After ten years with WHDH, evening anchor Frances Rivera will leave Boston for a local television job in New York City next month.
Rivera told The Boston Herald that her departure is due to a priority shift after the birth of her daughter last year. “The number one reason is family,” she said. “This would never have been a dilemma for me a year ago, but after I had a daughter — all that changed.”
Rivera was one of the WHDH anchors who protested the station’s annual Health and Fitness Expo last month. WHDH, which is the Boston NBC affiliate, has been locked in an extended battle with AFTRA, the union that represents WHDH on-air talent, over salary and age discrimination concerns.
At the protest, Rivera and her on-air colleagues handed out fliers urging people to call WHDH general manager Christopher Wayland and express support for the broadcasters. The Herald reports the station was “very unhappy” with Rivera’s decision to participate in the protest.
Wayland had kind words for Rivera, who has not disclosed which NYC station she is going to. “We wanted her to stay,” he said. “She did a great job for us and we wish her the best.”