Rafael Sánchez is moving to Fox59 and CBS4. Here's why you won't see him on TV right away

Holly V. Hays, Indianapolis Star
·2 min read
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Rafael Sanchez takes a selfie with some of the award recipients after the Abe Lincoln Awards ceremony at the Ivy Tech Culinary and Conference Center, Friday, Feb. 7, 2020. The Kiwanis Club of Indianapolis honored 18 area high school seniors who have achieved success despite overcoming significantly daunting challenges. The club presented $41,000 in scholarships to four of the candidates and $3,500 in award gifts to the remaining 14 candidates.

Rafael Sánchez is staying in local news.

The veteran Indianapolis journalist, who earlier this month announced his departure from WRTV-6 after more than 25 years, will join FOX-59/CBS4 in April, he shared on social media Monday.

Although local viewers may be accustomed to seeing him in front of the camera — he was a co-anchor of WRTV's "Good Morning Indiana" — Sánchez said he will be working behind the scenes until his one-year noncompete contract expires.

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"I look forward to meeting my new colleagues soon & working my tail off," he wrote. "This New beginning will give me a chance to reset and re-dedicate myself to being better and more importantly doing better."

Noncompete contracts are fairly common for local TV news journalists across the country (and are not exclusive to news media), but their use has been repeatedly challenged by the Federal Trade Commission.

FOX59 anchor Angela Ganote posted on X (formerly known as Twitter) that she "can't wait" for Sánchez to join the news team.

"His hard work, relationships and joy for life are unmatched," she wrote. "Yea us and all of you."

Dan Spehler, another FOX59 anchor and host of the station's weekly politics show, "IN Focus," also celebrated the move on X, calling Sánchez "one of the kindest and hardest working people in television."

"It was an honor to work with Rafael for several years at WRTV and we’re honored to have him join us here," Spehler wrote.

Contact IndyStar newsroom development director Holly Hays at holly.hays@indystar.com. Follow her on X/Twitter: @hollyvhays.

This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Rafael Sánchez says he's moving to Fox59, CBS4 after decades at WRTV-6