Tom Bell has been named news director at KOVR, the CBS O&O in Sacramento.

Bell moves to California from Texas, where he has been news director at WOAI in San Antonio since 2009. He is a former news director at KTVX in Salt Lake City and KPHO in Phoenix.

“Tom Bell is a veteran of more than 20 years in the local news industry and has an outstanding reputation as a leader who does an outstanding job of inspiring his colleagues to produce quality newscasts,” KOVR-KMAX VP-GM Kevin Walsh said in a statement. “I am very pleased to welcome him to Northern California and confident that he will do a terrific job of leading our news team to exciting new heights.”

Bell replaces Cameryn Beck, who recently left KOVR for KTVK in Phoenix.

The fire that knocked San Antonio NBC affiliate WOAI off the air Tuesday was likely caused by an electrical short, according to the station.

The fire began on the second floor of the station’s building around 5:00 a.m. Tuesday, during the morning newscast. The building was evacuated and programming went to black. WOAI anchors reported on the fire for sister station KABB, the San Antonio Fox affiliate.

WOAI’s programming resumed around 4:00 p.m. Tuesday. With the second floor of the building still closed, the station has set up a temporary news set in the station’s parking lot.

WOAI was knocked off the air during the morning newscast Tuesday when a fire broke out in the building that houses the San Antonio NBC affiliate. The station was airing NBC’s special report on the celebration mass for Pope Francis when the programming went to black.

“At approximately 5:00 a.m. a fire alarm was triggered at WOAI-TV, and the building was evacuated. Fire units arrived shortly thereafter. The fire was contained to second floor offices. We expect to have electricity restored to the building by noon, and we anticipate having WOAI-TV on the air later this afternoon,” WOAI general manager John Seabers said in a statement. “We are grateful no one was injured.”

In the station’s slideshow of the fire, flames can be seen in the second floor window of the WOAI building. WOAI reporters and anchors did live reports from the scene on Fox affiliate KABB, which is also owned by WOAI parent company Sinclair Broadcasting.

Investigative reporter Brian Collister is joining KTRK, the ABC O&O in Houston. Collister joins the station after 13 years at WOAI, the NBC affiliate in San Antonio.

“I am thrilled and honored to join 13-Eyewitness News and to be a part of one of the most prestigious investigative teams in the country,” Collister said in a statement to the Houston Chronicle. “I look forward to adding to its legacy.”

Collister, who is a seven-time Lone Star Emmy award winner, replaces Wayne Dolcefino at the ABC O&O.

WHP‘s Holly Steuart is the latest general manager to exit a newly-owned Sinclair station, according to Broadcasting & Cable.

Sinclair officially took ownership of six stations from Newport Television on Monday. General managers at WKRC in Cincinnati and WOAI in San Antonio both departed on Friday, before the ownership change took place.

“They said they wouldn’t go forward with me, that they were bringing a new person in,” Steuart told B&C. Read more

Sinclair Broadcasting officially takes the reins today at six stations it acquired from Newport Television: WKRC in Cincinnati, WOAI in San Antonio, WHP in Harrisburg-Lancaster, WPMI and WJTC in Mobile and KSAS in Wichita.

Sinclair has already made management changes at at least two of its newly-acquired stations, WKRC in Cincinnati and WOAI in San Antonio. Broadcasting & Cable reports that WOAI general manager Jackie Rutledge worked her last day at the station on Friday, the same day Les Vann announced his WKRC exit.

Sinclair has also announced the acquisition of WHAM, the ABC affiliate in Rochester, from Newport Television for $54 million, bringing the total amount paid at closing to $459.7 million.

B&C reports John Seabers will be the new general manager at WOAI. Seabers is a former general manager of KABB-KMYS, Sinclair’s San Antonio duopoly. In January, he was promoted to group manager at the company.

San Antonio NBC affiliate WOAI will begin airing a three part series tonight about reporter Kristina De Leon and her mother’s battle with kidney disease.  De Leon (pictured left) donated one of her kidneys to her ailing mother (pictured right) and documented the process to shed some light on the procedure.

“The reason for documenting all of this is because I wanted people to know that donating a kidney isn’t as scary as you think,” De Leon said.  “You don’t have to take medications for the rest of your life. You can drink alcohol afterwards. You can have children, run a marathon, and live a perfectly normal life, as long as you are reasonably healthy.”

De Leon, whose mother had been on kidney dialysis three times a week for 15 months before it was decided she needed a transplant, told TVSpy her mother is on the mend, “Mom is doing great! She’s no longer on dialysis, and at this point, goes to the (doctor) once a week to make sure her new kidney is functioning properly. We are so blessed everything worked out!” Read more

In an effort to focus on larger markets, Cox Media Group has announced that it is selling four of the stations it currently owns and buying four stations from Newport Television.

The stations being sold are KFOX in El Paso, WJAC in Johnstown, PA, KRXI in Reno and WTOV in Stubenville, OH.

The stations Cox is buying from Newport Television are WAWS and WTEV in Jacksonville and KOKI and KMYT in Tulsa.

“This simplified structure will enable CMG to capitalize on continued growth and synergies, while retaining its size financially,” president Doug Franklin said in a statement.  Read more

Newport Television, which owns 56 stations in 20 markets, is reportedly up for sale.

Reuters reports that Providence Equity Partners, the private investment firm that owns Newport, is currently shopping the station group to potential buyers.  The process, though, is in its “real early stages.”

Newport Television was founded in 2007 by Providence Equity Partners and Sandy DiPasquale to acquire the stations of Clear Channel Communications.  The company is headquartered in Kansas City, MO.

Newport’s holdings include KTVX in Salt Lake City, WKRC in Cincinnati, and WOAI in San Antonio.

In her new movie, “Big Miracle,” actress Kristen Bell plays a local TV reporter and, in a recent interview with New York magazine, she spoke about growing up with a news director dad.

Bell’s father, Tom Bell, worked as a news director at KPHO in Phoenix and currently serves as the ND at WOAI in San Antonio.

“I grew up going to the station with him and being able to play with the teleprompters, knowing the behind the scenes of news directing,” Bell told New York.  “And it’s very similar to acting. He had a lot of hesitancy because he knew the rejection that was possible. He had been the one forced to reject people.”