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.

Walter Furley, who spent 45 years as a reporter and anchor in Corpus Christi died Wednesday. He was 84.

Furley had non-Hodgkin lymphoma, according to the AP. He joined KZTV, the CBS affiliate in Corpus Christi, in 1957, serving as a reporter, anchor and eventually news director. He retired in 2002.

Corpus Christi ABC affiliate KIII interviewed Furley’s family about the longtime anchor. Video is after the jump. 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

Reporter-anchor Craig Lucie has left Orlando’s WESH for a weekend anchor spot at WSB in Atlanta. His final broadcast was last night’s 11 p.m. news.

“As a native Floridian, I am going to miss Orlando and the amazing people I have met along the way,” Lucie told The Orlando Sentinel in an email. “I have interviewed thousands of Central Floridians during my time here, and I want to thank each and every one of them for their help on our stories.”

The Orlando market has been busy this summer with the Casey Anthony trial and the shuttle launch. “It has been a fun ride getting to cover some of the biggest and wildest stories this nation has ever seen,” Lucie said.

Lucie has been at WESH, Orlando’s NBC affiliate, since 2007. He was previously a reporter at KZTV in Corpus Christie and KTBC in Austin.