ABC30 sports anchor leaving Fresno after 8 years; forever ‘singing its praises’
Stephen Hicks is leaving Fresno after an eight-year stint on local television news with ABC30. It’s not a gig the station’s sports director and anchor gives up easily — nor one he’ll forget.
“It’s hard to put into words what this community has meant to me,” Hicks wrote in a post announcing his departure last week.
“The blue collar work ethic and grit has inspired me to work harder and strive for excellence every single day,” he wrote. “These past 8 years have taken me up and down this beautiful state and put more incredible people in my life than I can count. Fresno will always hold a special place in my heart and I’ll forever be singing its praises.”
Hicks came to Fresno from Bakersfield (where he was the sports director at the ABC affiliate KERO-TV) and Arizona, where he graduated from the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism at Arizona State University.
Early on in Fresno, Hicks used his weekend role to discover new sports talents before they became superstars. He remembers taking a trip to Yosemite to interview “Free Solo” climber Alex Honnold in the days before the Oscar win. He also remembers doing one of the first stories on the Cavinder twins (Hanna and Haley) when they played basketball for Fresno State and were pioneers in the Name Image Likeness era of college athletics.
Later, he was responsible for creating (from “scratch”) the 30-minute “Bulldog Breakdown.” The weekly program was dedicated to Fresno State athletics and featured fellow ABC30 sports reporter Brianna Mellon before she left the station in 2022.
He was taken with how much love the community has for ABC30.
“I came from a station that was dead last in the rating,” Hicks told the Bee in an interview on Thursday. “Literally, from day one here, people were asking to take selfies with me.”
The move coincides with Hick’s July 4 marriage to his longtime fiancé (a TV journalist in Los Angles) and comes after years of a long-distance relationship. “That commute to see her has been absolutely insane,” he says.
Friday is Hick’s final day on air in Fresno.
“It’s been a privilege,” he told The Bee, to work at ABC30, a station with 70 years of history and a cohort of strong journalists like Warren Armstrong, Graciela Moreno and Kevin Musso.
“They’re good if not better behind the scenes. Incredible journalists and better people,” Hicks says.
“They just hire good people.”
Gabe Ferris leaving for Chicago’s ABC 7
Hicks is not the only on-air talent departing from ABC30 this summer.
In a Linkedin post last week, Gabe Ferris announced he would be leaving his post as the station’s City Hall reporter to take a gig with Chicago affiliate ABC 7.
“Four years ago, I walked into the ABC News Washington Bureau as an intern. I reported from Capitol Hill before joining ABC30, where I covered local politics and the region’s most consequential criminal cases,” Ferris wrote in the post. “Now, I am headed to one of the most respected newsrooms in the country.”
“There are too many highlights to count and so many people to thank,” he said of his time with the station. “The trust, mentorship, and opportunities I received at ABC30 shaped me in ways I will carry proudly throughout my career.”
Ferris started at ABC30 in 2023. His final broadcast will be sometime next month.
“Keep KFSN on the air”
The personal changes come in the middle of a community campaign against the Federal Communication Commission. Early this year, the FCC demanded early review of the broadcast TV licenses for all ABC-owned stations, which included KFSN in Fresno.
On Monday, the station began airing a promo calling for public comment to the FCC.
“ABC30 has proudly served Fresno for more than 70 years. The FCC is questioning our commitment to viewers by threatening to take us off the air. Use your voice and tell the FCC that Fresno deserves to keep its trusted local station KFSN.”