Bob Morford has been named vice president and news director at KRIV, the Fox O&O in Houston. His appointment is effective immediately.

Morford joined KRIV as assistant news director last year. He replaces Tom Doerr, who left KRIV to be the news director at WFLD, the Fox O&O in Chicago, in February.

“Bob has proven himself to be a valuable member of our news team. He has lead our news innovation efforts and has shown me that he is the right person for the job,” KRIV VP-GM D’Artagnan Bebel said in a statement. “His leadership style, creativity and engaging personality have earned him praise from countless members of our team.”

Before joining KRIV, Morford worked as news director for WCPO in Cincinnati, KNXV in Phoenix, WPXI in Pittsburgh and WLWT in Cincinnati.

Bob Morford is joining KRIV, the Fox O&O in Houston, as assistant news director. He begins his new role on August 6.

Morford joins the station from WCPO, the ABC-affiliate in Cincinnati, where he has been the news director for 11 years. Prior to that, he held the news director position at KNXV in Phoenix, WPXI in Pittsburgh and WLWT in Cincinnati.

“Bob is an accomplished news manager with more than 30 years of experience. His track record of excellence speaks for itself,” Tom Doerr, KRIV’s vice president and news director, said in a statement. “Bob will be a tremendous asset to our station and leader in the newsroom.”

Lane Michaelsen, the recently appointed news director of WCPO, has a clear goal for the Cincinnati ABC-affiliate: first place.

“We’re going to No. 1,” Michaelsen said in a recent interview with the Cincinnati Enquirer. “That’s our goal.”

WCPO, perennially in second place behind CBS-affiliate WKRC, has overhauled its staff in recent months. In addition to a new news director, WCPO has a new general manager in Steve Thaxton, who was hired in March. Read more

Lane Michaelsen, who until recently was vice president of news at Miami’s WTVJ, has been named news director at WCPO in Cincinnati.

Michaelsen replaces longtime WCPO news director Bob Morford, who announced his plans to leave the station at the beginning of the year.

“Lane is exactly the news director this market needs right now, and we’re very pleased to have his talent and experience in our newsroom,” WCPO vice president and general manager Steve Thaxton said, announcing the hiring. “His deep understanding of journalism and the tenets of serving communities will make a major impact on our team and the Tri-State.” Read more

When news spread on Thursday that longtime WCPO news director Bob Morford was leaving the station, it was difficult to overlook the fact that the announcement of Morford’s departure came less than a day after the station suffered a major technical meltdown during its 11 p.m. newscast.

In reality, though, there is no connection between the two events.

“My departure has absolutely nothing to do with [the technical mishap],” Morford told TVSpy this morning.  “It’s my bad fortune that that happened the day before I made the announcement.”

Morford said that he had decided to leave the station in December and had a handful of conversations with GM Steve Thaxton about it over his holiday vacation.  It just so happened that Morford’s first day back in the office came right after the newscast meltdown. Read more

Bob Morford is leaving WCPO after more than a decade as the station’s news director.

This afternoon Morford told the WCPO newsroom that he will leave the ABC-affiliate after February sweeps, according to Cincinnati.com.

The announcement comes a day after the station suffered a major technical meltdown during its 11 p.m. newscast.  On Wednesday, WCPO’s automated production system reportedly crashed just before 11 p.m. and the station didn’t start the newscast until 11:08, and was unable to air video until 11:18.

TVSpy is still awaiting comment from Morford about his planned departure.

There are some changes to the weather team at Cincinnati ABC-affiliate WCPO, the Cincinnati Enquirer reports.

Cyndee O’Quinn (pictured), who started at WCPO in 2002, has left the station in search of a position as a communications expert, news director Bob Morford said in a note to staff obtained by the Enquirer.

“As many of you know, meteorologists are often in demand for a wide variety of businesses outside television and yes, the hours are often a whole lot better!” Morford wrote. He added that O’Quinn may still appear on WCPO as a freelancer occasionally.

She will be replaced on the weekend morning newscasts by Sarah Walters, who made her debut this weekend. She joins WCPO from KNXV in Phoenix.

Cincinnati’s WCPO had a security scare yesterday when a suspicious-looking man carrying a duffle bag  entered the station’s headquarters without an appointment and refused to leave. According to reports, he was acting strangely and would not take his hands out of his pockets, despite a security guard’s request to do so.

“He refused to take his hands out of his pockets, which makes you very worried, and we take that very seriously,” WCPO news director Bob Morford told the Cincinnati Enquirer.

The security guard alerted WCPO staff and about 75 employees were evacuated to a safe spot in the building’s basement.

When the man continued to ignore the security guard’s requests, the guard un-holstered his gun and the man eventually left. Cincinnati police apprehended him shortly thereafter.