Laurel Staples is joining KECI, the NBC affiliate for Missoula, MT as morning anchor.

“Laurel brings a wealth of regional knowledge and journalism experience to NBC Montana,” said Chris Grogan, Director of News Operations for NBC Montana.

Staples takes over for Rob Hudson who left KECI for WDAZ in Grand Forks, N.D.  NBC Montana’s morning show, “Montana Today” covers Western and Southwestern Montana on KECI in Missoula, KCFW in Kalispell, MT and KTVM in Butte-Bozeman.

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Richard Reingold has been named vice president and general manager of Bonten Media Group’s TV stations Missoula-Kalispell and Butte-Bozeman, Montana.   In his new position, Reingold will oversee operations for NBC affiliates KCFW in Kalispell, KECI in Missoula and KTVM in Butte and Bozeman.

“Dick Reingold brings a wealth of knowledge, experience and smarts to Bonten’s Montana operations,” Randy Bongarten, Chairman and CEO of Bonten Media said.  “His broad and successful background which includes news management, general management and station ownership makes Dick a tremendous asset for our entire company.”

Previously, Reingold was founder and CEO of Black Heritage Network, the first non-fiction Black content cable, satellite and internet network.  His first day will be Tuesday.

Rob Hudson will debut later this month as evening co-anchor on WDAZ, the ABC-affiliate in Grand Forks, ND.

Hudson comes to WDAZ from KECI in Missoula, MT, where he was the morning anchor. He has previously worked at KARE in Minneapolis and KSWB in San Diego. He will co-anchor the 6 and 10 p.m. newscasts alongside Molly Thorvilson beginning August 27.

“We’re really excited to have him here,” Thorvilson told the Grand Forks Herald. “We’ve been able to spend some time with him, and he’s a really nice guy, really down to Earth.”

Hudson replaces Charley Johnson, who left the station in May.

Gavin Maliska has been named news director at WGXA in Macon, GA.

Maliska comes to WGXA, a Fox-affiliate owned by Frontier Broadcast Holdings that also broadcasts ABC programming on a digital subchannel, from WJHG in Panama City Beach, FL, where he has served as news director since last summer.

Maliska began his TV career at WFLD in Chicago and since then he has been news director at WXIN in Indianapolis, WOFL in Orlando, and KECI in Missoula, MT. Read more

Kristian Read has been named sports director at Albany Fox-affiliate WXXA.  He comes to the station from WFFF, the Fox-affiliate in Burlington, VT, where he served as sports director.

Read is replacing Rich Becker, who recently left WXXA for a communications job after more than a decade with the station.

“I know that I can’t try to be Rich,” Read told the Albany Times Union. “He was such a force in this market for such a long time. I want to try and be myself, and hope that people like it.” Read more

Gavin Maliska is returning to Florida as news director of WJHG, an NBC-affiliate in Panama City.

Maliska led the newsroom at Orlando Fox O&O WOFL for a year before being let go in 2009. Most recently, he served as ND for KECI, an NBC-affiliate in Missoula, MT.

WJHG has been searching for a news director since March, when the station abruptly fired Mark Wildman after just three months. Wildman was reportedly prone to angry outbursts.

Before joining WOFL, Maliska worked as news director at Indianapolis’s WXIN.