Johnathon O’Halloran, the 28-year-old morning anchor at Sinclair-owned NBC affiliate WJAC-TV, posted on Instagram on Monday, September 14, 2026, that he was leaving the Johnstown, Pennsylvania, station after more than two years behind the desk, and that the next morning’s edition of “6 News at Sunrise” would be his last.
“It’s bittersweet to say that tomorrow, Tuesday, will be my final day at WJAC. Over the last two years and some months, I’ve been honored to sit at the desk for a station with such a rich history and to get to know so many wonderful people across this ten-county community,” he wrote on Instagram.
“To everyone at home, thank you for trusting me to be a part of your day and to keep you informed about the stories that matter most,” he continued. “It’s a responsibility I’ve never taken lightly, and I’m incredibly grateful for the memories and experiences I’ve made here.”
“I’m excited for what’s next, but for now, I hope you’ll join me one more time Tuesday morning on 6 News at Sunrise,” he added, signing off with, “Thank you for everything.”
A second, longer Instagram post, written on his last morning on the air, opened: “My final send off this morning on 6 News at Sunrise.” In it he pointed ahead to something he has not yet named. “While I’m excited for what’s next, and I’ll have more on that in the coming days,” he wrote on Instagram.
The same post thanked the region that took him in. He wrote that he arrived in June 2024 knowing no one, that the community welcomed him immediately, and that wherever he goes next he will keep cheering on the 10 counties he called home.
Two Years at the Sunrise Desk
Hired in June 2024, O’Halloran grew into one of the familiar faces on a newscast that goes out before dawn to a 10-county stretch of west-central Pennsylvania, Punxsutawney included. “Today marks two years for me at WJAC! Crazy how time flies!” he posted in June 2026.
From Woodbridge to the Anchor Desk
He grew up in Woodbridge, New Jersey. He took a bachelor’s degree in communications and digital media from Xavier University in Cincinnati in 2020, and he wore both of the school’s mascot suits, D’Artagnan the Musketeer and the Blue Blob, for all four years. Radio came before television for him — first as a producer, then as a fill-in sports talk host.
His job before Johnstown was assignment editor at WPIX in New York City. Donald Trump’s civil fraud and hush money cases fell to him there, according to his station biography, as did the arrest of an alleged Long Island serial killer, the 2022 Twin Parks apartment fire in the Bronx and the 2022 Sunset Park subway attack.
He produced an in-depth piece on an alleged cancer cluster at Colonia High School in New Jersey, which earned him a New York Emmy Award in 2023. The story drew national attention after more than 100 former students and staff reported brain tumors. State environmental and health officials responded by testing the school grounds in 2022, and those tests found no radiological hazards. Colonia is part of Woodbridge Township, his hometown. The award is a regional New York Emmy, not one of the national primetime or news and documentary Emmys.
A Second Job in New York Radio
His week extended well past Pennsylvania mornings. As of September 16, he was also anchoring newscasts for WOR 710 as well as iHeartRadio in New York, a second job that shuttled him between a small-market television desk and a big-city radio newsroom.
He said he was honored to join special coverage marking the 25th anniversary of the September 11 attacks, noting that he grew up close to New York City and that the events of that day rank among his earliest memories.
What the Exit Leaves Behind
In a market the size of Johnstown, the departure of a young anchor registers. Morning newscasts in smaller markets are typically where journalists put together the reel that lands them a bigger job. O’Halloran had built a two-track career — local television in Pennsylvania, radio news in New York — that already placed him on national stories while he was still reading local headlines at dawn.
Congratulations piled up in the comments under his farewell post. “I’m so proud of you, my friend!” one wrote. “Wow! Excited for you!” said another. The mood on Facebook ran more wistful: one viewer called the exit a sad one and wished the region could hold on to its young talent, while granting that a journalist wanting to move his career forward made sense. The double edge showed through in that response — the anchor gets a send-off, and a small-market morning desk gets one more empty chair.
