KPRC drops 3pm newscast

KPRC 2 viewers are letting me know that the Graham Media Group's 3pm newscast has not been airing this week.  

According to KPRC's own TV listings, the newscast has been replaced by a half-hour of The Drew Barrymore Show and Entertainment Tonight.

The Drew Barrymore Show still airs for a full hour on Channel 2 at 11am.  And Entertainment Tonight is still airing in its multi-decade slot at 6:30pm.

As the chronicler of all Houston media, I remember blogging back in 2023 when the 3pm newscast debuted with co-anchors  Andy Cerota, Lisa Hernandez, and meteorologist Justin Stapleton.  

At the same time, KPRC debuted "KPRC 2 News Today at 10am." Less than a year later, the 10am newscast was replaced by...you guessed it...Drew Barrymore.

The former movie star has become quite the pinch hitter for KPRC's newscast substitutions.

(Thanks, Shad)

 

“Frito & Katy” no longer on 100.3 The Bull KILT Houston

“Frito & Katy” is no longer airing on 100.3 The Bull KILT Houston, as the show has been removed from the Audacy station's website.

Multiple reports in radio industry trades say owner Audacy is currently undergoing nationwide layoffs, and Frito and Katy are included.

Tucker “Frito” Young and Katy Dempsey joined 100.3 The Bull on January 10, 2025, taking the morning slot previously held by “The Morning Bullpen with George Mo and Erik,” who departed the station in December 2024 after nearly a decade.

The pair came to Houston from Y100 KCYY in San Antonio, where they hosted the morning show since January 2022. 

"It just wasn't something I thought would be in the cards," Frito told mikemcguff.com in February 2025 about working in Houston. "We never focused on getting to any one market. We just wanted to do great radio and build great radio stations. If that had only ever happened in College Station, I would have been more than fine with that. If we had stayed in San Antonio for 20 years, that would have been great, too. We've just been extremely lucky to be presented with some amazing opportunities that were almost impossible to say no to."

Before the Alamo City, they handled the AM drive at Candy 95 KNDE in College Station.

Texas natives, Young and Dempsey have earned numerous industry honors, including the 2024 CMA Award for Major Market Personality, a 2021 Marconi Award, multiple Crystal Awards, and the Bonner McLane Award for Community Service from the Texas Association of Broadcasters.

"At the end of the day, radio is a public service. We can’t lose sight of that," Dempsey told mikemcguff.com in February 2025. "It’s a way to directly connect a community with opportunities to serve it. That’s such a large part of how we program and create content. Given the nature of our business and the flexibility of this medium, I believe we have a duty to go beyond merely entertaining audiences on their commutes. To be effective, we need to help where we can."

Ryan Shoptaugh on KHOU 11 Houston

I have been receiving reader questions about meteorologist Ryan Shoptaugh appearing on KHOU 11 in Houston, and if I have written about it.

The answer is yes and no.

I have not written about Shoptaugh doing some work for KHOU, but recently I covered how Shoptaugh was promoted to a TEGNA Multi-Market Meteorologist position based out of his old station, KENS 5 in San Antonio.

"Remaining based at KENS in San Antonio, I’ll serve as a Multi-Market Meteorologist - helping cover weather across Texas and cities throughout the South," Shoptaugh posted in December 2025 on social.

With the TEGNA-Nexstar merger, not sure what happens to Shoptaugh and other TEGNA Multi-Market Meteorologists.  Will they stay where they are or move into the Nexstar weather fill-in hubs?

Either way, if you are in Texas or nearby, you might see Shoptaugh fill in for a meteorologist in your local TEGNA or Nexstar station's weather department.

- Pat Cavlin leaves KHOU 11 Houston

Noah McKinney leaves KTAB Abilene

Noah McKinney left his KTAB Abilene weekend anchor role at the end of December 2025.

McKinney, Cisco native, started with the station as a production assistant later moving to spot news photographer and eventually senior reporter/weekend anchor.

PJ Heussner joins Dolcefino Media from FOX 44 KWKT

PJ Heussner joined Dolcefino Media as an investigative reporter in October 2025.

The Houston native came from FOX 44 KWKT Waco/Temple/Killeen, where she had been a multimedia journalist (MMJ) and weekend anchor since April 2022.

The Sam Houston State University grad worked for the student-run KSHU Cable Channel 7 news as the main anchor. She received the ‘Best Student Newscast’ award at the Heatwave Film Festival.

Texas meteorologist captures meteor live on air

WFAA 8 Dallas - Fort Worth meteorologist Mariel Ruiz caught a meteor over Texas breaking apart while live on air last week, but didn't realize it until later. 

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Mariel Ruiz | TV Meteorologist (@marielruizwx)

Remember Michelle Merhar from FOX 26 Houston KRIV?

Remember former FOX 26 Houston KRIV morning anchor Michelle Merhar?

Morning co-anchor Melissa Wilson just emceed an event with her.

According to Merhar's Facebook page, she is now a stay-at-home mom with three little ones.

Merhar left FOX 26 in 2016. She previously worked for 740 KTRH.

Re'Chelle Turner is pregnant

Re'Chelle Turner announced she is pregnant.

Here is what the KPRC 2 Houston reporter announced in a social video filmed at the McGovern Centennial Gardens to the soundtrack of Beyoncé's "II HANDS II HEAVEN:"

"We’ve been keeping a little secret…and I can’t hide it anymore! 

Our baby girl is on the way.

Coming September 2026 our biggest blessing yet."

Turner was married to Faison Echols on September 4, 2021, in Birmingham, Alabama.

The couple met at the University of Alabama in a Mass Communications class, and after a seven-year-long-distance relationship while living in five different states, Turner and Echols are now expecting in Houston.

Turner joined KPRC 2 from KARK 4 in Little Rock back in 2020.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Re’Chelle Echols (@rechelleturner_)

(Thanks, Shad!)

Jordan Darensbourg leaves KVUE Austin

Jordan Darensbourg announced he is leaving his KVUE Austin meteorologist position.

Here is a portion of what Darensbourg posted on social:

"My time at KVUE is coming to an end, but I owe a debt of gratitude to a lot of people.

To our GM Byron Wilkinson and our News Director Travis Sattiewhite, THANK YOU. Your wisdom and guidance were very helpful and I continued my career at this great station.

To former GM Kristie Gonzales and former News Director Christina Ginn, THANK YOU for taking a chance in 2022 on a guy who was only in Texas for 16 months prior to KVUE.

To every reporter, producer, anchor and editor I’ve worked with here, THANK YOU. I’m grateful that I had the pleasure of working with some of the most amazing people in our industry.

To my chief meteorologist Hunter Williams, THANK YOU. Your wisdom and advice is second to none of any chief I’ve had in this business."

Darensbourg joined the KVUE Austin Storm Team in April 2022 from TEGNA sister station KCEN 6 in Waco/Temple/Killeen, where he had been part of the weather team since November 2020.

He began his career in December 2018 at WDTV 5 in Clarksburg, West Virginia, serving as a morning meteorologist.

Darensbourg holds a Bachelor of Science in Meteorology from Jackson State University and a Bachelor of Arts in Communications with a broadcast emphasis from Mississippi State University. While at Mississippi State, he worked as a meteorologist and multimedia journalist for the school’s Take 30 News on MSTV.

He is a member of the National Association of Black Journalists' Weather & Climate Task Force and the American Meteorological Society.

According to his bio, Darensbourg has Asperger’s, a form of autism, and uses his diagnosis to inspire others to pursue their goals.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Jordan Darensbourg (@jdarensbourgwx)

Texas CBS News correspondent reportedly laid off

I recently received an email tip that said Houston-based national reporter for CBS News, Karen Hua, was no longer with the network. That was followed by news in the New York Post and The U.S. Sun that Hua and Dallas-based correspondent Omar Villafranca were part of the recent job cuts made by owner Paramount.

Hua joined CBS News in February 2025, relocating to Houston from NBC10 Philadelphia (WCAU), where she had spent three years as a reporter. Prior to that, she worked at KGET 17 News in Bakersfield, California, and began her journalism career through NBCUniversal’s East Coast Page Program, gaining experience with NBC New York, CNBC, and The TODAY Show.

A first-generation Chinese American, Hua is fluent in Mandarin. She graduated magna cum laude from the University of Michigan, earning a Bachelor of Arts in Honors English and Psychology in just three years.

The reported layoffs follow other recent staffing changes at CBS News, including the departure of longtime Houston network correspondent Janet Shamlian in late 2025.

According to the same reports, Villafranca was also affected by the Paramount cuts. He joined CBS News in 2014 as a Newspath correspondent. Before that, he worked at NBC 5 KXAS in Dallas-Fort Worth, News On 6 KOTV in Tulsa, and KSWO 7News in Lawton, Oklahoma.

Villafranca, a San Antonio native, holds a degree in broadcast journalism from Texas Christian University.