WIVB-TV (Channel 4) morning anchor Chris Horvatits is exiting “Wake Up!” by the end of the year, General Manager Joe Abouzeid confirmed.
“He has chosen to leave,” said Abouzeid.
Horvatits’ departure after more than a year in the role came to light after Channel 4 recently posted a job for a morning anchor on its website.
The salary range for an applicant with at least five years of experience as a reporter or anchor is $65,000 to $75,000. Stations now must post the salary range of jobs under a recent New York State pay transparency law.
Horvatits, a St. Mary’s High School graduate who grew up in Lancaster before studying broadcasting and mass communication at SUNY Oswego, declined to comment.
He has been at Channel 4 for at least five years and previously worked in Watertown and Rochester.
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His departure continues the pattern of morning instability at Channel 4.
Ali Touhey, a former anchor-reporter at WKBW-TV (Channel 7), became the permanent morning co-anchor in July after Abby Fridmann left for a similar role at a Rochester station. Touhey started at Channel 4 earlier in 2023 as the weekend morning anchor.
“Wake Up!” has had several anchor changes over the years. Fridmann replaced Kelsey Anderson, who replaced Mel Orlins, who replaced Brittni Smallwood, who replaced Teresa Weakley, who replaced Diana Fairbanks.
That sentence illustrates one of the significant problems with “Wake Up!”: Its revolving door of female co-anchors on its morning program when audiences in that time period appreciate stability.
The station also has had turnover in its morning male co-anchors, with Jordan Williams, Dave Greber and Joe Arena all in that role over the last decade or so.
“Daybreak” (Channel 2) co-anchor Melissa Holmes has been in that role for more than a decade on the area’s first-place morning program and has worked alongside only two male co-anchors, Pete Gallivan and John Beard.
Channel 4 likely will have several candidates to replace Horvatits.
It might not have to look far to replace him.
Scott Patterson, who was recently let go in a round of layoffs at Spectrum News, is one possible candidate.
He worked at the cable news channel for almost 12 years, which certainly is a sign of stability.
In his on-air goodbye in October, Patterson noted he is married to a Western New Yorker and plans to stay in the area.