A Disney-owned television station in California is facing another high-profile exit, with a fourth on-air staffer leaving in the span of just three months — a shake-up so noticeable that one viewer likened it to “the break-up of the Beatles.”
Christine Gregory, the morning meteorologist at Fresno’s ABC30, signed off Friday after revealing earlier in the month that she would be stepping away. Her departure brings to a close three years of helping Central California viewers start their day with the forecast.
“I’ll have you know it was an incredibly difficult decision,” Gregory told viewers during her on-air goodbye. “It didn’t happen overnight because I do truly love what I do.”
Gregory explained that she ultimately found herself choosing between her professional life and her home life — and, as she put it, “my heart” led her toward home.
The ABC30 meteorologist is relocating to Buffalo, New York, where she will be closer to family. She also plans to take some time away from television as she settles into a new home with her boyfriend.
A native of Syracuse, Gregory began her broadcasting career in Rochester before joining the Fresno ABC affiliate in 2023.
Her exit prompted emotional reactions from co-workers. Anchor Jessica Harrington called Gregory “sunshine in human form,” while fellow anchor Cory James said the recent string of goodbyes at the station has felt like a “double whammy.”
Gregory’s farewell comes shortly after another ABC30 departure. Last month, reporter and weather anchor Tiffany Olin left the Fresno station for KVVU-TV, the Fox affiliate in Las Vegas, where she is now anchoring weather for the weekday 1 p.m. and 2 p.m. newscasts.
City Hall reporter Gabe Ferris also left the station in mid-July to join sister station ABC7 in Chicago as a general assignment reporter.
The exodus also impacted longtime sports director and anchor Stephen Hicks, who signed off in June after eight years with ABC30. Hicks relocated to Southern California to be with his new wife, fellow television journalist Hunter Sowards.
The departures extend beyond ABC30. Late last month, KMPH anchor Kim Stephens called it quits after 23 years on the air for a full-time, tenure-track position with Fresno State University’s Media, Communications and Journalism Department.
The string of departures and accompanying shifts in jobs have seemed to leave Fresno-area viewers devastated.
“I am so bummed! My all time favorite morning crew. It’s like the break-up of the Beatles,” one social media user commented.
The turnover seen this year is not necessarily unique, the Fresno Bee reported. TV news contracts typically run two to three years, and Fresno saw similar turnover in 2019 and again in 2022-2023.
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