Bill Shafer, who has been with WESH for the past 25 years serving in variety of roles including reporter, anchor and even sports director, is leaving Channel 2, station sources said.

Shafer's departure was announced to the WESH staff Tuesday afternoon. Shafer started as a sports photog at the station. He was the "good news" reporter when the station had that franchise, he was an anchor of the afternoon magazine show "Discover Orlando," he was anchor of its successor called "NewsChannel 2: A Closer Look," he was a morning news anchor and he was even sports director, replacing Marc Middleton and serving until being replaced by Pat Clarke.

We're told Shafer's last day at WESH will be in mid-August. He reportedly will be joining some other former WESH staffers -- including Buddy Pittman, Middleton and Andrea Coudriet -- with a consulting firm.

For those keeping track, WESH is losing nearly 90 years of local broadcast experience with the departure this month of longtime chief meteorologist Dave Marsh (37 years), the retirement announcement of weekend sports anchor Pittman (27 years) and now the impending departure of Shafer (25 years).