Sherman Dessell is joining FOX 26 KRIV Houston as a reporter and fill-in anchor starting June 28, 2022.
"I'm elated to be a part of the FOX 26 team and make Houston my home," Dessell said in a statement. "I already have friends and family waiting to greet me there, in this culturally diverse city rich with opportunities."
Dessell comes to Houston from WDSU 6 New Orleans where he has been since 2019 as weekend anchor.
He recently won the RTDNA Edward R. Murrow Award in Excellence in Diversity, Equity and Inclusion for the documentary "History and Hope: Our Hidden Past."
The Northwestern State University grad started his career with News Channel 5 KALB Alexandria, Louisiana, first as a part-time photographer - working his way up to MMJ, weekend anchor and finally morning anchor.
"Sherman is passionate about covering the issues that are often overlooked or ignored, and we are excited he will have the opportunity to bring those stories to light to help the community," FOX 26 Vice President and News Director Susan Schiller added.
How do I know? Well, Wright is posting photoshoots with her new co-anchors on Instagram. But...she is not ready to say exactly where she is working next.
- Cory James - anchor (just left his reporter position at CBS New York WCBS)
- Jackie Layer - meteorologist (just left 7News Boston WHDH)
- Shennekia Grimshaw - traffic (WDVM 25 Hagerstown, Maryland, and NW portion of the Washington, D.C. TV market)
Now, I am no DC TV expert obviously. In fact, while I was Washington last week, I didn't even turn on the TV in my room once for what it's worth.
Considering this is obviously a brand new assembled news team, and based on where Grimshaw is working, then my guess is Wright and her new TV friends are working on the just announced news expansion of Nexstar's WDVM in Hagerstown and WDCW (CW) in Washington, D.C.
Here is the new "DC News Now" press release (with no mention of on-air talent):
WDVM-TV and WDCW-TV Will Occupy New State of the Art Newsroom and Studio;
Combined Operation Will Offer 67+ Hours of Local News and be Known as “DC News Now”
Stations Will Launch New Newscasts, Expand Existing News, and Open Satellite News Bureaus in Hagerstown and Frederick, Maryland, and Chantilly, Virginia
WASHINGTON, D.C., and IRVING, TX, (May 25, 2022)—Nexstar Media Inc., a wholly-owned subsidiary of Nexstar Media Group, Inc. (NASDAQ: NXST), today announced that it will expand its local news operations serving Washington, D.C., Maryland, and Northern Virginia. The company plans to bring its two television stations currently serving the area, WDVM-TV (Ind) in Hagerstown, and WDCW-TV (CW) in Washington, D.C. (DMA #7), together at one central location in the nation’s capital. The new, combined operation will be known as “DC News Now.”
Both television stations will broadcast from a new state-of-the-art newsroom and studio currently under construction on Wisconsin Avenue while maintaining a significant presence in Maryland and Northern Virginia. The central newsgathering operation will be supported by three newly established satellite news bureaus in Hagerstown and Frederick, Maryland, and Chantilly, Virginia. Each new bureau will serve as an extended newsroom and studio for DC News Now, capable of live reporting and staffed with additional journalists who will provide even more local news coverage for the area.
The new facilities and expanded staff will establish a solid foundation from which WDVM-TV will launch a new nightly newscast at 9 p.m. ET, expand its existing morning news by one hour, and add a thirty-minute nightly sports highlight show at 11 p.m. ET. WDCW-TV will launch a new nightly newscast at 10 p.m. ET.
“This expansion is a clear demonstration of Nexstar’s unwavering commitment to local news and public service,” said Andrew Alford, President of Broadcasting for Nexstar Media Inc. “The demand for local news, weather, and information in Maryland and Northern Virginia, and in the immediate Washington, D.C., area has never been greater. We will be hiring more journalists and critical support personnel, significantly expanding our digital news capabilities, and building upon our strong legacy of providing high-quality local news to the communities we serve.”
Following the expansion, DC News Now will provide more than 67 hours of local news programming every week, covering more communities than any other local broadcaster serving Maryland, Northern Virginia and Washington, D.C. The ninth-largest DMA in the United States, Washington, D.C., has a population of more than six million and more than 2.3 million local television households.
“We are extremely excited about this expansion, particularly because it enables us to launch new newscasts while also establishing three new satellite news bureaus from which we can deliver live news directly from within local communities in Maryland and Northern Virginia,” said David Bangura, Vice President and General Manager of WDVM-TV and WDCW-TV. “These bureaus will give WDVM-TV and WDCW-TV a way of connecting to the community as never before.”
Veteran journalist and news management executive Ben Dobson has been named News Director of the expanded operation. He joins WDVM-TV/WDCW-TV from Boston, MA, where he has served as Vice President and News Director of New England Cable News (NECN), a 24-hour cable news network, NBC10 Boston and Telemundo Boston since 2018. During his tenure at NECN, Mr. Dobson transformed the network’s programming and audience reach by launching new newscasts, creating a digital streaming department, and driving a renewed emphasis on online content. Prior to Boston, Mr. Dobson was Vice President and News Director at WVIT-TV (NBC) in Hartford, CT, and before that held a series of news management roles of increasing responsibility in Boston and Hartford.
“Bringing these two television stations together, adding more news hours, and creating three locally-based satellite news bureaus to serve Washington, D.C., and parts of Maryland and Virginia, is a tremendous opportunity,” said Mr. Dobson. “We are building something from the ground up at a time when more and more viewers are turning to local news organizations as their primary source of information they can trust.”
Lanny Griffith, Neal Talmadge, Marc Sherman, Brian Shannon, Josh Holstead, Ronnie Renfro, Grego, Madd Hatta, Doug Harris - Front Row Caroline Devine and Harold Gunn (Photo credit: Thuy Tran)
(Houston, TX) May 25, 2022: The Texas Radio Hall of Fame (TRHOF) has awarded individual grants of $1,000 each to eight Texas students pursuing collegiate courses of study related to broadcasting. The honorees and underwriters of the THROF’s inaugural scholarship program were feted on May 19th in the Performance Centre of Houston’s Ensemble Theatre, during a luncheon sponsored by Amber Mostyn and Mostyn Law.
“We’re halfway through our 20th anniversary celebration, “observes TRHOF Executive Director Doug Harris,” and we’ve notched another important milestone. Any plan for the future of broadcasting must include the training and education of the next generation of hall of famers and we’re looking forward to finding and saluting worthy candidates for years to come.”
Luncheon guests included eleven Texas Radio Hall of Famers, including emcee Madd Hatta, along with representatives of Audacy, Cox Media Group, IHeartMedia, Urban One, and KTSU-FM.
The scholarship recipients and their underwriters are as follows:
Mario Salazar-The Dan D. Acree Texas Radio Hall of Fame Scholarship
Malone Graham-The Audacy-Texas Scholarship
Arianna Xavier-The Cox Media Group Scholarship
Duncan Harmon—The Mike Edmonds Sports Journalism Scholarship
Alexander Weister-Harold Gunn Texas Radio Hall of Fame scholarship
Roy Jimenez-iHeartMedia’sThe Beat/Black Information Network Scholarship
Viktor Hargrove-The KTSU 90.9 The Choice Scholarship
Denise Miller-Mostyn Law’s Power of Radio Scholarship.
The commemoration of the TRHOF’s 20th anniversary will reach its zenith during the organization’s Annual Induction Weekend, November 4-5, 2022, at the Texas Museum of Broadcasting and Communications in Kilgore, Texas.
Nominations for the 2022 induction class open June 1, 2022.
(This post was taken from a release sent to me by the TRHOF)
At 10:30am, "Texas Eats" with David Elder is now airing. The food show is produced by KPRC Graham Media owned sister-station KSAT 12 San Antonio.
"We have long considered Houston as the culinary capital of Texas," Jerry Martin, KPRC General Manager, told MySA. "And through my discussions with our sister station in San Antonio about his (Elder's) Texas Eats show, this very approachable show just seemed like a natural for KPRC and Houston, especially when KSAT and David Elder agreed to keep half of the featured restaurants in each show from Houston."
HOUSTON, TX – May 25, 2022 – Audacy has named Parker Hillis Brand Manager of SportsRadio 610 KILT-AM Houston, effective June 6, 2022.
In this role, Hillis will oversee content strategy, talent, operations and branding for the station.
“Parker is a rising star,” said Sarah Frazier, Senior Vice President and Market Manager, Audacy Houston. “He has impressed us since day one with his innovative ideas, focus on talent coaching and work ethic. We're thrilled to have him join our Audacy team.”
“I’m excited to join the Sports Radio 610 team in Houston,” said Hillis. “The opportunity to direct and grow an already incredible Audacy brand is truly an honor.”
Hillis joins Sports Radio 610 after previously serving as assistant program director of Bonneville’s 104.3 The Fan in Denver, a role he held since January 2022.
He joined Bonneville in April 2019 as executive producer. This move marks Hillis’ second stint with Audacy; he served in a variety of producer roles for Audacy Dallas’ 105.3 The Fan (KRLD-FM) from 2014 to 2019, including the station’s flagship coverage of the Dallas Cowboys and Texas Rangers.
(This post taken from a release sent to me by Audacy)
"Hi friends! A bit of a life update, I’m moving to Pittsburgh!
I’ve accepted the Weekend Sports Anchor/Reporter job at WTAE!
I’m super excited to get back to the east coast and be closer to family.
My last day on-air at KVUE will be this Sunday! Austin, I’ll write you my love letter then."
Giangreco joined KVUE 24 in June of 2019.
During the February 2021 Texas winter storm, Giangreco made national headlines when she went viral for her honestly raw reporting.
Being very vulnerable on-air today. It doesn't feel right talking about sports when so many people are still suffering. With a lack of water, I'm unable to wash my hair or put on makeup for broadcasting.
Before Austin, Giangreco she worked for KLFY News 10 Lafayette, Louisiana where she was hired as a news reporter and then became a sports anchor.
The West Virginia University grad interned with WDTV 5 News Weston/Clarksburg/Fairmont, West Virginia. She was also a sports reporter for the school's U92 The Moose WWVU and worked later for ESPN as a broadcast assistant.
NEXT STOP: Pittsburgh!
I’m excited to join the team at @WTAE as the Weekend Sports Anchor/Sports Reporter! Covering the @steelers, @penguins and @Pirates is going to be epic!
Day 1 was fun! Excited to join the squad at AT&T SportsNet. I’ll be hosting a few Astros pregame & postgame shows each month for the remainder of the season. Go ‘Stros ⚾️ pic.twitter.com/bPnPGY3KuP
— Vanessa Richardson (@SportsVanessa) May 24, 2022
Vanessa Richardson is back covering the Houston Astros on television for the rest of the 2022 season.
