Why Are All The TV People Leaving Grand Rapids Stations?

Over the past few months, we've seen TV talents at numerous West Michigan stations say goodbye to viewers as they've decided to leave Grand Rapids or TV news in general.

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The latest addition to this list is WZZM 13's Nick LaFave, who announced on Friday that he would be leaving the station after his contract expired in early December.

I won’t bury the lede: today is my last day with 13 On Your Side. My contract has expired. I've made the decision to leave the station. And after 20 years in the industry, I’m leaving television journalism. I'm doing so for my family...When I came to WZZM in 2014, I fully expected I would one day retire from this station...The hours required to succeed in this job no longer allow me to be the husband and dad my family needs me to be (and that I want to be).

LaFave joins a long list of TV personalities in Werst Michigan that have decided to move on. His announcement follows fellow WZZM personality Brent Ashcroft who made a similar announcement earlier in the same week.

Who has left Grand Rapids TV Recently

One of the highest-profile departures was at Fox 17 over the summer when Mike Avery & Deanna Falzone announced that they were leaving Fox 17 Morning News. While Avery had made his intentions clear that he was leaving, Falzone had initially planned to stay in a reduced capacity but announced last week that she would be leaving permanently as well.

Other departures from Fox 17 included anchor Ryan Cummings & sports reporter Zach Harig back in October.

WOOD-TV has also seen their share of musical chairs in the newsroom with anchor Lynsey Mukomel leaving the station in April to work with the Michigan Attorney General's office.

Others leaving WOOD-TV included longtime local sports fixture Larry Figurski, Anchor/Reporter Heather Walker, and beat reporter Seth Wells in November.

Even West Michigan's most well-known TV personality, meteorologist Bill Steffen is taking a step back, moving from his role as Chief Meteorologist to Chief Meteorologist Emeritus. So while we'll still see Bill, his role won't be as prominent as in the past.

So we're just left wondering, who's next?