WFAA8 shakes up morning picture with import of Ron Corning to Daybreak, export of Chris Flanagan to Good Morning Texas
03/23/11 09:59 AM
By ED BARK
Dallas-based WFAA8 is hoping to brighten its early- and mid-morning ratings pictures with a new male anchor on Daybreak and the transfer of incumbent Chris Flanagan to Good Morning Texas.
News director Michael Valentine, responding to an inquiry Wednesday, said the station has hired Ron Corning to join Cynthia Izaguirre on Daybreak, effective April 25th. On the same day, Flanagan will join GMT, with current co-host Rob McCollum being "reassigned" but "still involved" with the show, Valentine said.
Corning most recently worked at Cablevision's News 12 Long Island, which he joined in November 2009 after being dropped as a morning anchor by Fox's Good Day New York (WNYT-TV/Ch. 5) in April 2008 after nearly two years at that station.
The WFAA8 newcomer also has been a news anchor for The Daily Buzz, a syndicated morning show previously carried in D-FW by TXA21. From 2004 to 2006, Corning worked with ABC's World News Now and ABC World News This Morning, according to his wikipedia biography. During his stint with ABC, he was named one of the world's "Most Beautiful People" by People magazine. He's a graduate of Massachusetts' Wheaton College.
Flanagan joined Daybreak in March 2009 from WOI-TV in Des Moines, Iowa. He has a year remaining on his contract with WFAA8 and sources say he is free to look elsewhere during that time. McCollum has been with GMT since July 27, 2009. He replaced Gary Cogill, who was reassigned to arts coverage and since has left the station to get into movie production.
In the February "sweeps" Nielsen ratings, Daybreak ran third at 6 a.m. in a four-station field, trailing Fox4 and NBC5 in both total viewers and 25-to-54-year-olds, the main advertiser target audience for news programming. At 9 a.m., GMT finished behind the syndicated Live with Regis & Kelly and the third hour of NBC's Today show in both of those ratings measurements.
Here's a six minute, 23 second "compilation reel" put together by Corning. He clearly enjoys messing around on the air, but also shows something of a serious side.