He says it's something he's been wanting to do for more than a year.

But when WEDU-Ch. 3 president and CEO Dick Lobo saw how the deteriorating economy was hobbling the Tampa PBS station -- which had an expensive switch to all-digital broadcasting scheduled in early 2009 -- Lobo decided to stay in his job long past the time he expected or wanted.

But Lobo, 72, told WEDU's board on Wednesday that the time had come for him to step down and perhaps slow down just a bit, calling an end to a seven-year tenure that was only supposed to last a couple of years.

"I had just had open-heart surgery a year ago, and I was ready to do this then," said Lobo, who had an aortic valve replacement performed in a New York hospital on Sept. 8 of last year. "But when I saw the challenges ahead for the station, I felt it wouldn't be right to leave that to someone else."

Lobo had come out of retirement to take the reins at WEDU, having spent the first 40 years of his work life at commercial network TV affiliates in New York, Miami and Chicago. Back in June 2002 when he came in, Lobo came to a station that had implemented $2 million in budget cuts and laid off one-third its staff.

And even though he notched some important achievements -- helping WEDU find new funding sources, create new local shows and completing a $15 million conversion to digital broadcasting -- the station has faced more substantial cuts, shaving $500,000 from its budget last year, freezing salaries, instituting some pay cuts and laying off staff.

Now Lobo says the station will show a modest surplus for its fiscal year, which ended Wednesday, making the best time possible for a quick exit. Board member Geoff Simon, who also hosts the station’s monthly Suncoast Business Journal program, will lead the search committee for his replacement.