and Murrow awards for overall excellence, and, in May 2023, the Neilsen ratings showed WRAL was the choice of 65% of news viewers in the market, an extraordinarily high number.