A well-known Bangor newscaster is leaving the air in early March.

Ric Tyler, co-anchorman at WLBZ 2 whose contract is up at the beginning of March, will depart rather than accept a contract extension that would have reassigned him from his current role to that of a featured reporter.

In a press release, Judy Horan, the station’s president and general manager, said, “We offered him a contract extension, hoping that Ric would choose to remain at News Center as a featured reporter. He turned down what we thought was a generous offer and instead decided to leave news.”

In response, Tyler said diplomatically, “Gannett [WLBZ’s parent company] wanted to make some changes, and it came to me that it was time for me to make some changes, too – changes for the better.”

As for his plans, Tyler will be joining his wife, Elizabeth Sutherland, in her full-service marketing firm, Blue Paper Communications, which she has run out of their Bangor home since November.

“I’ve been helping her on the side, and some of the stuff we’ve been putting together just worked,” Tyler explained.

Tyler has been with the station for nearly five years, first as a weatherman, reporter and 11 p.m. news anchor. He’s been co-anchoring with Donna Gormley since 1999. He’s a veteran in radio and TV in the Bangor market.

He’s also been a very public figure in the community, headlining events such as the United Way of Eastern Maine Campaign Kick-off, the Maine Discovery Museum’s fund-raiser Sitting Pretty and the Literacy Volunteers Spelling Bee.

Tyler seems OK with stepping out of the public spotlight.

“I may miss some of it,” he said. “But I’m not going anywhere. I still live in Bangor, I’ll still go out in public and I hope people will still stop and talk with me.”

His last newscast will be March 5, one day before his son Ian’s first birthday.

One recent incident stood out in Tyler’s mind.

“About three months ago, a woman came up to me at church,” he recalled. “She said that her daughter had seen me on TV and said, ‘I know who that is. That’s Ian’s dad.’ That sure spoke to my heart.”

Tyler said he would miss the people he has worked with at the station.

“I will miss everyone behind the scenes,” he said. “I won’t miss anyone in front of the camera, because I’ll still see them every night.”

Horan offered kind words about Tyler.

“He did a wonderful job on projects like ‘2Those Who Care’ and our coverage of the National Folk Festival,” she said. “I know his colleagues are going to miss him on the stage and on the news desk.”

Interviews with potential replacements for Tyler are already under way.

“The unique makeup of News Center is such that we look for someone who is a strong reporter who is also comfortable on the anchor desk,” said Mike Curry, vice president for news at WLBZ.

Curry added that Tyler’s successor is likely to come from outside the Bangor TV market.

Tyler said he might return to a broadcast position down the road.

“That’s very possible,” he said. “How long that road is, nobody knows.”