CBS 17’s Bill Reh talks ‘bittersweet’ exit after 40 years in TV weather — and what’s next
“What’s next?” is the question everyone’s asking Bill Reh, who retired on Friday after nearly 40 years as one of the Triangle’s most liked TV meteorologists.
It’s a question he says he doesn’t really want to answer, but he can’t help himself.
The call for this interview was paused for a few seconds while he clicked “confirm” on a trip to Aruba with his family: his wife, Shields, of 34 years; his daughter, Brennan, who is a news anchor in Florida, and her husband (they’re newlyweds who married this summer on her parents’ anniversary).
Then he gushed about having Christmas off for the first time in ages, going to visit his daughter in Florida, taking beach trips, volunteering, and his wife’s excitement about having a “house elf.”
Reh is clearly enthused about his newly found free time, and recognizes that it’s a privilege to retire at the age of 63. But even though he has been planning this for awhile and he’s looking forward to doing more with his family, the actual leaving part was “bittersweet,” he said.
“I still love what I do, but I don’t love the hype of TV,” said Reh, who has been with CBS 17 since 2004, most recently as weekday morning meteorologist.
When his contract ended in June, he wasn’t quite ready to leave. He’d been signing one-year contracts with the station for awhile, he said, but when he suggested doing that again this past June, the station countered with six months instead. He was a little surprised, but says it’s for the best.
“It kinda helped me make my decision, because I’ve been hemming and hawing for years and I needed someone to say, ‘No, six months is what I’ll give you,’” Reh said.
It was the nudge he needed, he said, because it was always a decision that has been more about emotion.
“I wanted to do it, but I was scared to do it, and finally I’m doing it — and it helped that they helped me make my decision by suggesting six months. ... Because who knows how long I’d have kept doing year by year?
“Logically, I can do this. Emotionally, that’s the problem I have that’s kept me dragging along. Well, they helped me do it,” he said with a laugh.
One person who has no mixed feelings about Reh’s retirement is his wife.
“My wife was delighted. When I told her what they said about six months, her eyes lit up. ‘You mean you’re going to get Christmas off?’ So that made me think, if my wife is happy, I think I’m ready and I’ll give it a shot.
“Plus every time that alarm goes off at 2:25 a.m., I’m like ‘Why do I do this?’”
During Reh’s last week on-air, the station paid tribute to his career with clips from the past.
“I’ve been seeing clips of people I used to work with — Sharon (Delaney) and even people from WTVD days — and it’s been great. I mean, I loved it,” he said.
One of those old friends from WTVD is Chris Hohmann, who retired from ABC11 last year after 30 years there. Reh worked with Hohmann at ABC11 for 13 years before moving to WB22 and then CBS 17. Hohmann has assured Reh that retirement is going to be fun.
“Chris Hohmann’s got me convinced I’m gonna love it, because he loves it and doesn’t miss it, and he said if I miss it, he’s going to hire me a psychiatrist and take me there and figure out why,” Reh said.
“Getting bored” is really his only worry, but he doesn’t think that’s something he’ll have to deal with for quite awhile, and if the boredom gets too bad, he can always get a job at Costco, he said.
“I’m ready to just see what happens, because I don’t have anything planned.”
Except a long, leisurely Christmas break. And visiting his daughter. And hitting the beach. And volunteering. And that trip to Aruba.
This story was originally published December 16, 2022 at 4:04 PM.
