Prior to ESPN, Bunin served as sports anchor/director at five different local news stations: WOTV-TV in Battle Creek, Michigan, from 2002-2003, WLAJ-TV in Lansing, Michigan, from 2000-2001, KNAZ-TV in Flagstaff, Arizona, from 1998-2000, WICZ-TV in Binghamton, New York, in 1997 and WTVH-TV in Syracuse, New York, in 1995-1996, where he worked alongside future CNN anchor Christopher Lawrence and future ABC anchor David Muir.