Shiba Russell Joins WNBC, Makes Clear She’s Not Replacing Sue Simmons

Shiba Russell is set to join WNBC as a weekend anchor and reporter.

Russell comes to the NBC flaghsip from Boston’s WCVB, where she’s worked as an anchor-reporter since 2006. The move has been rumored since December and Russell left WCVB, an ABC-affiliate, last month when her contract expired.

Russell was born in Boston and raised in New Jersey. She got her start in New York, with Cablevision’s News 12, and she’s always considered it her home market.

“I am thrilled to be back home and feeling the pulse of NYC once again,” said Russell. “I have missed the people of New York because they tell you like it is. Since I landed my first paid gig in New York and grew up in New Jersey, this is really like a homecoming.”

One thing that Russell wants to make clear in moving back to New York is that she’s not joining WNBC as Sue Simmons‘s replacement.

“Sue is an icon. She is a legend,” Russell told the Daily News. “I’m here to be me.”

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