Mornings

Local newscasters have become the regular butt of jokes on Conan O’Brien‘s show and on Thursday night he took aim at the KTLA morning team.

In a segment titled “Why China Is Kicking Out Ass,” O’Brien played a clip of a recent “dance party Friday” at KTLA (video above).

“Those are news broadcasters,” O’Brien said following the clip. “They’re there to tell us what’s happening in the world.”  (Somewhere WKRC’s Bob Herzog is smiling, or cringing).

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KTTV is shaking up its morning team, and today Jillian Reynolds offered a teary on-air apology to her longtime co-anchor Dorothy Lucey, who is departing the Los Angeles Fox O&O after 17 years.

“I’ve said some dumb, dumb things and I just want to say, I think that’s what’s made this show what it is–that you and I have not always agreed,” Reynolds, who is becoming a freelance employee with KTTV, told Lucey as they both cried (video above).  The LA Times piece Reynolds refers to is here.

Adrienne Bankert is joining KTVT as co-anchor of the weekday morning newscast, the Dallas CBS O&O announced today.

Bankert joins KTVT after eight years at KCRA-KQCA in Sacramento, where she anchored the morning and noon newscasts and hosted “Common Ground,” a monthly newsmagazine. She begins at KTVT on June 25.

“Adrienne is intelligent and engaging,” KTVT president and general manager Gary Schneider said in a statement. “I think our viewers will enjoy her personality and appreciate her genuine interest in the community.”

A station spokesperson tells TVSpy that Bankert will replace Lisa Pineiro, who has anchored the morning newscast since 2010.

Changes are coming to the morning newscast at KTTV. Longtime entertainment reporter Dorothy Lucey is leaving the Los Angeles Fox O&O, and co-anchor Jillian Reynolds will become a freelance employee of the station.

A spokesperson for KTTV confirmed the changes, which were first reported by Deadline Hollywood, to TVSpy. Reynolds and Lucey, along with co-anchor Steve Edwards, have helmed the show since 1995.

Station sources tell TVSpy that KTTV will hold on-air auditions for Lucey’s replacement this Summer.

Lucey, who has worked at the station since 1995, will sign off from “Good Day LA” on Friday. Her contract was not renewed. Read more

WLEX morning anchor Nicole Pence is leaving the station later this month to join WTHR, the Lexington Herald-Leader reports.

Pence joined the Lexington NBC-affiliate in 2008 as a reporter and was promoted to morning c0-anchor in 2009. At WTHR, she will anchor the weekend morning newscasts and report during the week.

Pence, an Indiana native, told the Herald-Leader that WTHR, the NBC-affiliate in Indianapolis, was her “dream station.”

WLEX news director Bruce Carter said the station is currently conducting a national search for Pence’s replacement, though internal candidates are also being considered.

A new weekday morning newscast will premiere on Toledo Fox-affiliate WUPW June 11, according to the Toledo Blade.

WUPW recently merged with CBS-affiliate WTOL as part of a shared services agreement in Toledo. The hour-long newscast will feature an anchor new to Toledo and existing WTOL-WUPW personnel, according to the Blade.

WPUW will also transition to high definition ahead of the newscast’s premiere next month.

An industrious Connecticut state worker made a surprise cameo on WTIC‘s morning newscast Thursday.  As traffic reporter Rachel Lutzker was set to update viewers on commuting conditions, a worker started to meticulously clean a highway traffic camera (video above).

“In all of the years I have done this, I have never seen this in my entire life,” Lutzker said.

Toledo’s WTOL announced this week that anchor Melissa Voetsch is taking another medical leave due to a heart condition.

Voetsch, who anchors the morning and 9 a.m. newscasts at the Toledo CBS-affiliate, began having health problems in November after she had a virus that severely lowered the functionality of her heart, according to the station.

“We wanted to let you know that she’s going to be taking an extended break from WTOL to make sure she’s 100 percent healthy,” Chris Vickers told viewers on Tuesday. “The good news is she does continue to improve every day and this break is exactly what her doctors think she needs to fully recover.” Read more

Melissa Gale, the longtime morning anchor at KVUE in Austin, says she will resign next month.

“I announced today at the station that after many great years at KVUE, reporting to the wonderful people of Austin on things that I hope have been very important to them, I’ve decided to take some much needed time off, and explore some other opportunities,” Gale wrote.

Gale, who also anchors the noon newscast, has been morning anchor at the ABC-affiliate for more than 10 years. Her last day will be sometime in mid-June, news director Frank Volpicella tells CultureMap Austin.

WLNE‘s Doreen Scanlon has been absent from the morning anchor desk at the Providence ABC-affiliate for five weeks.

“I am on a short medical leave but hope to be back with you all in the mornings soon,” Scanlon wrote on Facebook earlier this month.

On the evening newscast last night, WLNE revealed that Scanlon has been absent because she is suffering from hyperemesis, a condition of pregnancy that causes near-constant nausea. She has been on bed rest since last month.

WLNE reporter Shannon O’Brien, who interviewed Scanlon, said the station has been flooded with calls and emails from viewers inquiring about the morning anchor. Watch video of the interview inside… Read more