Alan Pergament: Hannah Buehler, Scott Patterson, Carl Lam and Julianne Pelusi have career changes (2024)

Catching up on multiple comings and goings in local news:

Hannah Buehler won’t be returning to anchor and report for WKBW-TV (Channel 7) after all.

Buehler, who gave birth to twins in June, announced on social media last week that she has decided to leave the station after a decade.

Wrote Buehler: “Becoming a mom and navigating the new mom world has been the most challenging but most rewarding experience of my life. They are growing fast and I don’t want to miss a beat.”

“After much consideration, I have decided to step off the anchor desk, and spend all my time with our young family.”

Buehler announced in late December on her personal Facebook page that she and her partner Mike were expecting twins.

Buehler was moved into the 11 p.m. anchor slot in 2022 after former co-anchor Ashley Rowe and Jeff Russo decided to have a better work-life balance. She also anchored the 5:30 and 7 p.m. newscasts and filled in for Rowe at 6 p.m. when she had been on vacation. Lia Lando took over Rowe’s shifts on the 5 and 6 p.m. newscasts opposite Russo.

Buehler went on leave last winter before the birth of the twins. Pheben Kassahun replaced Buehler on newscasts in what was thought to be a temporary arrangement.

WKBW News Director Aaron Mason said a replacement for Buehler will be hired.

Buehler’s social media message was similar to the message that Rowe gave when she left Channel 7 in June of 2022.

After initially dropping the 11 p.m. newscast, Rowe announced she was leaving the station to spend more time with her infant daughter.

Rowe’s life changed when she and her husband, Buffalo attorney Daniel Greene, welcomed a daughter, Phoebe, in 2021. She returned from maternity leave in January 2022 when she requested to be dropped from the 11 p.m. newscast.

At the time of her leaving, Rowe wrote her departure “was an immensely difficult decision, but one made easier by all the support I’ve received from WKBW leadership.”

“I learned that becoming a mom is truly the toughest and most rewarding job you can possibly take on. Now, I have an opportunity to step back and evaluate how I want to evolve professionally and personally, and spend a lot more time with Phoebe while I do that.”

Rowe said she didn’t feel leaving TV news was a “forever move,” but rather a “for right now” move.

She has since returned to TV news as the co-anchor at 7 and 11 p.m. weekdays at WRAL-TV, the NBC affiliate in Raleigh-Durham, N.C. She also is a reporter there.

Scott Patterson’s position as morning co-anchor at Spectrum News in Buffalo has been eliminated by the cable company’s decision to eliminate the morning shows in Buffalo, Rochester and Syracuse to instead carry a statewide “Your Morning” show from Albany with anchors Julie Chapman and Dan Bazile.

Here’s the statement from a Spectrum spokesperson: “As part of an effort to provide a cohesive news experience for our viewers in upstate New York, Spectrum News 1 will now feature one networked morning show that integrates stories from all of our upstate markets into a single newscast, complemented by hyperlocal headlines and weather. This shift mirrors our other dayparts and will provide viewers a consistent approach to their news from morning to night with even more news from across the entire upstate region.”

That’s a nice way to avoid saying it is another cost-cutting move.

Patterson had been with Spectrum News in Buffalo for almost 12 years. Breanna Fuss, the other co-anchor, will remain with Spectrum News as part of the statewide production.

According to the Spectrum spokesperson, “Buffalo headlines and stories by reporters based in Buffalo will be seen during ‘News in 90’ every half hour. Area-specific weather reports will still air every 10 minutes."

It almost surely will mean Spectrum News will play a reduced role in covering Western New York.

Patterson is expected to remain on the air until the statewide version of the morning show is ready to start in the coming weeks. That should give him time to say goodbye. After almost 12 years, he deserves to do so.

I recently noticed that WGRZ-TV (Channel 2) meteorologist Carl Lam is off the promos for the station’s weather team. He is leaving his regular weekend newscast duties after this weekend. He still may substitute occasionally.

Considering how busy he is on a daily and weekly basis, it might have been amazing if Lam even had time to film a promo. He just might be the hardest-working person in local TV and radio. He is a resource analyst at the University at Buffalo, the midday meteorologist with City News 1130 in Vancouver, the weekend meteorologist for CityNews 680 in Toronto and is pursuing his fourth graduate degree in engineering management at UB. He also will continue to be a substitute violinist with the Erie (Pa.) Philharmonic. "Even I lose track sometimes!" he wrote.

Former Channel 2 sports anchor-reporter Julianne Pelusi is back in the TV news business at WNDU-TV in South Bend, Ind., best known as the home of the University of Notre Dame. It is the No. 98 TV market in the country. Pelusi isn't on the station's website as of Monday but she lists herself on X, formerly known as Twitter, as the sports director at the NBC affiliate. Her first assignment was covering the Notre Dame football team’s heartbreaking loss to Ohio State Saturday night.

Inquiring minds want to know: What happened to Bills quarterback Josh Allen’s weekly appearances on “Kyle Brandt’s Basem*nt?” Brandt’s podcast was canceled. I’m told that Allen had other options but isn’t doing any regular podcasts this season. He and his management team are expected to re-evaluate his plans next season.