Local news notes: WFAA8's Flanagan leaving while TXA21's newscast gets left behind in favor of sports
09/26/11 05:42 PM
By ED BARK
Although he hasn't officially signed with his new station yet, WFAA8 management confirmed Monday that Chris Flanagan will be joining Cleveland's WEWS-TV as a featured nighttime news anchor.
Flanagan joined Dallas-based WFAA8 from a Des Moines, Iowa station in March of 2009 as the new co-anchor of the early morning Daybreak program. But after two years he was re-assigned to the 9 a.m. Good Morning Texas show, which he's been co-hosting with Amy Vanderoef.
Both WFAA8 and WEWS are ABC affiliate stations. Flanagan likely will remain with GMT through most of October, a WFAA8 spokesman said.
The subscription website newsblues.com first reported Flanagan's impending transition, saying he had to "wade through six months of focus groups to get the job."
***TXA21's "First in Prime" newscast, recently downsized to one hour of news and sports, soon will vanish entirely. The station instead will air a full hour of sports, The Fan with Gina Miller, from 7 to 8 p.m., CBS11/TXA21 director of communications Lori Conrad confirmed.
The start-up date for the new sports program will be on a still to be announced date in October, Conrad said. She also noted that anchors Keith Garvin and Tracy Kornet, along with weathercaster Jeff Jamison, will continue on CBS11's weekday 4 p.m. newscasts. All three had been featured on the nightly TXA21 news.