T.L. Hughes

Gray Television's CBS affiliate in Tallahassee, Florida, WCTV, is being sued by the owner of Ollie Wallie’s (a now-defunct children’s fun center). The former owner claims that the station, its manager and two reporters defamed the station by spreading incorrect information about his business. The lawsuit states that a parent of a child at the fun center claimed that an Ollie Wallie's staff member inappropriately touched their child. The day after the police report was filed with the Tallahassee Police Department, WCTV reporter Candyce Sweat told people outside of the Ollie Wallie's location that a child was sexually assaulted there and asked them what they thought. According to the suit, later that week, another WCTV reporter Jerry Askin returned to the fun center and continued approaching people in the parking lot, looking for reactions to the “sexual assault.” WCTV reported multiple times on air, and on its Facebook and Twitter feeds than an assault had occurred at the fun center; the Tallahassee Police Department investigation states that no crime or sexual assault occurred at the fun center and no charges were filed. The owner of the Ollie Wallie’s location claims that the actions of the two reporters, station management and WCTV caused him to lose business, forcing him to shut its doors. Attorneys representing WCTV responded to the ''Tallahassee Democrat'' newspaper that they “do not believe there is any merit to the allegation” and that “the station intends to defend itself vigorously”. LIN TV's Norfolk, Virginia NBC affiliate WAVY is joining the ever-growing pack of stations starting their weekday morning newscasts at 4:30 a.m. The station will expand its weekday morning news to the 4:30 slot starting this coming Monday, October 24. There will be no additions to the morning anchor team with the move as Kerri Furey and Don Roberts will anchor the additional half-hour, alongside meteorologist Jeremy Wheeler, and Cheryl Tan and "Chopper 10" pilot John Massey, who provide traffic reports. Nexstar Broadcating/Mission Broadcating's Springfield, Missouri virtual duopoly of CBS affiliate KOLR and independent station KOZL has hired Jamie Warriner as chief meteorologist and promoted longtime meteorologist Ted Keller to senior meteorologist/severe weather specialist. Starting October 24, Warriner (who was most recently a weekday morning meteorologist at Newport Television/High Plains Broadcating's Jacksonville, Florida virtual duopoly of Fox affiliate WAWS and CBS affiliate WTEV) takes over forecasting duties for the 4 and 9 p.m. newscasts on KOZL, and 5, 6 and 10 p.m. newscasts on KOLR. Keller will continue to do weather for both stations, primarily as a weekend meterologist, and will also produce and report on weather and science-related stories.

Robin Huebner resigned Monday as anchor at "Valley News Live", Hoak Media's joint news operation between NBC affiliate KVLY and CBS affiliate KXJB in Fargo, North Dakota. The 50-year-old, who has worked in television news for 26 years, is considering filing an age and gender discrimination lawsuit against the station, after she was taken off the 10 p.m. newscast back in late August (while remainin on the 5:30 p.m. newscast on KXJB and the 6 p.m. newscast on KVLY with fellow "Valley News Live" anchor Mike Morken) and replaced by 26-year-old Stephanie Goetz (formerly of crosstown ABC affiliate WDAY). Jim Kaster, an employment lawyer from Minneapolis, said Huebner had filed a complaint with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission about one week ago alleging gender and age discrimination, saying that Huebner had been demoted in such a public way that she felt she was forced out of the station and received a significant pay cut after being pulled from the 10 p.m. newscast. Freedom Broadcasting’s Grand Rapids, Michigan CBS affiliate WWMT has named Marcie Kobriger as its new co-anchor for the station's weekday morning newscast. The former weekend anchor of three years at Young Broadcasting's ABC affiliate WBAY in Green Bay, Wisconsin and former reporter at Gray Television's NBC affiliate WNDU in South Bend, Indiana, will join the station starting October 24, alongside co-anchor Josh Roe and meteorologist Jeff Porter. Woody VanDyke, former sports director from 1968 to 1974 at Barrington Broadcasting's ABC affiliate KVII-TV in Amarillo, Texas has died; VanDyke passed away Sunday in Lubbock. In addition to his tenure at KVII, he also served as the general manager of local radio station KJAK in Lubbock, and also served in overeas Christian missions and other outreach.

Mediacom restored nine LIN Media-owned stations in six of its markets Friday after it reached a retransmission consent agreement with the station group. The stations include Fox affiliate WLUK-TV in Green Bay, Indiana CBS affiliates WANE in Fort Wayne and WTHI-TV in Terre Haute, and three duopolies: Fox affiliate WALA and independent station WFNA in Mobile, Alabama, NBC affiliate WOOD-TV and ABC affiliate WOTV in Grand Rapids, Michigan and NBC affiliate WAVY and Fox affiliate WVBT in Norfolk, Virginia. Dish Network also ended a retrans stalemate last week after it reached an agreement with Communications Corporation of America to carry "Fox 44", the Fox/MyNetworkTV-affilated second digital subchannel of area CBS affiliate WEVV-TV; the dispute between the station group and the satellite provider prevented Dish Network subscribers from seeing Fox programming for 104 days, starting from when WEVV added the network to digital channel 44.2 on July 1. A Louisville, Kentucky news anchor is in hot water after a viewer believes he heard her say a racial slur live on-air. Last Monday, Sterling Riggs and Lindsay Allen, weekday morning anchors for Block Communications' Fox affiliate WDRB, were reporting on a story about Tiger Woods after a fan threw a hot dog during a PGA golf tournament he participated in last weekend. 19-year-old viewer Anthony Fresh claimed he heard Allen say the "N"-word, and he and his cousins met with WDRB news director Barry Fulmer, demanding an apology. Fulmer said to ABC affiliate WHAS-TV that Allen said "at least he can blame the hot dog on his poor performance," going on to say: During last Tuesday morning's newscast, Allen apologized on-air: Meanwhile, Anthony Fresh says he has talked to the Louisville branch of the NAACP, which said they will forward the news clip in question to their Los Angeles bureau that deals with media issues. Ama Daetz has joined ABC O&O KGO-TV in her native San Francisco as a general assignment reporter and fill-in anchor; Daetz most recently worked for three years as a weekday morning anchor for Tribune Broadcasting's Sacramento Fox affiliate KTXL. KTXL has promoted reporter Bethany Crouch to fill the anchor slot vacated by Daetz.

Tisha Thompson has moved from one D.C. area station to another; the investigative reporter has moved from Fox O&O WTTG, where she worked for four years, to NBC O&O WRC-TV. She is not the first member of her family to have worked at WRC: Tisha's mother Lea Thompson (not to be confused with the actress of the same name, albeit different first name pronunciation) was a news anchor, investiagative and consumer reporter for 20 years at the station, prior becoming the chief consumer correspondent for NBC's primetime newsmagazine "Dateline NBC". Rick Yarborough, who worked with Thompson at WTTG as a news producer, joined WRC last month as senior investigative platform manager. Marlee Ginter has left Fisher Communications' ABC affiliate KOMO-TV to become an anchor/reporter at LIN TV's Grand Rapids, Michigan NBC affiliate WOOD-TV and its MyNetworkTV-affiliated sister station WXSP-CD; Ginter will join Brian Sterling starting tonight as anchor of the WOOD-produced 10 p.m. newscast on WXSP. Ginter worked at KOMO-TV for four years as an weekend morning anchor/reporter.

Newport Television has announced that it is selling its Fairbanks, Alaska NBC affiliate KTVF. The station is being sold to a local group called Chena Broadcasting, a company headed by Michael Young, a former member of the Fairbanks municipal assembly, for an undisclosed price. Kalil & Co. represented Newport in the transaction. Quincy Newspapers' NBC affiliate KWWL in Cedar Rapids, Iowa is adding a new anchor to its weekday morning newscast "Today In Iowa". Natasha Chughtai, who has previously worked at stations in Anchorage, Alaska; Eugene, Oregon and Duluth, Minnesota, will join the station on Monday, October 24; she will co-anchor alongside Jeff Eliasoph and meteorologist Eileen Loan. Chughtai will replace Sunny Layne, who is leaving the station.

Longtime San Francisco political journalist Rollin Post has died, Post was a well-known figure in Bay Area television as a reporter/commentator/interviewer on three area stations (CBS O&O KPIX, PBS member station KQED and former-NBC-affiliate-now-MyNetworkTV-affiliate KRON-TV) from 1961 until his 1997 retirement. He died earlier this week at his home in Corte Madera, California at age 81 due to complications of Alzheimer's disease. We at TVNewsCheck extend our condolences to Rollin's family at this time. The following link is an obituary from the San Francisco Chronicle: Rollin Post, longtime Bay Area TV journalist, dies

JW Broadcasting’s ABC affiliate KMIZ in the Columbia-Jefferson City, Missouri market debuted a half-hour newscast at 6:30 p.m. on Monday night, the first such 6:30 p.m. newscast in the market. Meredith Hoenes, formerly of Fox affiliate WDAF-TV and independent station KMCI in Kansas City, who began her career as an anchored at local University of Missouri-owned NBC affiliate KOMU from 1999 to 2002, anchors the newscast and will also serve as anchor for the station's 10 p.m. newscast and the 9 p.m. newscast on Fox affiliate KQFX-LD alongside Ryan Tate. The newscast also served as the launchpad for the station's conversion to high definition newscasts (the 9 p.m. newscast on co-owned KQFX-LD is also affected by the change), which include a new graphics package from Eaton Design. In addition, KMIZ has also opened a news bureau in the state capitol of Jefferson City. Linda Hurtado, anchor at E.W. Scripps-owned WFTS in Tampa, has been diagnosed with early stage breast cancer and is scheduled to have a double mastectomy operation (the surgical removal of breast tissue) today, she will be on medical leave from the ABC affiliate for five weeks. Hurtado, whose mother died from breast cancer in 1995 (the same year she joined the station as its news department began following WFTS' conversion from Fox to ABC affiliation), announced the news on-air yesterday:

Charlie Bagley, a former meteorologist at Meredith Corporation's Hartford station WFSB, passed away over the weekend at his home in Stafford Springs, Connecticut at the age of 82. A 23-year veteran at the CBS affiliate until his retirement in the mid-1990s, dating back to when the station's callsign was WTIC (a callsign now belonging to Tribune Broadcasting's Fox affiliate in the same market), and also had worked for former sister station WTIC radio. Joanne Feldman is moving from the weekend shift on Fox O&O WAGA in Atlanta to weekday mornings according to the "Atlanta Journal-Constitution", she will be replacing Jeff Hill as meteorologist for "Good Day Atlanta", the station's 4:30-10 a.m. newscast. Hill will contribute as a meteorologist to the noon, 5 and 6 p.m. newscasts on weekdays, and weekend evenings at 6 and 10 p.m. No word from the station on why the change occurred.

In addition to the aforementioned addition of former KIAH meteorologist Keith Monahan, Nexstar Broadcasting's Little Rock NBC affiliate KARK-TV is also shuffling its weeknight anchor lineup. Starting Monday, Jessica Dean will move from weekend evening anchor to co-anchor of the 6 and 10 p.m. newscasts alongside Bob Clausen. Melissa Simas, will no longer anchor at 6 and 10 p.m. but will continue to anchor the 5 p.m. newscast and serve as a reporter for the 6 and 10 p.m. newscasts. Current general assignment reporter Lauren Trager is also being promoted, taking Simas' place as weekend evening anchor, starting next Saturday (October 15). Also from the Little Rock area, Chris Kane, weekend sports anchor at Allbritton's ABC affiliate KATV, is being moved from sports to news as co-anchor of the station's weekday morning newscast "Channel 7 News Daybreak" (alongside meteorologist Melinda Mayo and co-anchor Alyson Courtney) effective next week. Kane replaces meteorologist/"Daybreak" co-host Barry Brandt, who will be moving to the weeknight newscasts. CBS affliliate KOLD in Tucson has brought in freelance weathercaster Troy Barrett to do the weather forecasts for the weeknight newscasts. Station chief meteorologist Chuck George has been absent from the Raycom Media-owned station since mid-September, when he appeared to be slow and rambling on one of the evening newscasts, and on the same day, tweeted a string of bizarre messages. The station announced the following day that George would go on a leave of absence for six weeks. Barrett most recently worked as a weather and news anchor for Fisher Communications' CBS affiliate KIMA in Yakima, Washington. He has also previously worked as a weather anchor at three different ABC affiiates: Scripps' KNXV in Phoenix, Chambers Communications' KDRV in Medford, Oregon and News-Press & Gazette's KVIA in El Paso.

Nexstar Broadcasting's NBC affiliate KARK-TV has hired a neww chief meteoroloogist to replaced resigned and embattled former chief meteorlogist Brett Cummins (who left the Little Rock, Arkansas station on September 9, after he was found earlier that week in a hot tub with the dead body of 24-year-old Dexter Williams; an autopsy has since ruled the cause of Williams' death to be due to asphyxiation and drugs that were found in Williams' system). Keith Monahan, formerly a meteorologist for 11 years at Tribune Broadcasting's Houston CW affiliate KIAH (prior to the adoption of its "NewsFix" format), will start at the station Monday starting with the 5 p.m. newscast. Meanwhile, the overhaul of the weather department at WTSP in Tampa continues as Chris Suchan is leaving the Gannett-owned CBS affiliate to become the new chief meteorologist at Meredith Corporation's Kansas City CBS/MyNetworkTV duopoly KCTV/KSMO. His last broadcast on WTSP will be with tonight's (Friday's) 11 p.m. newscast, and he will join KCTV the week of October 24. He replaces Katie Horner, who left the station over the summer after 16 years at the station. WTSP has seen three meteorologists (Anna Allen, Randy Rauch and Stephanie Roberts) leave the station over the past year. WTSP's most recent weather hire, new chief meteorologist Jim Van Fleet, will not join the station until his contract with Orlando's Fox O&O WOFL ends late in November (Van Fleet would start at WTSP on or around December 1) or the station finds someone to replace him before then. The game of meteorlogist musical chairs has also seen Florida natives Mark Collins and Kate Wentzel join the station's weather department in September, and Sherry Ray Hughes leave that same month to join her husband in Ohio (where she took a job as meteorolgist/reporter at Cincinatti's WCPO).

Longtime Cincinatti sportscaster Walt Maher died Thursday morning in Drake Center at age 81. Maher was the dean of Cincinatti-area sports, when he retired from CBS affiliate WKRC-TV in 1997. Maher began in radio at a station in his hometown of Maysville, Kentucky, before coming to Cincinatti's WCPO-AM in 1960, and eventually became a fill-in sports and news anchor for WCPO-AM's former sister station WCPO-TV. In the early 1970s, Maher's Saturday evening newscasts on WCPO-TV, often drew more viewers than Al Schottelkotte’s weeknight newscasts on the station, according to former WCPO-TV and "Cincinatti Enquirer" editor Jim Delaney. Maher moved to WKRC-TV as a sports anchor in 1978, where he also moonlighted as the coach of the station's charity basketball team (known as the "Who-Dos"). TVNewsTalk extends our condolences to Maher's family. Also from Ohio (in much lighter news), Chris Van Vliet, the entertainment reporter for Raycom Media’s Cleveland CBS affiliate WOIO, has been chosen by "Cosmopolitan" magazine to represent Ohio for its annual bachelor search. Van Vliet will appear in the women's magazine's November issue (which will be released on newsstands October 11), and will compete against other eligible bachelors from other states and Washington, D.C. Readers can go online at cosmopolitan.com/bachelors-2011 to vote for Van Vliet through October 16. Ten bachelors will be named semifinalists, and a panel of editors for the magazine will award one as Bachelor of the Year with a $10,000 prize, that Van Vliet says he will donate to charity if he wins.

Hubbard Broadcasting's Albuquerque NBC affiliate KOB is mourning the loss of one of its reporters. Sharon Erickson died Saturday night at an Albuquerque hospital at age 30 from complications suffered from an undisclosed surgery. Erickson had only been working for nine months at KOB as a general assignment reporter and fill-in anchor. Erickson, who graduated from the University of Texas, previously worked as a reporter/producer at ABC affiliate KTBS in Shreveport, Louisiana, and as a reporter at CBS affiliate KNOE in Monroe in that same state before coming to KOB. We at TVNewsCheck send our condolences to Sharon's family at this time.

Bob MacKenzie, a longtime reporter for Cox's Fox affiliate KTVU in the San Francisco Bay Area, died Thursday at age 75 of cancer at his home in Antioch, California. McKenzie worked at the station for 32 years from 1978 to 2010. He is survived by his wife, a daughter, a brother who works as KTVU's chief news photographer, and two grandchildren. Story: http://www.sfgate.co.../BAUN1L86IJ.DTL The Georgia estate of Martin Luther King Jr. has filed a lawsuit against Howard Ballou, anchor at Raycom Media's NBC affiliate WLBT in Jackson, Mississippi, demanding that Ballou give up some of the slain civil rights leader's historic documents and other items, including photographs and transcripts valued at more than $75,000. Story: http://www.clarionle...-TV-news-ancho

In Providence, Rhode Island, Barbara Morse Silva will become co-anchor of the weekday morning 5-7 a.m. newscast ("NBC 10 Sunrise") on Media General's NBC affiliate WJAR-TV starting this Monday morning, September 26. Morse Silva joined WJAR in June 1995 as a health reporter of the "Health Check 10" segments; since 2008, she has been the anchor of the station's weekend evening newscasts. Before joining the station, Morse Silva had worked as a reporter for area ABC affiliate WLNE, as well as a weekend reporter at CBS affiliate WISH-TV in Indianapolis; an anchor/reporter at now-CW affiliate WLVI-TV in Boston; and general assignment reporting jobs at now-NBC affiliate WAND-TV in Springfield, Illinois, and CBS affiliate KOLD-TV in Tucson.

Tribune's Hartford Fox affiliate WTIC is making a couple more changes to its news programming. The station is adding an additional hour to its weekday morning newscast beginning this Monday, September 26, extending the newscast to 4:30 to 10 a.m. In addition, chief meteorologist Rachel Frank will be subbing in for morning anchor Rachel Lutzker during the 8-10 a.m. portion of the newscast, as Lutzker is going on maternity leave (Frank will continue to do weather forecasts for the 4 p.m. news, while Geoff Fox will temporarily take over her duties at 10 p.m.). Mayra Moreno, formerly a multimedia journalist at Tribune's CW affiliate KIAH in Houston, has accepted a job as a general assignment reporter and fill-in anchor at Belo's CBS affiliate KENS in San Antonio; Moreno leaves KIAH on October 7. Houston-born Moreno joined KIAH in October 2009 as one of the station's first multimedia journalists prior to the station's adoption of the "NewsFix" format, though she has recently appeared as a fill-in on KIAH's morning program "EyeOpener". After graduating from the University of Houston, she went on to work for a Houston-area radio station covering political and social issues affecting the Hispanic community. She also served as a correspondent/host for the program "Houston Airports Today", before spending two years as a reporter and associate producer for ABC affiliate KRGV in Brownsville before returning to her hometown.

Hearst Television's NBC affiliate in Baltimore, WBAL, is adding an extension of its morning newscast starting on October 3. The 7-8 a.m. newscast however, will not be seen on WBAL's main channel itself, but on WBAL Plus (its digital subchannel on channel 11.2). The additional hour of the newscast will compete against NBC's "Today" on WBAL 11.1 as well as the third hour of the morning newscast on Fox affiliate WBFF. A "whoops" moment occurred in Batimore Tuesday night when CBS O&O WJZ-TV's 11 p.m. newscast was accidentally replaced with the "CBS Evening News with Scott Pelley", which 'JZ normally airs at 7 p.m. (a half-hour later than most CBS stations on the East Coast). CBS' national newscast aired for seven minutes before the problem was corrected (this also gave away the fact that CBS reairs the "Evening News" on its wild feed at 11 p.m. ET while its affiliates carry the late local news, or for the few CBS affiliates that don't carry news, syndicated programming). A spokesperson for WJZ, K.C. Robertson, explained the reason for the blunder in an email to the "Baltimore Sun": “The station’s main production switcher experienced a critical failure late Tuesday evening. The equipment failure prevented the news broadcast from starting on time at 11 p.m. Between 11 p.m. and approximately 11:07 p.m. WJZ aired a repeat of the 'CBS Evening News'. Technical personnel responded quickly and were able to repair the problem. WJZ’s local news began just before 11:08 p.m."

John Taizo Braden, a weekday morning traffic reporter for "Hawaii News Now" (the joint news division involving Honolulu's CBS affiliate KGMB, MyNetworkTV affiliate KFVE and NBC affiliate KHNL), was arrested and cited for abuse of an undisclosed member of his household. The 32-year-old, who started in the sales department of KGMB in 2006, was arrested at Queen's Counseling Services on Nuuanu Avenue at 2:10 p.m. Friday for investigation of abuse of a family or household member, a misdemeanor that carries a sentence of up to one year in jail. Braden posted $1,000 bail and was released at 4:35 that same afternoon, and he is scheduled to appear in Family Court on September 30.

Scripps-owned ABC affiliate WCPO in Cincinnati has named Sherry Ray Hughes as meteorologist and multi-media journalist. Starting October 1, Hughes will report on stories on weekdays and the American Meteorological Society and National Weather Association dual-member/sealholder provide weather forecasts for the weekend 6 and 11 p.m. newscasts (replacing meteorologist Steve Norris, who is leaving the station) and serve as a fill-in meteorologist on weekdays. Hughes joins the station from Gannett's CBS affiliate WTSP in Tampa, where she was a meteorologist and general assignment reporter starting in 2005; she also previously served in the same dual capacity at Media General's NBC affiliate WNCN in Raleigh, Fox O&O KSAZ in Phoenix and Raycom's CBS affiliate WCSC in Charleston, South Carolina. Mike Schneider has been named the anchor/managing editor of "NJ Today", a statewide nightly news/public affairs program on NJTV, New Jersey's PBS member network that replaced the New Jersey Network in July. "NJ Today" will replace "NJ Today Summer Edition", which launched upon the changeover. Schneider’s career began in 1975, working as a news writer at now-ABC O&O WPVI in Philadelphia and later becoming reporter and anchor at stations such as WCBS in New York and WTAE in Pittsburgh, he also has hosted CNBC's biographical program centering on successful business giants called "CNBC Titans". In addition, Schneider has also previously ran for office in New Jersey's 5th Congressional District.

Tribune's Fox affiliate in Hartford, Connecticut, WTIC-TV, is shaking up its anchor lineups starting next week. The first changes occur on Sunday, when current Friday 4 and 11 p.m. anchor Alison Morris joins Brent Hardin as co-anchor of the 10 p.m. newscast, both will also anchor the Sunday through Thursday 11 p.m. newscast. The following day, current Sunday through Thursday 10 and 11 p.m. co-anchor Erika Arias will join Logan Byrnes as co-anchor of the 5–9 a.m. portion of the morning newscast (Byrnes will continue to solo anchor the 4:30 a.m. half-hour of the newscast); Arias will replace Sarah French as weekday morning anchor, as French is leaving WTIC to become a weekend evening anchor for WHDH in Boston. Reporter Jennifer Bosworth and weekend moning anchor Audrey Kuchen will now anchor the Friday and Saturday night 10 p.m. newscast, as well as the Friday 4 and 11 p.m. newscasts starting September 23. A day later on September 24, sports reporter/fill-in sports anchor Tim Lammers will also become news anchor of the Saturday morning newscast, while sports director/weeknight sports anchor Rich Coppola will become anchor of the Sunday morning newscast.

In Tampa, Gannett's CBS affiliate WTSP is adding a half-hour 9 a.m. newscast to its schedule starting Monday. Ginger Gadsden, Keith Jones and meteorologist Bobby Deskins, who are the team for WTSP's 5-7 a.m. newscast will be part of the 9 a.m. extension. George Winterling, meteorologist at independent station WJXT in Jacksonville, Florida, is currently in the hospital after falling ill on Wednesday evening after having dinner at home with his family; details of his condition have not been released. Originally a chief meteorologist for the station beginning in 1962, Winterling handed over the chief meteorologist heins to John Gaughan, while Winterling transitioned to the station's hurricane and severe weather expert in 2009. WJXT vice president/general manager Bob Ellis said in a statement released Thursday, “George is so important to this station, our community, and many of you. Members of our staff have visited his family this morning. His wife Virginia and their children and grandchildren want everyone in Jacksonville to know how much they appreciate your prayers and get well wishes. We will provide updates on how George is doing as soon as they are available. If you’d like to leave a personal get well message for George and his family, we’ve set up a forum on this page [News4Jax.com]. We will make sure they are all delivered to his family.” We here at TVNewsTalk wish George a speedy recovery. Nexstar Broadcasting’s CBS affiliate WCIA in Springfield, Illinois will launch a new news and lifestyle program titled "ciLiving.tv" this Monday, September 12. The 4 p.m. program, "ciLiving.tv" will be hosted by WCIA sports reporter/anchor Drew Wilder and newcomer to television Heather Roberts, who was selected as part of an on-air campaign inviting Central Illinois residents to submit a video explaining why they’d be perfect for the co-host slot. Randy Meier has signed on to join Fox O&O KMSP in Minneapolis as an anchor/reporter. Meier will solo anchor the station’s 10 p.m. newscast on Sunday through Thursday nights, and will also co-anchor the 5 p.m. newscast on Fridays and Saturdays with Tim Blotz, he will also report for the 9 a.m. hour of the morning newscast. He replaces Marni Hughes, who left KMSP in July. Meier is no stranger to Minneapolis broadcasting, having worked as an anchor for 13 years at KSTP in Minneapolis and hosted a three-hour news/talk radio show in area radio station WCCO-AM, Meier has also done some national work for MSNBC.

San Diego PBS member station KPBS will add a weeknight newscast to its schedule beginning on September 26. Besides local news headlines, "KPBS Evening Edition" will feature analysis, newsmaker interviews and field reports. The program will utilize a topic-by-night format similar to "Chicago Tonight", the newsmagazine program on fellow PBS member station WTTW in the Windy City (Mondays will focus on business and technology; Tuesdays on health stories; Wednesdays will feature reports from the Fronteras local journalism center; Thursdays feature community news; and Fridays will feature stories on culture). A Feedback/Followup segment will also air at the end of each program, including audience feedback through email, phone and social media. KPBS has also announced an "enhanced partnership" with Investigative Newsource (also known as the Watchdog Institute), an independent nonprofit organization based at the School of Journalism and Media Studies at San Diego State University for the past two years. On October 1, the Investigative Newsource reporting staff will begin sharing space at the Joan and Irwin Jacobs KPBS News Center.

ABC owned-and-operated station KGO-TV in San Francisco is expanding its 11 p.m. newscast; the change will only affect the Saturday and Sunday evening editions of the newscast beginning this Saturday, September 10. Alan Wang will anchor, with meteorologist Leigh Glaser providing weather forecasts, and Mike Shumann will handle sports.

WAFB, Raycom Media's CBS affiliate in Baton Rouge, is expanding its weekday morning newscast to 4:30 a.m. on September 12. The additional half-hour will be anchored by Matt Williams with weather from meteorologist Diane Deaton and traffic reports by Johnny Ahysen.

WVUE in New Orleans is becoming the latest Fox affiliate to join the 4 p.m. news race, the station is adding an hour-long newscast in that timeslot starting on September 12. The newscast will be anchored by current 10 p.m. anchor Kim Holden, and 5 and 9 p.m. anchor Nancy Parker, with weather forecasts by chief meteorologist Bob Breck. Jennifer Hale, who became a fill-in sports anchor/reporter over the summer following the departures of sports director John Henry Smith and sports anchor Rob Ennis, will serve as the sports anchor for the newscast and is no longer anchoring the weekday morning newscast as a result. Since Louisiana Media Company purchased the station in 2008, WVUE has expanded its news programming significantly with the addition of a 5 a.m. hour of the previously three-hour weekday morning newscast and a weeknight 10 p.m. newscast, both in February 2010 (the 10 p.m. newscast expanded to seven nights a week four months later) and an hour-long noon newscast in March 2011 (the addition of the 4 p.m. newscast will give the station, which carries the most local news in the New Orleans market, close to 60 hours of local news each week); other than the addition of the 10 p.m. newscast to weekends, WVUE has yet to make any expansions/additions to its weekend news programming. Besides WVUE, the only other Fox affiliates carrying a 4 p.m. newscast are WSVN in Miami, WTIC in Harford-New Haven, WXIN in Indianapolis, KPTV in Portland, Oregon, WDRB in Louisville, KBTV in Beaumont-Port Arthur and starting next month, WFLX in West Palm Beach (which will be produced by sister station WPTV); side note, Chattanooga, Tennessee's WDSI was the first Fox station to carry a 4 p.m. newscast during the four years the station had an in-house news division from 2000 to 2004. Nexstar's CBS affiliate in Johnstown, Pennsylvania, WTAJ, will also have its locally-produced programming venture into the 4 p.m. slot by launching Central Pa Live, the Johnstown-Altoona market’s first hour-long 4 p.m. local news/lifestyle program, also debuting on September 12. Central Pa Live, which will have a topical and lifestyle-oriented format along with news and weather, will feature an interactive platform to connect viewers through the station's website, and social media platforms including Facebook and Twitter.

KFSN, the ABC owned-and-operated station in Fresno, California, is joining its ABC O&O sister stations in launching a 4 p.m. newscast to replace Oprah. The newscast called Action News Live at Four, debuting September 12, will be anchored by Graciela Moreno and Christine Park with forecasts by meteorologist Kevin Musso, and will be a traditional news program with emphasis on social media where viewers can share their comments on stories; a new set has also been built for the program. The newscast will compete with We are Fresno: LIVE on NBC affiliate KSEE. In addition, KFSN has hired Los Angeles transplant Gaby Rodriguez as the traffic reporter for its weekday morning newscast Action News AM Live. WVUE, New Orleans' Fox affiliate, has hired Fred Hickman as its new sports director. Hickman is best known as one of CNN's first sports anchors, alongside Nick Charles (who died of metastatic bladder cancer back in June), beginning in the 1980s, and once again in the 1990s. Hickman has also worked at television station in Springfield, Illinois, Detroit and New York City, as well as at ESPN and most recently for Fox Sports South (one of the Fox Sports regional networks). The show will go head to head with "We are Fresno: LIVE" on KSEE (Channel 24.1).