Veteran news anchor, Jim Vance dies at 75 after long battle with cancer

Jim Vance, one of the first black major news anchors and Washington DC's longest serving local TV host has died at the age of 75 following a long battle with cancer.

Station president and general manager, Jackie Bradford in a statement said, 'Jim Vance was not only the soul of NBC4 but of the entire Washington area. His smooth voice, brilliant mind and unforgettable laugh leaves each of us with a tremendous void'.

Vance, who won more than a dozen Emmys, was one of the first African-American news anchors to host a show in a major news market in 1972. He became one of former president George H.W. Bush's fishing buddies and a confidante to the city's former mayor, Marion Barry, who died in 2014.