Most television reporters and anchors leave Buffalo for bigger markets.
That’s what makes the decision of former WIVB-TV (Channel 4) anchor Abby Fridmann to leave the morning program “Wake Up!” to join a morning program at WHAM -TV in Rochester on a three-year contract starting today more intriguing.
Buffalo is the No. 53 market in the country, while Rochester is the No. 77 TV market.
WHAM is an ABC and Fox affiliate owned by Sinclair Broadcasting, while WIVB is a CBS affiliate owned by Nexstar Media.
Fridmann’s reasons for leaving for a smaller market 80 miles down the Thruway are partially explained by her college experience. She is a graduate of SUNY Brockport near Rochester who later received a master’s degree from Syracuse University. Before joining WIVB in November of 2020, she worked at a Burlington, Vt., station.
“Rochester is my home away from home,” she explained in a telephone interview. “I didn’t grow up there. But I did a lot of growing up there. It’s where I went to undergrad. It’s where I fell in love with journalism.
“I shadowed reporters at WHAM and I interned at News 10 while in college. Coming back was just an amazing opportunity I really couldn’t pass up. This seemed like a great fit. I knew that this was a great newsroom going in because I interned there in college and when I saw the opportunity, I didn’t want to miss out on it.”
The move from Channel 4 was even more surprising when you consider that the station needed stability in its morning program.
A Lancaster native, Fridmann became the third female co-anchor to leave Channel 4’s morning program in less than a year.
Melanie Orlins left last summer to become a morning anchor at a station in Charleston, S.C., while Kelsey Anderson was promoted to Channel 4’s 11 p.m. co-anchor after veteran Jacquie Walker decided to step down from that newscast.
Fridmann had been the permanent “Wake Up!” co-anchor alongside Chris Horvatits since December…
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