Ehling anchors ABC13’s weekend morning newscasts currently while also reporting during the week and anchoring the station’s 11 a.m. newscast.

The decision has been years in the making.

“My wife and I have been planning for this a long time,” Ehling told McGuff. The couple originally hoped he would retire in 2020 after 20 years at ABC13, but the uncertainty of the pandemic changed those plans.

Instead, Ehling signed another contract and later moved into a streaming anchor role, which he said he thoroughly enjoyed before eventually adding the 11 a.m. newscast to his duties.

Now, six years later, “it just feels like the right time to begin a new phase of our lives,” he said.

One thing he’s especially looking forward to is reclaiming his evenings.

“I love watching football, but unfortunately I have to miss all of the Sunday Night, Monday Night and Thursday Night games due to working the early morning schedule,” Ehling said. “I typically go to bed around 7 p.m.” Retirement, he added, means he can finally “set my own schedule, and that includes plenty of football.”

Ehling began his TV career in 1986 at ABC affiliate WVGA in Valdosta, Ga., near his hometown of Statenville. He later worked at WMGT in Macon and WCTV in Tallahassee, Fla., where he served as bureau chief in Valdosta before being promoted to weekend anchor.

During his time at ABC13, Ehling reported on major hurricanes, covered Operation Iraqi Freedom from Kuwait and Iraq, and reported on troops guarding detainees at Guantanamo Bay. He has also anchored newscasts, produced consumer reports and, beginning in 2024, transitioned from the weekend anchor desk to ABC13+ streaming while returning to consumer reporting before taking on the 11 a.m. broadcast. 

“This business has given me a lifetime of incredible experiences,” Ehling told McGuff. “The people I’ve met along the way, both in the business and in the community, have been wonderful.”

While Ehling is retiring from his full-time role, ABC13 News Director Keaton Fuchs told Chron that viewers shouldn’t expect him to disappear entirely. 

“We anticipate him being back when the right story comes up,” Fuchs said. 

Fuchs called Ehling “one of the all-time Houston greats” and credited him as “a strong reason we are number one across the board—on TV and on streaming.”

“Good reporters come and go, that’s just a part of the business, but good reporters who are also solid human beings—that’s Jeff and we need more of that in this business.”