NBC Affiliates

Sean Mooney has been hired as the weekend co-anchor at KVOA, the NBC-affiliate in Tucson, according to Inside Tucson Business.

Mooney runs his own production company, Moonrise Productions, in Tucson. He was most recently a reporter at Fox Sports Arizona, and has previously worked at WWOR in New Jersey and WBZ in Boston.

He will replace Brandon Gunnoe, who is leaving Tucscon for a job at WHDH, the NBC-affiliate in Boston. Mooney will co-anchor with Rebecca Taylor.

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Earlier this week, news broke that news director Michael Fabac had abruptly departed KXAN after five years with the Austin NBC-affiliate. Now, Austin360 reports that the station is facing a pair of lawsuits: one for racial discrimination and one for libel.

The discrimination suit was brought by meteorologist Rhonda Lee (right), who says she was let go last August after being “repeatedly subjected to crude and insensitive remarks about her race.”

The libel suit was filed by a producer of the Austin Women’s Expo over a KXAN investigative report that alleged that the expo bilked sponsors out of promised advertising opportunities. Read more

Chad Matthews has been hired as assistant news director at WTVJ, a spokesperson for the station confirmed to TVSpy today.

Matthews joins the Miami NBC O&O from WABC, the ABC O&O in New York City, where he is a senior executive producer. WABC is a powerhouse in the New York City market: in the just-finished May sweeps period, the station’s newscasts won in every time slot but one, according to our sister site FishbowlNY.

“By recruiting someone with Chad Matthews’ skills and experience, we continue to position the NBC 6 News Team for growth,” WTVJ vice president of news Migdalia Figueroa told TVSpy. “Chad will work with us to continue improving our content and ratings performance and will play a key role in our all-new investigative unit.” Read more

Len Jennings, who will join KMBC in Kansas City this summer, signed off from Fort Myers NBC-affiliate WBBH last night.

The station called on past and present staffers, as well as a few surprise guests from NBC News, for a final sendoff to Jennings, who has been with WBBH-WZVN since 2001.

“You’ve taught me so much about being a class act, a nice guy, humble. I haven’t actually tried any of those things for myself yet, but you did teach me,” WBBH anchor Patrick Nolan joked.

“From all of us here at the mother ship, NBC News headquarters in New York, we want to wish you all the best as you leave our Southwest Florida family,” “NBC Nightly News” anchor Brian Williams said. Video inside… Read more

WMC is celebrating the 35th anniversary of chief meteorologist Dave Brown joining the Memphis NBC-affiliate.

Brown took a look back at his broadcasting career, which spans 50 years, on last night’s evening newscast with Joe Birch and Ursula Madden. After the tribute video, Madden said Brown’s contract was recently up for renewal.

“We can now tell you that Dave Brown loves his job,” she said. “Weighing all his options, he has decided to stay with us for a couple more years and extend his contract. We are so glad that you’re staying with us.”

“I couldn’t bring myself to think about leaving the family yet,” Brown said. Video inside… Read more

Miami NBC O&O WTVJ has announced plans to launch a daily lifestyle and entertainment show hosted by Roxanne Vargas.

“6 in the Mix” will air on weekdays at 11:30 a.m and will feature segments on restaurants, entertainment, fashion, nightlife and local events. It will air following WTVJ’s 11 a.m. newscast, anchored by Pam Giganti.

“The half hour is filled with the hot happenings going on around town,” WTVJ director of creative services Jose Suarez said in a statement. “It will offer viewers a great look at the day’s hottest headlines. If people are talking about it in the office, we’ll be talking about it on the show.”

Michael Fabac is out as news director at KXAN in Austin.

Although KXAN general manager Eric Lassberg was not immediately available for comment, Austin360 confirmed with newsroom staffers today that Fabac’s five-year tenure as the NBC-affiliate’s news director has come to an end.

Fabac’s departure comes a month after Austin media blogger Jim McNabb reported that newsroom morale was slipping amid the departures of a handful of reporters.

A tipster emailed this afternoon to report that “many in the newsroom are headed for celebratory drinks this evening.” Read more

WEYI has hired Neille Giffune as assistant news director.

In April, WEYI’s owner, Barrington Broadcasting, tapped news director Kathy Reynolds to oversee sister station WNWO in Toledo, in addition to leading the news department at the Flint NBC-affiliate.  Giffune will assist Reynolds as she splits time between both stations.

“Neille Giffune is a competitor,” said Becky Butcher, president and CEO of WEYI and WBSF, announcing the hiring.  “She understands effective leadership and isn’t afraid to roll up her sleeves and pitch in to get the job done.” Read more

A window on WMAQ‘s street-level studio was shattered Saturday morning.

It is unclear whether the damage was connected to the NATO summit in Chicago but it occurred as thousands of demonstrators filled the city’s streets over the weekend to protest the actions of the collected world leaders.

The NBC station reports that security guards on patrol at the time responded to the sound of shattering glass but did not see anyone when they arrived at the scene of the crime. Read more

WTVJ announced today that Adam Kuperstein will join Jackie Nespral as anchor of the NBC station’s 5, 6, and 11 p.m. newscasts.

Kuperstein, who has been with WTVJ since 2005, has transitioned to the news desk over the last several months while serving as the station’s weekend sports anchor and weekday sports reporter.  For the past six years, he has also co-hosted WTVJ’s Sunday night sports show.

“This is an incredible honor for me,” Kuperstein said. “I am excited to have the opportunity to come into our viewers’ homes in this new role and look forward to informing and serving the South Florida community for many years.” Read more