The Battle for Seattle Weather Supremacy Rolls on

OK, stay with with me now]:

Just weeks after KOMO hired a full time morning weatherman from Orlando, freeing Theron Zahn to return to weekend mornings, they now add another weather anchor, this one from Phoenix named Stella Sun. So how does it all line up? Waldenberger is weekday a.m., Shannon O'Donnell is weekday p.m., Rebecca Stevenson is weekend p.m., Zahn or Sun (both of whom double as news reporters) weekend mornings? Could personnel or shift changes be in the wind? Does the station wants to beef up their ARC Seattle/CW offering?

We will keep an eye on staffing, but we can say the new hire gives KOMO five weather anchors, tying KING5 quintet (Marriott, Everett, Claibon, Pezzetti, Ruiz) with both stations a nose ahead of Fox 13 (MacMillan, Anderson, Acone, McCauley and Nikki Torres (listed on web site as 'occasional' weather). But remember that Erin Mayofsky can do weather as well though now she news co-anchoring Good Day Seattle weekdays. And with Claire Anderson going on maternity leave soon, we will see how Fox 13 covers that gap.

KIRO checks in with three (Allard, Palmer, Katafias), unless I am forgetting someone.

All of this would seem to show that weather is still THE key component of local TV news, even though forecasts are instantly available on phones.

Comments

Rebecca Stevenson has left KOMO

"I am no longer at Komo 4." Thanks. Longtime Weather Anchor Rebecca Stevenson confirms that she left the station just before Christmas. Her last Facebook posts are 12/17. She has the Seattle station Quintafecta, having worked at the old NWCN, KING, KIRO, KCPQ and KOMO. Looks like her decision. Wants a new chapter. She was doing mainly weekend evenings for KOMO. Perhaps Stella Sun will move there. She has been sharing weekend mornings with Theron Zahn.

Seattle TV Weekender Ends Her Run

So long to KOMO's longtime weekend morning anchor Lee Stoll who did her final show Saturday. She previously worked at KIRO7 and KREM2 in Spokane and did a little fill-in for me at the old NWCN. She's a Northwestern U grad. Weekend weather sidekick Theron Zahn will likely step right into anchor slot. Newcomer Stella Sun may also be in the mix. Zahn bid Lee a final goodbye this morning. She is not revealing what is next, saying "That's for later." Also, next month Komo News Operations boss Dennis Hanson and longtime Production Tech Rena Mullen are retiring. There's a big Studio C station bash for them and retiring ND Phil Bruce on December 5th.

Where is Frankie?

Many have missed KIRO 7's weekend PM weather anchor, Frankie Katafias, so I reached out to some of my sources to find an answer. She is apparently taking a few months of leave, but not known specifically what the reason may be. Although there is uncertainty, it could be a personal or family matter. I am told she is expected back at some point in the new year. She is a great asset to what has become a troubled station. Meanwhile former KOIN Portland chief met holds down the fort.

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