Two longtime San Antonio TV personalities have been off the air all month long following a wave of layoffs at KABB and News 4 San Antonio. With KABB Chief Meteorologist Alex Garcia and Sports Director Chuck Miketinac off the air, locals shared plenty of heartfelt reactions. 

The two spent decades on-air in the Alamo City. Garcia was part of the original Fox News at Nine crew when it launched in 1995, and Miketinac joined KABB that year. Both spent several years at KENS 5. Locals have grown up watching them give forecasts or call sports games, making Garcia and Miketinac two of the city’s most recognizable broadcasters. The news of their absence and removal from KABB’s website this week shocked many.

“Not Alex Garcia, I grew up watching him on television,” an Instagram user by the name of @annsuz21 wrote under MySA’s post. “I’m calling my mom.” A Facebook commenter named Bob Cahill heard the news across state lines, writing, “Chuck was the best. I moved away in 2017 and I’ve yet to find someone here in Milwaukee that compares to him.”

Overwhelmingly, viewers who commented about the news on MySA’s social pages said they’ll miss seeing Garcia and Miketinac on TV. Instagram user @badgyalriri8719 gave them high praise, saying, “They are like our Selena or Pop of SA news. We grew up on them. They will be missed.”

Layoffs hit both local Sinclair Broadcast Group stations early in September, MySA confirmed. However, a spokesperson declined to share specifics of their impact. The spokesperson said, “WOAI and KABB are committed to positioning the stations for long-term sustainability and we have made the difficult decision to eliminate a small number of positions in our content center [newsroom].” They added that the layoffs “will allow us to operate more efficiently and continue delivering exceptional local news and content to San Antonio viewers. We thank those affected for their contributions to the stations and the community.”

Many commenters lamented the shift to AI automation shaking up TV stations nationwide, including several in Texas. Others said they hope Garcia and Miketinac return to the airwaves or move to another station — and a few suggestions were tossed around. 

“They should start a podcast,” Facebook user Eric J Psatx wrote. “[They’re] arguably the two guys with the best personality on any channel.”