WKBW-TV meteorologist Andy Parker has left the station eight years after he moved over from rival WGRZ-TV in hopes of helping Channel 7 return to its past glory.
Parker’s contract recently ended, and he declined to renew it. His last day on the air was Feb. 16.
In a brief memo to the staff, Channel 7 news director Aaron Mason wrote: “I want to let you know that Andy Parker has decided not to renew his contract with WKBW. We thank him for his time with this team and wish him well.
“Aaron (Mentkowski) and Michelle McCleod will cover all shows this week and next week until Autumn (Lewandowski) returns from vacation. We will begin a search for a new meteorologist to join our 7 Weather Team immediately.”
There is speculation that Parker eventually may return to WGRZ, which has an opening in its weather department since Heather Waldman left in the summer.
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Channel 2 General Manager Jim Toellner, who is retiring in April, declined to comment. Parker could not be reached for comment.
Parker, who is in his early 50s, has often done weather from his suburban backyard during the Covid-19 pandemic.
At the time of his hiring in 2014, Parker seemed to be the way of new owner E.W. Scripps to announce that it would spend the money needed to get who it wants in its quest to improve ratings. A boost in ratings never materialized.
It was a homecoming of sorts for Parker, who had a previous stint at Channel 7, briefly had his own business and joined Channel 2 in 2004. He started at WGRZ as the weekend meteorologist on its first-place morning program “Daybreak” and eventually was moved to weekdays.
He was hired in 2014 to be part of WKBW’s revamped morning team, but four years later he became the station’s primary evening weather anchor after he and chief meteorologist Aaron Mentkowski switched places.
Since Parker joined Channel 7, the station has remained in third place in all news time periods it competes with WGRZ-TV (Channel 2) and WIVB-TV (Channel 4).
At the time Parker left Channel 2, he was believed to be in position to replace Kevin O’Connell as Channel 2’s top weatherman once O’Connell retired.
“Being in weather, you are always looking ahead,” Parker said when he joined Channel 7 in 2014. “And when you are doing these contracts, you have to look down the road and forecast where TV will be in three, four, five years … It was my feeling that the landscape was going to look significantly different a few years down the road. When you ask yourself which station might be in the position to make the largest gains, I think you are looking at Channel 7.”
His forecast ended up being wrong.
Now we’ll have to wait to see if speculation he may return to Channel 2 will prove accurate, or if he is leaving television news for good.
NBC sent along previews of the next two episodes of “This Is Us,” which has been off a few weeks because of the network’s coverage of the Beijing Olympics.
The episodes are terrific. If you’ve stopped watching this series because it became too sad, now is the time to come back as the end is near in its final episodes.
The episode at 9 tonight on Channel 2 deals with Beth’s (Susan Kelechi Watson) experiences growing up as a ballerina with a less than supportive coach and how her memories of his giving up on her made her a better coach now.
The March 8 emotional episode is Emmy-worthy for Mandy Moore (Rebecca) just for a scene in which she tells her three adult children how she wants them to behave as her battle with dementia becomes more pronounced and heartbreaking. Bring along some tissues for the final scene with her daughter Kate (Chrissy Metz).
