December 19, 2025
CBS Philadelphia/YouTube
Jim Donovan gave his final broadcast at CBS Philadelphia on Friday morning after 22 years at the station. He announced his plan to retire last month. On the way out, Donovan notched a Guinness World Record for the largest private sock collection.
After nearly 40 years in news and more than 20 at CBS Philadelphia, morning anchor Jim Donovan called it a career at the end of his Friday broadcast.
Donovan, who announced his plan to retire in November, joined co-host Janelle Burrell for one final segment reflecting on his time covering the Delaware Valley.
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"I hope that you know, I took my job and my role very seriously here even if I delivered the news with an occasional wink and a grin," Donovan, 59, told viewers as he fought back tears. "But it's time for me to try something new. I'm not sure what that will be exactly."
Donovan's viewers often took notice of his colorful socks. About eight years ago, Donovan said his fans started sending him new pairs in the mail, and he began sharing photos of them with the hashtag #JimSocks. They feature a zoo's worth of animal designs, the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Philly sports teams and holiday themes. One pair even depicts Donovan's head wearing a Santa hat.
When his collection grew well past 1,000 pairs of socks, Donovan decided to apply for a Guinness World Record.
"Guinness is very specific as far as how they want people to apply for different records," Donovan said in video posted on Instagram earlier this month, surrounded his by his arsenal of socks.
The world record organization required Donovan to create a detailed spreadsheet with descriptions and videos of each of his socks, which he stores in bins. Then two experts had to come to the CBS3 studio, where Donovan documented the socks, to verify the record.
"I think I've put in 80 hours this week, over socks," Donovan said.
On Dec. 8, Guinness World Records validated Donovan's 1,531 pairs of socks as the world's largest private collection, surpassing the previous record of 1,165 pairs.
Donovan credited CBS3's viewers with helping him achieve the feat.
"This record is as much theirs as it is mine," he said on Friday's broadcast.
Donovan joined CBS Philadelphia in 2004 as a consumer reporter on the station's "3 On Your Side" unit, working his way up the ranks to become a morning host in 2016. He became Philadelphia's first openly gay news anchor, overcoming decades of stigma and occasional discouragement from station producers at his previous news jobs. He never explicitly came out on air at CBS3, but he did nothing to hide his personal life.
“It wasn’t something that I set out to do,” Donovan told the Philadelphia Gay News last month. “Here I am, you know — like me or hate me. This is what you gotta deal with.”
Over the course of his nearly four decades in the news industry, Donovan earned 15 Emmy Awards. The Staten Island native started his career as an intern at WWOR-TV in Secaucus, New Jersey. At that time, he also worked as an international and domestic flight attendant for People Express Airlines, later Continental Airlines. He held roles at CNBC in New York City, WGHP in North Carolina and WBNS in Ohio before coming to Philadelphia.
Donovan also was an active fundraiser during relief efforts, rallying CBS3 viewers to donate more than $1 million after Hurricane Katrina devastated New Orleans and other communities. He also helped raise more than half a million dollars after an earthquake struck Haiti in 2010.
As he signed off Friday, Donovan implored viewers to stay engaged with the news and have faith in the people who report it.
"This business has changed a lot since 1987," he said. "Freedom of the press is increasingly under attack. Somewhere along the line, it became acceptable to portray journalists as an enemy of the people, and I can assure you, that's far from the truth. We're your friends, we're your neighbors. We care just as much about our communities and our country as you do."
