The rise of Digital Terrestrial Television during the first decade of the 2000s allowed an expansion in the content to which viewers had access. This also allowed for diversification in payment platforms through cable, satellite and teleoperators, which opened up to new customers as time went by. One of the many programs that premiered at that time was Hunters, on Canal Historia.
Originally known as American Pickers, it could be seen for the first time in the United States on January 18, 2010, with Mike Wolfe and Frank Fritz as visible faces of the format. His mission was to tour the United States at the controls of a van, visiting small towns to find antiques and collectibles, before buying and selling them. Unfortunately, one of its members, Fritz, died this past Monday at the age of 58.
His manager, Bill Stankey, was in charge of breaking the news through a statement on social networks. According to information collected in The New York Times, the cause of death is still unknown. However, the American newspaper has revealed that Fritz has been dealing with various health problems in recent years. A stroke in 2021 forced him to stop his involvement with the program, in addition to dealing with Crohn’s disease.
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“It is with a broken heart that I share with all of you that Frank passed away last night. I have known him for more than half of my life and what they have seen on television has always been what I have seen: a dreamer as sensitive as he is fun. Both off camera and live, Frank had a way of reaching the hearts of so many people by being himself,” said his partner, Mike Wolfe, in a letter shared on his Instagram profile.
Distance cut
“Who would have dreamed that we would share the cabin of a cargo truck in front of millions of people? Before the program, who was going to tell us that we would take off together to places we never knew existed just with the passion of discovering something interesting. “We have taken countless trips and shared so many miles and I feel blessed to have been there by his side as he took one last journey home,” Wolfe concluded.
After he left due to a stroke, Mike’s brother, Rob, was in charge of replacing him at Treasure Hunter. This health complication led to a distance between the two friends, as he confessed in an interview with The Sun. The duo managed to reconcile in 2023, coinciding with American Memorial Day.
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