Local TV News: KCAL Primetime and KCBS Morning Shows Swap Anchors

In an unusual swap, KCAL/9's 8 p.m. and 10 p.m. primetime news anchors Sharon Tay and Rick Garcia, as well as meteorologist Evelyn Taft,are now heading to sister station KCBS/2 to anchor that station’s weekday 4:30-7:00 a.m. and 11-11:30 a.m. newscasts. The move starts right in the middle of sweeps -- beginning Monday, November 18. It's a return to the morning shift for Tay, who spent many years in Southern California anchoring KTLA's early morning newscasts.

On the flip side, KCBS morning anchors Kent Shocknek and Suzie Suh will take over the KCAL 8 p.m. and 10 p.m. news slots now vacated by Tay and Garcia. Meterologist Rich Fields will join them on those newscasts.

So essentially Tay and Garcia are swapping nights for mornings, while Shocknek and Suh are moving from early to late duty.

KCBS/KCAL president and general manager Steve Mauldin made the announcement today. The move appears to be part of a plan to strengthen KCBS' morning news performance -- a daypart the station has struggled in forever. (KCBS isn't helped by the fact that CBS has never had a strong national morning show.)

"Sharon, Rick and Evelyn are a proven winning combination," Mauldin said. “They bring a tremendous mix of experience, insight and personality to every newscast and they know what it takes to achieve success in morning news. We are confident in their ability to help us grow our audience during the morning news daypart in the same way they’ve given us a big lift during primetime."

According to KCAL, "since Tay, Garcia and Taft began working together in August 2010, KCAL 9 ranks first in viewers among newscasts in the highly competitive 10 p.m. hour and has been No. 1 during seven of the last nine major sweep periods. And since the beginning of the new television season on September 23, the weeknight edition of KCAL 9 NEWS at 10 P.M. continues to rank first among local newscasts in the time period with an average of 160,000 viewers – up 28 percent versus comparable dates last year."

KCBS morning traffic reporter Stephanie Simmons will continue in the daypart. As for moving the KCBS morning crew to KCAL, Mauldin said: "Kent Shocknek is second to none when it comes to anchoring breaking news events. Suzie Suh has been a rising star for us and successfully handled every assignment we have given her. And Rich Fields is among the most respected and charismatic meteorologists in Southern California. We feel great about having such an accomplished, well-rounded and likable trio joining our 9 p.m. anchors Sylvia Lopez and Leyna Nguyen to give us a primetime anchor team that will continue to uphold KCAL’s tremendous primetime news legacy."

In other KCBS/KCAL news, KCBS weeknight 5 p.m. and 11 p.m. news anchors Pat Harvey and Paul Magers will also now anchor the station's 6 p.m. newscasts, currently anchored by Garcia, beginning November 18.

Laura Diaz Exits KCBS After Nearly 10 Years

KCBS anchor Laura Diaz, who's been anchoring KCBS' 6 p.m. newscast since April 2010 (and before that, was the station's 5 p.m. and 11 p.m. anchor alongside Paul Magers), is leaving the station.

She'll be replaced by KCAL anchor Rick Garcia, who will now anchor KCBS' 6 p.m. newscast.

Diaz, who had spent years at KABC before moving to KCBS in 2002, will now focus on her own production company.

"It has been an amazing run at CBS 2, and I’ll miss the many colleagues who have become close friends," Diaz said in a statement. "Getting a chance to serve Southern Californians with news that matters is something I will always treasure and it’s something I look forward to continuing to do. I feel now is the perfect time to branch out and begin producing my own shows and other content. I look forward to being back on the air shortly, and continuing to keep our city and our people informed."

Diaz, who has won 14 Emmy Awards, was named lead 5 p.m. and 11 p.m. anchor at KABC in 1997, making her the first Latino to hold the lead anchor role at an L.A. English-language station.

As for Garcia, the anchor will continue his duties on KCAL's 8 p.m. and 10 p.m. newscasts. The anchor first joined KCBS sister KCAL in April 2009 after 22 years at KTTV.

"As he approaches his 25th anniversary on Los Angeles television next year, it is clear that Rick Garcia has played a major role in the growth and success of KCAL’s primetime newscasts," said KCBS/KCAL president/GM Steve Mauldin. "In addition, he has been a regular contributor and substitute anchor on CBS 2’s evening newscasts, which makes him a familiar and well-liked presence on both of our stations. We are extremely pleased to recognize Rick’s importance to our stations and the communities we serve by expanding his responsibilities to include anchoring CBS 2’s 6 p.m. newscast."

Ex-Fox 11 Sportscaster Rick Garcia Moves On to KCAL

Following up on our post Tuesday on Rick Garcia's departure as sportscaster on KTTV (Channel 11), KCAL announced this afternoon that he'll be joining that station's key 8 p.m. and 10 p.m. newscasts. He'll anchor alongside Pat Harvey, who had most recently co-anchored with Sandra Mitchell.

Here's the release:

Los Angeles, Calif., April 23, 2009 – KCAL-TV (Channel 9) has signed Emmy winner and Los Angeles native Rick Garcia to join Pat Harvey behind the anchor desk for the station’s weeknight 8 and 10 p.m. newscasts. He will make his debut tonight during KCAL 9 News at 10 p.m., immediately following the station’s broadcast of Game 3 of the NBA playoff series between the Los Angeles Lakers and Utah Jazz. The announcement was made today by Patrick McClenahan, President and General Manager, KCAL 9 and CBS 2.

McClenahan said: “Recruiting Rick Garcia represents a major addition to our news team. In addition to being a charismatic and intelligent broadcaster, I am very impressed by Rick’s deep roots in the community. Pairing Rick with Pat Harvey gives us one of the finest and most recognizable anchor teams in Southern California.”

In August 2008, Garcia received the National Hispanic Media Coalition’s Excellence in Broadcast Journalism award.

Garcia has also been honored by the Minorities in Broadcasting Training Program with a Striving for Excellence Award which recognized his career achievements and community contributions.

A Los Angeles native, Garcia attended California State University at Northridge, Antelope Valley College and College of the Desert. He is actively involved with several community organizations, including the Facing Forward Foundation (which supports doctors who provide reconstructive plastic surgeries for underprivileged children with deformities), the Michael Hoefflin Foundation (supporting children with cancer), the Children’s Center of the Antelope Valley and the Boys and Girls Clubs. Since 2006, Garcia has provided the "Unity" award at Quartz Hill High School in the Antelope Valley, where he attended. The award grants a scholarship for two students at the school every year.

Garcia joins the KCAL 9 family after spending the past 22 years with KTTV-TV (Channel 11) and its Fox-owned sister station KCOP-TV (Channel 13) in Los Angeles. He joined KTTV in April 1987 as a weekend anchor and weekday reporter and began serving as the station’s weekday sports anchor in April 1988. Garcia served as host and executive producer of KTTV’s NFL post-game, “Fox Overtime.” He also hosted KTTV’s Major League Baseball post-game show, “Extra Innings,” since it premiered in 1999.

Garcia began his broadcasting career in radio in 1979 as an on-air personality, sports director and play-by-play announcer at KAVL-AM in the Antelope Valley. In 1982, he joined KTN, a cable television station in Palm Springs, as sports director in 1982. One year later, Garcia became the weekend sports anchor at KVBC-TV, the NBC affiliate in Las Vegas. In 1984, he joined KOAT-TV, the ABC affiliate in Albuquerque, in the same capacity. Prior to joining KTTV, Garcia was the weekday sports anchor at KTSP-TV, the CBS affiliate in Phoenix, from 1985-87.

In addition to being a member of the KTTV team that won Emmys for best newscast in 1997 and 2003, Garcia received Emmys for best sports feature, best sports reporting (twice), best sports series and best feature reporting. He has also received six Golden Mike Awards, the Edward R. Murrow award and numerous other honors from industry and community organizations.

Channel 11 Sportscaster Rick Garcia Departs

KTTV/Channel 11 sportscaster Rick Garcia gave his farewells Monday night on the Fox 11 news.

According to the station, Garcia spent 22 years at KTTV. Until recently, he also did double duty, anchoring sister station KCOP/13's jiggle newscast with Lauren Sanchez. (Fox 11 anchors Christina Devine and Carlos Amezcua now handle that newscast as well.)

Garcia's photo and bio have already been removed from Fox 11's bio page. Over at TV News Talk.net, speculation is surrounding the possibility that Garcia may wind up at KNBC (replacing Paul Moyer? That'd be quite a jump) or KTLA, which continues to expand its newscasts.

As another commenter notes, weatherman Mark Thompson told Garcia that he had a feeling he'd be seeing the sports anchor again "real soon." Hmm.