WFMY in Greensboro, NC has added Morgan Hightower to its news team. Hightower will serve as a multimedia journalist for the Gannett-owned CBS-affiliate.

Hightower comes to North Carolina from Montgomery, AL, where she worked as an MMJ for ABC-affiliate WNCF.

“Thank you, everyone! I really appreciate the warm welcome,” Hightower wrote on her Facebook page this week, responding to those welcoming her to Greensboro. “I look forward to working for you all, bringing you stories and news that matter most!”

Adam Bagni has joined WJAR, the NBC-affiliate in Providence-New Bedford, as a producer. Until March, Bagni was the sports director at WNCF in Montgomery.

In a statement, Bagni said his duties will encompass “covering news, covering sports and appearing on-air here and there.” He will make his on-air debut anchoring sports this weekend.

“The media business, in the last five years, has probably changed as much as it ever has,” Bagni said. “Very few people can be one-dimensional any more, and those who are, are few and far between.  You need to be versatile and wear numerous hats in a newsroom.”

Sweeping changes are coming to the Montgomery market as three stations are set to merge into one operation.

On Thursday, Bahakel Communications, the owner of CBS-affiliate WAKA, announced that it had signed an agreement to purchase CW-affiliate WBMM (which is licensed to Tuskegee) from SagamoreHill Broadcasting, which also owns Montgomery ABC-affiliate WNCF.

In addition to purchasing WNCF’s sister station from SagamoreHill, Bahakel has entered into a time sales and share services agreement with the company, meaning that Bahakel will now oversee sales and production for all three stations.

Bahakel also announced that Jesse Grear, who has led WNCF and WBMM since 2005, would become vice president and general manager of all three stations. Read more

WNCF sports director Adam Bagni is leaving the Montgomery ABC-affiliate.

Bagni’s contract expired last Thursday and he recently turned down a multi-year extension to stay with the station.

“It was an extremely difficult decision, one which I did not take lightly, but I feel it’s in my best interest at this point in my life,” Bagni said last Wednesday in an staff email obtained by MTR, a blog covering Montgomery media.

Bagni joined WNCF in 2008 after working for the New England Sports Network (NESN). Last year he won the Judge’s Award for Television Sportscaster of the Year from the Alabama Broadcasters Association.

“I don’t have anything lined up yet, and it’s always scary when you’re not sure what’s next, but I think sometimes you have to leave a situation in order to move forward,” he told TVSpy via email on Tuesday. “I have big aspirations, and I’m willing to work hard to get there, so I’m looking forward to focusing on that full-time.” Read more