That was the message that News 7 delivered to its viewers Thursday with the announcement that Travis Wells has been promoted to sports director.

Wells will succeed his longtime boss, Mike Stevens, who resigned June 11 to become director of communications for Salem.

Stevens’ last broadcast will take place July 30, news director Amy Morris said Thursday.

Wells, a 1995 Radford University graduate, was hired as News 7 weekend sports anchor following the death of Roy Stanley in 2002.

"People don’t leave WDBJ every day," Wells, 36, said. "You always hope to get this kind of opportunity, but, until it becomes a reality, you don’t know when that opportunity is going to come. It was really a surprise when Mike turned in his resignation."

Morris said there were more than 100 applicants for the position.

"I think there’s a couple of things playing here," she said. "If people are interested in being an anchor or reporter, they’ve probably hopped on our website and seen our commitment to local sports.

"And there’s a lot of [job seekers] out there. A lot of TV stations around the country have cut their sportscasts tremendously. There are some stations that don’t do sports at all.

"There are some good applicants who don’t have jobs. Their contracts weren’t renewed or their station shut down. They all have pretty decent tapes."

Morris said that WDBJ will remain a three-person sports operation. Grant Kittelson, described by Wells as the staff’s best "shooter," will continue to serve as a reporter. It is likely that News 7 will go outside its station to hire a weekend anchor, Morris added.