The imminent firing of popular local television anchorwoman Sue Simmons is prompting internet grumbles that she’s a victim of gender and/or age bias.

I would argue she held the post longer than her performance merits.

The 68-year-old Simmons has read the news on the NBC affiliate here for 32 years.  While WNBC isn’t my top choice at 5, 6 or 11, I’ve watched Simmons off and on for about fifteen years.  She totally mails it in.

When something big breaks, she’s in over her head.  It’s not that she gets rattled but Simmons can’t muster much off-script dialogue with colleagues that doesn’t come off as a scoff or a been-there, done-that response.  It’s tiring.  She’s tired.  And while her employer enjoys tops-in-the-market numbers with her and partner Chuck Scarborough in the 11 PM slot, WNBC is probably tired of paying Simmons a reported $5 mil annual when they see other younger, hungrier broadcast journalists doing it better for much less at the stiff competition doing news at channels 5. 7 and 11.

The fact Scarborough is getting a three-year extension at the same time Simmons is being shown the door is probably the leading reason for the cries of discrimination.  Chuck is the same age and his identity is linked with Simmons because they’ve sat together for so long.  Why does Chuck the old man get to stay while Sue the old woman gets canned?

It’s because Chuck still has it.  Sue doesn’t – and hasn’t for a good stretch.

I’m not saying local television news executives don’t wrongly discard aging female broadcast journalists for completely misguided reasons.  They do.  I simply don’t think Simmons is getting that kind of malicious shaft here.

I watch Liz Cho and Bill Ritter on channel 7 at 6 PM.  They excel at interaction with a big roster of talented field reporters doing live reports during both routine and hard, breaking news.

I’m also devoted to Jodi Applegate’s very unusual one-hour cast at 10 PM on WPIX (channel 11).  Applegate’s sharp wit is infectious as is her station’s devotion to a solid block of reports and commentary on outer borough corruption, violent crime and odd city government action/inaction in those neighborhoods.

One side note on the Simmons saga:  it was Post gossip columnist Cindy Adams (a Simmons pal) who first broke the story in Tuesday’s newspaper.  The reason this is notable is because Adams never scoops anybody on anything.  Her column is far and away the biggest waste of space of any in the city’s three major newspapers.