“I’m ecstatic to be back in the Pacific Northwest as the newest member of the @kgwnews Sunrise team,” Haider wrote on social media.<\/p>\n
Haider, who previously worked in Seattle, said returning to the region was an “easy decision.”<\/p>\n
“It’s the only place outside of Houston that has always felt like home,” he wrote. “Growing up, I admired this station for years. The storytelling. The connection to the community. The incredible journalists who made this place what it is today.”<\/p>\n
Haider thanked the Pacific Northwest for welcoming him back and said his new KGW colleagues made the transition smooth.<\/p>\n
“It’s good to be home again. Let’s run it back,” he wrote. “I’ll be in my happy place \u2014 the mountains or the nearest coffee shop.”<\/p>\n
Haider’s move comes less than three weeks after he confirmed his departure from ABC13 on July 22. In his farewell message, he called working at the station a “great honor” and reflected on getting to cover both news and sports in the city his family calls home.\u00a0<\/p>\n
“One post can’t encapsulate what I got to cover over these two years,” Haider wrote. “I wouldn’t trade this experience for anything.”<\/p>\n
He ended the message simply: “Love you, #Htown.”\u00a0<\/p>\n
Haider’s Portland debut comes the same day new ABC13 reporter Joe McCoy makes his first on-air appearance in Houston.<\/p>\n
McCoy joins ABC13 from\u00a0KARE 11 in Minneapolis, becoming the Disney-owned station’s third reporter hire this year<\/a>. ABC13 reporter Miya Shay<\/a> introduced McCoy to viewers on social media ahead of his debut, saying he will initially work dayside before moving primarily to the station’s nighttime coverage.<\/p>\n “Sunday night, I will have a sports segment, which I’m very much looking forward to, and as Miya mentioned, reporting nightside Wednesday through Saturday,” McCoy said.\u00a0<\/p>\n Before\u00a0KARE 11, McCoy worked at WQAD News 8, the TEGNA-owned station serving the Quad Cities, as a multimedia journalist and weekend anchor. The Augustana College graduate also has an extensive sports broadcasting background, including hosting a weekly NFL analysis radio show and calling high school football and basketball games.<\/p>\n