Hollis Grizzard, interim news director for Corpus Christi NBC affiliate KRIS has announced he is leaving the station and has appointed another interim news director to take his place.

Grizzard, a senior strategist for Audience Research and Development, LLC in Fort Worth, TX, appointed Rob Dean as his successor.  Dean will keep the interim title until a permanent news director can be found.

The station has been without a permanent news director since Sandra Richards was let go by Cordillera Communications in November. Read more

Greg McAlister has been named president and general manager of Cordillera Communications’ stations in Corpus Christi, Texas.

McAlister will lead NBC affiliate KRIS, Telemundo affiliate KAJA and independent station KDF. He will also oversee KZTV, Sagamore Hill Broadcasting’s CBS affiliate that Cordillera operates under a shared services agreement.

McAlister worked at KAMC in Lubbock, Texas, for 20 years, including as president and general manager from 1991-99. He most recently was VP-GM of KAMC-KLBK and managed a regional hub for Nexstar Broadcasting.

McAlister begins March 11. He replaces Tim Noble, who left the stations in December.

TVSPy has been told longtime KRIS news director Sandra Richards is out at the Corpus Christi NBC affiliate.

Tipsters tell TVSpy Richards was let go after a visit by Cordillera Communications executives who blamed poor ratings for her dismissal.

TVSpy has also been told Hollis Grizzard will be the interim news director for the station.  Grizzard is currently a senior strategist for Audience Research and Development, LLC in Fort Worth, TX, which bills itself as,”The Premier Local Media Company.”

Multiple attempts by TVSpy to reach general manager Tim Noble for comment have been unsuccessful.

[newsblues.com]

Changes are coming to the morning newscast at KXAS, the NBC O&O in Dallas.

Scott Friedman, who currently anchors the newscast, is leaving the anchor desk to run the station’s newly-launched investigative team.

“I could not pass up the opportunity to be part of this new team,” Friedman said in a statement. The investigative reporting unit, which will be launched when it is fully staffed, will include a producer, researcher and photographer. Friedman will remain at the anchor desk alongside Deborah Ferguson until his replacement is named.

KXAS morning meteorologist Jennifer Lopez is leaving the station after four years. She will be replaced on an interim basis by Samantha Davies, who joined the station last year as meteorologist for the 4:30 a.m. newscast. Read more

KIII is expanding its weekday morning newscast.  Beginning this week, the Corpus Christi ABC-affiliate is adding an extra thirty minutes to its morning show, moving its start time to 5:00 a.m.

“We are proud to be able to provide an additional half-hour of morning news to the viewers of South Texas,” KIII news director Richard Longoria said, announcing the programming change. “We’ll continue to make sure our viewers have all the information they need to get their day going.”

The change to the morning newscast, which will continue to be anchored by John Thomas and Caitlin Espinosa, comes two weeks after the station introduced veteran Texas broadcast executive Dan Robbins as its vice president and general manager. Read more

Four Corpus Christi stations have been dropped from Time Warner Cable after Cordillera Communications, the stations’ owner, was unable to reach a new retrans agreement with the cable provider.

TWC subscribers in Corpus Christi are now unable to watch NBC-affiliate KRIS, Telemundo-affiliate KAJA, and independent station KDF, as well as the local CW-affiliate, which airs on KRIS’s digital subchannel.

“Time Warner has chosen to drop these stations, even though we continue to work towards a new agreement,” reads a statement on KRIS’s website, posted just before the old retrans agreement expired at midnight, last night.