Channel 2 Expands 'First At 4' To 1 Hour
Daybreak Gets Expanded Anchor Team
POSTED: 10:15 a.m. CST January 8, 2003
UPDATED: 5:27 p.m. CST January 13, 2003
HOUSTON -- KPRC Channel 2, Where Local News Comes First, expanded its groundbreaking "News 2 Houston First at 4:00" to one hour effective Jan. 13, according to KPRC Channel 2 news director Nancy Shafran.
The broadcast will continue to be co-anchored by Dominique Sachse and Khambrel Marshall and feature chief meteorologist Frank Billingsley's AccuWeather forecasts.
The station also enhanced its successful morning news broadcast, "News 2 Houston Daybreak."
KPRC, Channel 2 was the first television station in Houston to launch a 4 p.m. news in the summer of 1996 and it was an immediate hit with the viewers, station officials said. The program offers the audience a compelling mix of the day's breaking world, national and local news; a first look at the weather; helpful features such as "Akin's Army" with Emily Akin and "Healthbeat" with Krista Marino.
"Expanding to an hour at this time will enable us to further serve our viewers who have told us loud and clear they want a strong news presence at 4 p.m., especially now with all the fast-changing events worldwide," Shafran said. "This will enable us to cover more news in-depth, create new and informative feature segments, devote more time to the tracking the weather and cover Houston's always frantic rush hour traffic."
Joining the "First at 4" team to keep track of all that rush-hour traffic is Don Armstrong, who for several years has been anchoring the news and reporting on traffic during Channel 2's morning broadcast, "News 2 Houston Daybreak." "Don is a veteran Houston broadcaster. His knowledge of the community will further enhance our 4 o'clock news," Shafran said.
KPRC Channel 2's commitment to local news coverage in the morning was also expanded on Jan. 13 when Khambrel Marshall joined the "News 2 Houston Daybreak" team as co-anchor with Gasia Mikaelian.
Don Armstrong will continue as a major presence on the 5 a.m. - 7 a.m. newscast overseeing "Time Saver Traffic" coverage of the morning rush hour and a variety of other regular segments.
Tonya Kerr, who most viewers know is the mother of three young children, will kick off a new regular feature called "Family First," which will focus on parenting issues.
"We are delighted that Khambrel has agreed to this non-traditional schedule. He will bring his many years of experience as a journalist to the morning program and he will also have the opportunity to conduct hard news interviews and special reports that only a two-hour format can offer," Shafran said. "So now we'll have Khambrel, his expertise and warm personality, in the morning and at 4."
In order to accommodate this new schedule, Shafran said Gasia Mikaelian succeeds Marshall as sole anchor of "News 2 Houston at Noon."
In addition, Bill Balleza, co-anchor of KPRC Channel 2's 6 p.m. and 10 p.m. newscasts assumed additional duties as co-anchor of "News 2 Houston at 5" with Dominique Sachse.
Here's the new line-up in summary, effective Monday, Jan. 13.
Copyright 2003 by Click2Houston.com. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
The broadcast will continue to be co-anchored by Dominique Sachse and Khambrel Marshall and feature chief meteorologist Frank Billingsley's AccuWeather forecasts.
The station also enhanced its successful morning news broadcast, "News 2 Houston Daybreak."
KPRC, Channel 2 was the first television station in Houston to launch a 4 p.m. news in the summer of 1996 and it was an immediate hit with the viewers, station officials said. The program offers the audience a compelling mix of the day's breaking world, national and local news; a first look at the weather; helpful features such as "Akin's Army" with Emily Akin and "Healthbeat" with Krista Marino.
"Expanding to an hour at this time will enable us to further serve our viewers who have told us loud and clear they want a strong news presence at 4 p.m., especially now with all the fast-changing events worldwide," Shafran said. "This will enable us to cover more news in-depth, create new and informative feature segments, devote more time to the tracking the weather and cover Houston's always frantic rush hour traffic."
Joining the "First at 4" team to keep track of all that rush-hour traffic is Don Armstrong, who for several years has been anchoring the news and reporting on traffic during Channel 2's morning broadcast, "News 2 Houston Daybreak." "Don is a veteran Houston broadcaster. His knowledge of the community will further enhance our 4 o'clock news," Shafran said.
KPRC Channel 2's commitment to local news coverage in the morning was also expanded on Jan. 13 when Khambrel Marshall joined the "News 2 Houston Daybreak" team as co-anchor with Gasia Mikaelian.
Don Armstrong will continue as a major presence on the 5 a.m. - 7 a.m. newscast overseeing "Time Saver Traffic" coverage of the morning rush hour and a variety of other regular segments.
Tonya Kerr, who most viewers know is the mother of three young children, will kick off a new regular feature called "Family First," which will focus on parenting issues.
"We are delighted that Khambrel has agreed to this non-traditional schedule. He will bring his many years of experience as a journalist to the morning program and he will also have the opportunity to conduct hard news interviews and special reports that only a two-hour format can offer," Shafran said. "So now we'll have Khambrel, his expertise and warm personality, in the morning and at 4."
In order to accommodate this new schedule, Shafran said Gasia Mikaelian succeeds Marshall as sole anchor of "News 2 Houston at Noon."
In addition, Bill Balleza, co-anchor of KPRC Channel 2's 6 p.m. and 10 p.m. newscasts assumed additional duties as co-anchor of "News 2 Houston at 5" with Dominique Sachse.
Here's the new line-up in summary, effective Monday, Jan. 13.
- 5 a.m. - 7 a.m.: "News 2 Houston Daybreak" with Khambrel Marshall and Gasia Mikaelian
- Noon - 12:30 p.m.: "News 2 Houston at Noon" with Gasia Mikaelian
- 4 p.m. - 5 p.m.: "News 2 Houston First at 4" with Dominique Sachse and Khambrel Marshall
- 5 p.m. - 5:30 p.m.: "News 2 Houston at 5" with Bill Balleza and Dominique Sachse
- 6 p.m. - 6:30 p.m.: "News 2 Houston at 6" with Bill Balleza and Linda Lorelle
- 10 p.m. - 10:35 p.m.: "News 2 Houston Nightbeat" with Bill Balleza, Linda Lorelle and Dominique Sachse
- "Inside Edition" with Deborah Norville, which is now broadcast weekdays at 4:30 p.m., will move to 11:35 p.m., following "The Tonight Show with Jay Leno" effective Monday, Jan. 13.
- 10:35 p.m. - 11:35 p.m.: "The Tonight Show with Jay Leno"
- 11:35 p.m. - 12:05 a.m.: "Inside Edition" with Deborah Norville
- 12:05 a.m. - 1:05 a.m.: "The Montel Williams Show"
- 1:05 a.m. - 2:05 a.m.: "Late Night with Conan O'Brien"
Copyright 2003 by Click2Houston.com. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
