A LEADING Houston sports anchor has been cut in a surprise decision.
Fox 26 host Will Kunkel was informed he was being dismissed on Wednesday.
Will Kunkel has left his role with FOX 26 Houston[/caption]
Kunkel initially claimed the entire sports department had been cut in the move.
“Wednesday was my last day at FOX 26 Houston,” said Kunkel on X.
“The station made the decision to cut the sports department— something I never saw coming.
“It was a shock, to say the least.”
Fox have since clarified that the sports department will remain intact.
Erica Keane, the senior vice president of media relations for Fox Television Stations, confirmed the network will still provide sports coverage.
“We did not eliminate the sports department – we eliminated the sports anchor position,” Keane told the Houston Chronicle.
“We’re still going to cover sports extensively both with a reporter in the mornings.
“We’re going to gather and distribute sports content across all sports whenever there’s breaking news.”
Keane admitted the network was not entirely sure how the future would look in the newsroom.
“It depends on how they want to set up their news,” she added.
“Our digital presence in Houston is tremendous, it does very well.
“All of the sports content that’s happening in the market and in Texas is going to be reported on.
“And reporters report on everything, so that’s just how they wanted to set it up.”
NFL WEEK 1 SCHEDULE
(All times ET)
Thur 4 Sept
8.20 pm – Dallas Cowboys at Philadelphia Eagles
Fri 5 Sept
8pm – Kansas City Chiefs at Los Angeles Chargers
Sun 7 Sept
1pm – Tampa Bay Buccaneers at Atlanta Falcons
1pm – Cincinnati Bengals at Cleveland Browns
1pm – Miami Dolphins at Indianapolis Colts
1pm – Las Vegas Raiders at New England Patriots
1pm – Arizona Cardinals at New Orleans Saints
1pm – Pittsburgh Steelers at New York Jets
1pm – New York Giants at Washington Commanders
1pm – Carolina Panthers at Jacksonville Jaguars
4.05 pm – Tennessee Titans at Denver Broncos
4.05 pm – San Francisco 49ers at Seattle Seahawks
4.25 pm – Detroit Lions at Green Bay Packers
4.25 pm – Houston Texans at Los Angeles Rams
8.20 pm – Baltimore Ravens at Buffalo Bills
Mon 8 Sept
8.15 pm – Minnesota Vikings at Chicago Bears
Kunkel has served as the sports director at FOX 26 Houston since September 2023.
He also launched a station video podcast called Kickin’ it with Kunkel.
Kunkel led all of the station’s sports coverage.
He anchored the evening newscasts alongside Anthony Antoine, Caroline Collins, and Rashi Vats.
