The Jim Flowers era at Journal owned Omaha,NE, CBS affiliate KMTV has begun. Monday night, Flowers will debut on the station’s 5:00, 6:00 and 10:00 p.m. newscasts.

“We have been working hard over the past year to improve our KMTV Newscasts,” Chris Sehring, KMTV vice president and general manager told TVSpy. “With a new News Director, new News and Sports anchors, and a slew of new reporters and support staff, adding someone with Jim Flowers’ outstanding reputation to our team is incredibly exciting for both our Journal team and, more importantly, our viewers.”

The station wrapped up a countdown it began on its facebook page by adding Flowers’ picture with the caption, “Jim Flowers now on KMTV” early Saturday morning.  Read more

Meteorologists Mike LaPoint and Cheryl Lemke have joined WOWT, the NBC affiliate in Omaha.

LaPoint comes to WOWT from WPXI in Pittsburgh, where worked for five years. He will be WOWT’s chief meteorologist, replacing Jim Flowers, who left the station in December.

Lemke joins WOWT from WSBT in South Bend, where she has worked since 2010. Prior to that, Lemke spent 22 years at The Weather Channel. In her new role at WOWT, she will focus on special projects for the station and its weather-related digital channel.

“We know that the most important coverage for you and your family is tracking, alerting and accurately forecasting local weather where you live to help you plan your day every day,” the station said in announcing the hires.

Meteorologist Jim Flowers will not have his contract renewed when it expires next week.  WOWT, the NBC affiliate for Omaha, NE, announced the move on its facebook page saying,

“WOWT has informed Jim Flowers that it does not intend to enter into a new agreement for his services when his current agreement expires on December 31, 2012. WOWT appreciates Jim’s contributions to WOWT and thanks him for his many years of service.

Flowers’ whereabouts have been the subject of speculation around Omaha and as far South as Lincoln for the last few weeks. On Christmas Eve, the Omaha World-Herald joked,

“WOWT will be tracking Santa’s whereabouts. After WOWT finds Santa, perhaps it can find Jim Flowers.”

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WOWT‘s morning team is now locked in a competition for the most Facebook Likes.  Whoever has the most new Likes by Friday, April 27th, will get $100 to donate to the charity of their choice.

Anchors Jim Siedlecki and Serese Cole, reporter Jodi Baker, and meteorologist Rusty Lord are competing for the charitable prize using promo videos, which have been uploaded to YouTube.  Cole, who joined the station last summer, may have the upper hand considering that her video (above) features Nebraska icon Tom Osborne.

Meteorologist Caitlin Roth is joining Fox owned-and-operated WTXF in Philadelphia, a Fox spokesperson confirms to TVSpy.

Since 2008, Roth has been the weekend morning meteorologist at WOWT, the NBC-affiliate in Omaha. Prior to that, she worked as a meteorologist for Accuweather.

Roth will be the weekend meteorologist at WTXF, replacing SallyAnn Mosey, who will leave the station when her contract is up at the end of the year. An official announcement is expected closer to Roth’s January 23 start date.

Jaime McCutcheon has left WOWT for WFXI-WYDO in North Carolina. She will be the primary evening anchor on the Fox affiliate.

McCutcheon has been the weekend anchor at WOWT, the NBC affiliate in Omaha, for the past five years. She  has also spent time at WMAZ in Macon, GA, and KDLT in Sioux Falls, SD.

The WFXI-WYDO duopoly is operated by the Bonten Media Group and covers the Greenville-New Bern-Jacksonville, NC, market. McCutcheon will co-anchor the 10 p.m. broadcast with Brian North.

McCutcheon is a University of Georgia graduate who plans to spend time at the beach with her husband and daughter when she’s not on the air.

Anchor Serese Cole said goodbye to KOLN-KGIN last week after 10 years with the Lincoln CBS-affiliate and word is that she’s moving to WOWT in Omaha. Both KOLN-KGIN and WOWT are owned by Gray Television.

Cole had anchored the 5, 6, and 10 p.m. newscasts for KOLN-KGIN and she told viewers last week that she was leaving to take a morning anchor job, a move that would allow her to spend more time with her two sons.

“While I love what I do, and I love the people I work with, I love my family, too,” Cole told viewers. “So, I’m taking a job as a morning anchor with one of our sister stations–which will allow me to spend my evenings and my weekends with my family.”

WOWT, which has been in need of a morning anchor since moving Malorie Maddox to evenings last month, has yet to confirm that Cole is joining the station but there is every indication that she is. Video of Cole’s farewell inside… Read more