KXAS

The Dallas NBC O&O has hired Rick Mitchell, who has been chief meteorologist at KOCO in Oklahoma City since 1994. In the coming weeks, Mitchell will join the 4 p.m. and 10 p.m. newscasts, taking over for Grant Johnston in the afternoon and David Finfrock (pictured) in the evening.

Finfrock, the station’s chief meteorologist, has signed a new long-term contract that will keep him at KXAS through 2018, at which point he intends to retire after more than 40 years at the station. He will continue to forecast on the 5 and 6 p.m. newscasts.

“I’m not ready to leave yet, but I’ve been thinking about retirement for several years, and I’m pleased this agreement offers me the opportunity to finish my career right where it began – with the first television station in Texas,” Finfrock said in a statement. continued…

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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. continued…

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