Joe Hengemuehler announced yesterday that he is leaving his post as news director at Phoenix ABC-affiliate KNXV.

“After 25 years in the broadcast industry and 10 great years at ABC15 News, I have decide to re-invent myself,” he wrote on Facebook. “Some say it’s crazy! Others call it courageous! Either way, it resulted in my resignation from a job I truly love, at a place I couldn’t wait to get to each day, working with some of the best people in the broadcast industry. And that’s the point. I wanted to step away at a time when all was right.”

Hengemuehler has been news director at KNXV fos six years. Prior to that, he worked at WUSA in Washington as senior executive producer and at KOCO in Oklahoma City as news director. [via NewsBlues, Rick Gevers & Associates]

KENS has hired Mat Garcia to replace longtime morning anchor Fred Lozano, who is set to retire after more than three decades on San Antonio TV.

“We conducted a nationwide search and we are pleased to bring a journalist of Mat’s caliber to join Sarah Forgany, Natalie Tejeda and Paul Mireles,” KENS president and general manager Bob McGann said, referring to the CBS-affiliate’s current morning roster.

A Texas native, Garcia comes to KENS from KOCO in Oklahoma City, where he spent three years as a morning anchor before being bumped off the show in April. Read more

Oklahoma City’s KOCO is shaking up the weekday morning anchor team.

Maggie Stokes and Wendell Edwards have been named anchors of the 4:30-7 a.m. newscast, replacing Anita Blanton and Mat Garcia. Stokes and Edwards debuted this morning.

“Maggie and Wendell are great journalists dedicated to serving Oklahoma viewers,” KOCO president and general manager Brent Hensley said in a statement. “We look forward to their continued growth and success in their new roles with the station.” Read more

Mike Skow has been named sports director at KTXS in Abilene, TX.

Skow has been with the ABC-affiliate for the past four years, working as a news reporter and sports anchor.  Skow replaces Bryan Keating, who recently left KTXS for a job at KOCO in Oklahoma City.

“Mike has been with us for over four years, starting on the weekends in news,” KTXS news director George Levesque said. “He’s grown to become a valued member of the sports team and will no doubt excel at leading our sports department.”

Skow, who began his broadcasting career at KGUN in Tucson, has served as KTXS’s weekend sports anchor for the past year and a half.

Wichita NBC-affiliate KSN is making some changes for 2012: the station has hired two anchors and will launch two new newscasts next year.

The station has hired anchor Katie Taube (pictured) from KSFY in Sioux Falls. Taube will helm the 9 p.m. newscast KSN will produce for Fox-affiliate KSAS — which was the subject of a recent lawsuit in the market — starting next year.

Also joining the station is Mary-Rachel Redman, who will be the weekend sports anchor. She joins KSN from KOCO in Oklahoma City.

Beginning January 15, KSN will add a 5 p.m. Sunday evening newscast, with anchor Aileen Simborio and meteorologist Mark Bogner, to the programming lineup.  The station will also add an extra half-hour to the morning newscasts beginning January 9. Read more

Danielle Dozier, the morning meteorologist at KTXS in Abilene-Sweetwater, is leaving the ABC-affiliate after four years.

Dozier is joining KOCO, the ABC-affiliate in Oklahoma City, where she will be a weekend meteorologist. Her last day in Abilene was today.

In a statement on the station’s website, Dozier said she is looking forward to the challenge of forecasting the weather in Oklahoma City, which is located in the heart of Tornado Alley.

KSHB has named JiaoJiao Shen co-anchor of its morning newscast.  Shen has been working as a reporter with the NBC-affiliate since July.

She will work alongside Curtis Jay and replaces Christa Dubill, who has was recently named co-anchor of KSHB’s 4:30, 5:00, and 10:00 p.m. newscasts.

“We’re thrilled with the experience and professional skills JiaoJiao brings to the morning show,” KSHB vice president and general manager Mike Vrabac said, in announcing the move.  “She has some big shoes to fill replacing Christa but we love her enthusiasm and I’m confident that Kansas City will embrace her.” Read more

As a blizzard swept through Oklahoma in the early hours of Tuesday morning, Oklahoma City stations were there to greet it.

KWTV was the first to begin its local news coverage. The CBS-affiliate began at 3:50 a.m., 40 minutes earlier than its regular start time.

ABC-affiliate KOCO and Fox-affiliate KOKH began at 4:00 a.m. For KOCO, that was a half-hour early; for KOKH, it was a full hour.

NBC-affiliate KFOR was the only station not to make an early start, opening its newscast at the the regularly scheduled time of 4:30 a.m. Read more