Posted by chicagomedia.org on September 17, 2009 at 12:55:43:
In Reply to: WGN-TV changes news anchor line-up posted by chicagomedia.org on September 17, 2009 at 12:53:37:
WGN-TV PLANS NEWS EXPANSION TO MIDDAY AND EVENING NEWSCASTS STARTING OCTOBER 5
/Press Release/
CHICAGO, September 16, 2009 -- WGN-TV announced today that, starting October 5, the WGN Midday News newscast and the WGN Evening News newscast will each expand by 30 minutes.
WGN Midday News will air Monday through Friday from 11am - 1pm, co-anchored by Steve Sanders and Allison Payne. WGN Evening News will air Monday through Friday from 5-6pm, co-anchored by Mark Suppelsa and Lourdes Duarte. WGN News at Nine continues to air Monday through Friday from 9-10pm, co-anchored by Mark Suppelsa and Micah Materre. WGN-TV's Tom Skilling will continue to serve as chief meteorologist for all three newscasts.
"At a time when other television stations are cutting back on news, WGN-TV is proud to be devoting more programming hours to local and breaking news than any other station in Chicago," commented Marty Wilke, VP/general manager of WGN-TV.
"We're pleased to solidify our midday, evening and nine anchor teams and welcome the addition of Lourdes Duarte as WGN Evening News anchor," said Greg Caputo, WGN News director. "We're also excited to have Steve and Allison continue their 15-year partnership, working together again on the Midday News, and I know they are both thrilled as well."
"I'm overjoyed to be working with Steve Sanders again and I'm really excited to be working on the Midday because it has everything you could want in a single newscast -- national, international, features…" said Allison Payne, anchor. "This is a mutually agreed upon scenario that was initially brought up by me. Management has been so understanding of my rehabilitation over all these past months. It's been a long road from when I first suffered those strokes; I so appreciate the support all my WGN family has given to me. I couldn't be happier at the prospect of rejoining Steve."
WGN Evening News anchor Lourdes Duarte joined WGN-TV two years ago as a general assignment reporter. She also will continue to host "Adelante Chicago," one of WGN-TV's public affairs shows. Prior to joining WGN-TV, Duarte worked as a reporter/fill-in anchor at WJBK-TV in Detroit, Michigan and as a reporter for WXIN-TV in Indianapolis. Duarte also served as a reporter in Peoria at WHOI-TV and at Metro Networks in Miami, Florida for radio stations WLRN-FM and WTMI-FM. Born in Chicago, she got her start here, working as a freelance reporter for Telemundo.
"I grew up watching WGN, so you can only imagine what a great day this is for me," commented Lourdes Duarte, anchor. "I feel incredibly lucky and I'm going to work my hardest. I'm very excited to anchor alongside people I admire like Allison and Mark and Micah. I couldn't ask for more."
WGN News at Nine anchor Micah Materre joined WGN-TV in January 1998 as WGN Morning News anchor and was most recently an anchor for WGN News at Noon. She was fill-in anchor on WGN News at Nine during Allison Payne's rehabilitation. In addition to her duties as anchor, Micah will be principal reporter for WGN's "Chicago's Very Own" franchise. Before working in Chicago, Materre spent eight years at WJBK-TV in Detroit as anchor/general assignment reporter. Materre also worked in Cedar Rapids, Iowa as general assignment reporter/weekend anchor. She began her career in broadcasting at NPR affiliate, WBEZ radio in Chicago, producing and reporting. In addition, she taught radio production at Columbia College.
"I am just thrilled to have the honor of anchoring the WGN News at Nine," commented Micah Materre, anchor. "It has always been a dream of mine to be a lead anchor in the city in which I grew up. Chicago is the ultimate news town with so many great stories within our vast communities. I am also excited to continue working alongside Mark Suppelsa. He is the consummate professional and an extraordinary journalist. He is such a warm and genuine person and I'm glad to call him a colleague as well as a friend. I look forward to this amazing opportunity and cannot wait to start this fabulous ride."
WGN-TV is Chicago's CW network affiliate, programming a strong schedule of news, sports and entertainment, with most WGN Sports telecasts, WGN News and CW programs in high definition on WGN-DT 9.1. CLTV joined WGN News in August, 2009; WGN News now programs more than 167 hours of news each week, 42 hours on WGN-TV and 125 hours on CLTV. WGN-TV is also Chicago's home for LATV, the nation's first bilingual music-entertainment network, on WGN-DT 9.2. Outside the Chicago area, WGN America is carried nationally via cable, satellite and telco. WGN-TV is a Tribune Broadcasting station. For additional information, visit WGN-TV's website at WGNtv.com.