C.J. Hoyt, who has led the newsroom at Raycom Media’s WFIE since 2008, has been named news director of WTOL, Raycom’s CBS-affiliate in Toledo.

Hoyt is replacing longtime WTOL news director Andi Roman, who announced in May that she is stepping away from the news business to spend more time with her family. He is set to join the station on July 18th, shortly after WFIE begins broadcasting its newscasts in HD.

In announcing the move, WTOL general manager Bob Chirdon said that Hoyt helped lead WFIE back “to its historic position as the top-rated news provider in the market.” Chirdon expects him to pull a similar trick at WTOL and Hoyt says he’s for the challenge.

“When I see a challenge, where the foundation’s there and the people are there, it’s really just a matter of having a strong strategy,” Hoyt told the Toledo Blade about his new job. “I think it’s a challenge I can take on and succeed in.”

News director Andi Roman (right) is leaving WTOL after more than a decade with the station, and her departure comes as two other high-profile members of the CBS-affiliate’s news team are set to exit.

Morning anchor and reporter Lauren Lowrey, who joined WTOL in 2008, is leaving to join Indianapolis’s WISH, and morning meteorologist Mike Stone, a native of New Jersey, has decided to return to the east coast to be closer to his family (although it’s been reported that WTOL was asking him to take a significant pay cut).

Family is also the reason that Roman gave for her departure. The mother of two teenage sons, Roman tells the Toledo Blade that she wants to “able to spend more time with them.”

WTOL is currently searching for Roman’s replacement. Her last day is set for June 6th.

Melissa Voetsch, who anchors WTOL’s 9-10 a.m. morning show, will expand her a.m. hours and replace Lowrey on the early morning anchor desk.

For a handful of markets around the country, Oprah’s farewell is coming a day late.  That’s because severe weather rolling through the midwest and southeast forced local stations to preempt Oprah’s much-anticipated final show on Wednesday in favor of weather coverage.

Oprah fans in St. Louis, Toledo, Little Rock, and Memphis had to wait until today to watch the finale in its entirety.

While KSDK, WTOL, KATV, and WMC may have upset fans, the stations ultimately feel that their audiences were best served with live weather coverage.

“We understand the importance of Oprah’s final show,” WTOL news director Andi Roman told the Toledo Blade on Wednesday, “but when it comes to tornados and severe weather, that’s the biggest factor that we worry about. Our team of meteorologists is on top of making people safe.” Read more

Toledo’s WTOL is set to begin broadcasting its newscasts in high definition on Monday.

“We’ve been aiming for this day for about a year,” WTOL news director Andi Roman tells the Toledo Blade.

When it switches to HD next week, WTOL will become the latest Raycom station to make the move.  Earlier this month, Raycom’s KCBD became first station in the Texas South Plains to broadcast the news in HD.

“Raycom has a schedule for its group of stations and we’re excited it’s our turn,” Roman said. “With the transition to digital we know many of our viewers now have HD sets and we’re glad we can provide a much better picture.”

WTOL is the second Toledo station to broadcast in HD. ABC-affiliate WTVG made the switch last summer.