A Seattle TV Talent Merry Go Round Update

Paul Rivera (below) joins Mo Haider as the latest KOMO reporter to depart. After three years and presumably his deal ending, maybe he didn't want a re-up or the Evil Empire at Sinclair didn't want to offer one. Meanwhile at KOMO, Denise Whitaker (below), ousted as an anchor by the previous ND, showed up this weekend with Theron Zahn at the big desk with Zahn doing news and weather. The musical chairs continue. Nascient news boss comes aboard stuck with a new anchor trying to fill Eric Johnson's shoes and now needs a new reporter. I speculate that Preston Phillips is happy after being aced by Chris Nguyen's hire as main male. BTW, Mark Neerman has previous history with Shannon O'Donnell and Molly Shen FWIW.

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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.

Slicing Staff in Seattle TV

ICYMI, it appears COX-APOLLO owned KIRO7 in Seattle has cut almost a dozen staff as cutbacks across the company reportedly continue. The only names confirmed so far are Sports DIrector Chris Francis, son of longtime NBC correspondent Fred Francis, and his producer, Chris Swanson, who formerly worked for me at the old Northwest Cable News. No word on how KIRO will cover sports in the market going forward, with the Mariners leading the AL West, the Seahawks and UW football coming soon, not to mention the Kraken's fourth hockey season. Gonna be interesting to watch. I already notice KOMO's weekend news, where the news anchor reads just a minute or two of sports. Nico Tamurian is the station's only sports reporter/anchor right now. Courtesy: ftvlive.com ...

Major 'Evening' Departure in Seattle

After 18 years, KING 5's Evening Magazine co-host Kim Holcomb is not renewing her contract with the station, and her last day is July 24th, just as the program goes on hiatus during the Olympics. Kim is married to former KING/NWCN reporter.anchor Rob Piercy who works for the Paul Allen Brain Institute in media relations. No word on what's next. Here's is her goodbye message. "It feels surreal to post this but I’m making a major life change: I’ve decided to not renew my contract and I’m leaving KING & Evening. I’m so proud of everything I’ve accomplished during my almost 18 years at the station, and I’m eternally grateful for every viewer who’s watched and supported our show. But, a lot has changed in the past 1.5 years and I feel like it’s time to step away, move forward and try something different (which sounds like a weird jig but YOU KNOW WHAT I MEAN.) I’m not sure what comes next, but I’m thrilled to find out! Thanks for being a part of my little l...

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