I just blogged Monday night that FOX 26 Houston KRIV morning anchor Melissa Wilson was having surgery.
Now we learn that weekend anchor Tom Zizka is going under the knife too, this time for a foot problem.
Our prayers go out to Tom and Melissa!
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Wednesday, February 04, 2026
Tuesday, February 03, 2026
Kara Sewell announces WFAA Daybreak departure
Kara Sewell announced today she is leaving WFAA 8 Dallas-Fort Worth's morning newscast Daybreak for maternity leave, and that her work schedule won't look the same when she returns after her second daughter is born.
Sewell will be leaving Daybreak for the most part after eight years. While she will still appear on the 6:30am half-hour of the AM newscasts, she will now primarily anchor the WFAA digital newscast from 7 to 9am. She will then be the WFAA noon anchor.
There will be even more changes when Sewell returns to Channel 8 in June, aside from her new hours.
As I blogged earlier, Sewell's co-anchor, Mark Istook, leaves WFAA 8 on February 20th.
Then, three days later, Dia Wall and Matt Howerton take over as Daybreak anchors.
(Thanks, Scott!)
Corley Peel to anchor KPRC 2 Houston weekends
Corley Peel will start anchoring KPRC 2 Houston weekends, but only for a month.
"Kicking off February by anchoring weekend evenings for the month," Peel posted. "I’m filling in as my teammates move around during Winter Olympics coverage."
I've already blogged about Daniella Guzman going on a solo trip to Milan for Olympic coverage, which has clearly caused a scheduling emergency for Channel 2.
Actual weekend anchor, Bill Barajas, has not posted anything about his schedule change, but he was filling in on the AM newscast Monday morning for Guzman.
Game on, we now have the Barajas vs Rascon TV dynasty battling it out in the same timeslot! Get your popcorn... or maybe popcorn-flavored coffee, since they are both on early.
Peel joined KPRC 2 as a reporter in 2023 from Graham Media Group sister-station News4JAX WJXT Jacksonville, Florida, where she was a weekend morning anchor/reporter. She worked there with Zach Lashway.
The native Texan joined News4JAX in July 2017 as a reporter and was promoted to anchor in August 2021.
The Texas Tech University grad previously worked for KJRH 2 News, Tulsa, Oklahoma, as a reporter and for KSN Local News, KSNF, Joplin, Missouri, as a weekend anchor/reporter.
- Stephania Jimenez debuts on KPRC 2 Houston
UPDATE - HERE IS BARAJAS'S POST
Monday, February 02, 2026
Kylie Capps announces FOX 4 KDFW promotion
Kylie Capps announced today that she is leaving her longtime FOX 4 KDFW Dallas-Fort Worth weekend weather home to be the 4pm meteorologist.
Here is what Capps posted:
"After almost 9 years of working weekends (over 7 at Fox 4), I am so excited to announce that I will now be on air Monday through Friday.
Catch me every weekday at 4 pm only on @fox4news. I will also be picking up a few noon shows and filling in as necessary!"
I have been getting lots of questions about her whereabouts and just what was going to happen to Capps with the recent hires and a departure.
Not only that, but we also saw the retirement of Evan Andrews and Ali Turiano's morning move.
Guess we should have figured out the 4pm opening for Capps.
Capps joined FOX 4 KDFW's Good Day Saturday and Good Day Sunday way back in 2018. She previously worked for KXXV 25 Waco/Temple/Killeen as the weekend morning meteorologist.
The University of Oklahoma grad, who is also an Edward R. Murrow Award winner, interned for News9 KWTV in Oklahoma City.
Melissa Wilson has surgery
Melissa Wilson will be off-air from the FOX 26 Houston KRIV morning newscast after surgery today due to a facial injury caused by an airbag.
- Tom Zizka is having surgery, too
UPDATE AFTER SURGERY
"This is the first day I've been fully awake since surgery," Wilson told mikemcguff.com. "Just wanted to update you that I had reconstruction to all my airways because of a severe airbag injury to my face years ago. Scar tissue eventually built up and led to sleep apnea. Even though I'm still swollen, I can't believe how good it feels to breathe well again. Love and hugs to all. And yes... I sit WAY BACK now, further from the dash to prevent it from ever happening again."
ORIGINAL POST ----------
"Heading into the operating room send a few positive vibes please," Wilson posted to Facebook. "I'll tell you more later but airbag injury to the face is getting fixed now."
David, Wilson's husband, is shown in the photo next to her hospital bed.
Wilson joined FOX 26 Houston in 2000, first as an evening anchor with Mike Barajas, and then in 2010 mornings with José Griñán. As of 2023, she co-anchors with DaLaun Dillard.
The Baylor University grad previously worked for Florida's News Channel and NewsChannel 6 KAUZ Wichita Falls.
Melanie Lawson's substantial donation
As we all celebrated anchor Melanie Lawson's retirement from ABC13 Houston KTRK last week, news about her continues to come out this week.
Announced today by the Houston Association of Black Journalists (HABJ), during its Sneaker Ball Scholarships and Awards Gala held at the end of December 2025, Lawson, "stunned the crowd by announcing a $43,000 donation to the Houston Association of Black Journalists. The gift, designated to support scholarships and programming, left attendees — including HABJ board members — visibly moved."
This substantial donation will support scholarships for local college students pursuing careers in journalism, communications, and related fields.
Texas TV news and radio job moves January 2026
Send tips for the monthly Texas media job list here.
DALLAS - FORT WORTH
In the DMN op-ed "Anchors away — why familiar TV news faces have short tenures," former WFAA anchor John McCaa writes, "The reasons are many and long in coming. While some in the world of politics like to claim they have pressured newsrooms to force changes, the truth is most of the moves have resulted from an age-old business nemesis: a decline in revenue."
Eric Valadez joins CBS News Texas as managing editor.
Carter Freemon joined FOX 4 KDFW as a Dallas Digital Content Creator.
Dallas Business Journal adds reporter Michael Albanese to cover aviation and economic development.
Cumulus DFW Radio Stations Raise Over $3.5 Million for DFW Charities in 2025.
- Berkeley Taylor joins FOX 4 KDFW
- “Real Housewives of Dallas” stars get FOX 4 KDFW show
- Luke Cleary joins WFAA 8 DFW
- Mariel Ruiz returns to WFAA DFW
- Nicole Osei joins KERA as Morning Edition host
- Kara Sewell pregnancy update
- Casey Bartholomew exits WBAP 820 DFW
- Josh Johns joins FOX 4 KDFW DFW
- Jorge Almaraz joins Telemundo 39 Dallas
- Dia Wall and Matt Howerton join WFAA 8 mornings
- Julia Fife joins Wake Up America in New York
- Marc Istook to leave WFAA 8 DFW
- Gabriela Tirado joins Telemundo 39 DFW
- Kylie Capps will return
HOUSTON
Houston Dynamo announcer Glenn Davis is relieved of duties after 20 years with the club.
The Houston Chronicle launches Chowbot, which sifts through 1,300 restaurant reviews, food guides, and rankings, including the newspaper's list of the city’s Top 100 Restaurants, from critic Bao Ong and a team of food writers.
Taylor Berry joins KPRC 2 as a Manager of Content and Coverage (MCC) from KHOU 11, where she was an executive producer.
Sonia Dasgupta joins KPRC 2 as a Manager of Content and Coverage (MCC). She previously worked for WJLA 7 Washington, DC, as assistant news director.
Joey Kovacik celebrates 25 years of full-time work at 89.3 KSBJ.
Antonio Gutierrez joins FOX 26 KRIV as a photographer from El Paso.
Dorothy Keenan joins KPRC 2 as Office Manager/Executive Assistant.
Hope Media Group (HMG) is announcing an expanded vision for its Creative Audio Team. Gary Thompson has been named Director of Production and Audio Ministry. Kevyn Howard will serve as Director of Imaging and Brand Sound.
- Allison Gargaro returns to FOX 26 Houston
- Denise Pagano leaves 89.3 KSBJ Houston
- SportsRadio 610 'Outdoors Show' off-air
- Forrest Frank's tribute to grandfather Dr. Neil Frank
- Dominique Sachse's reinvention after KPRC 2 Houston
- Jessie Watt moves to MIX 96.5 afternoons
- Sarah Pepper returns to Houston
- Zach Lashway leaves KPRC 2 Houston
- Dave Ward honored by Houston Texans
- Kathryn Bonfield has left KHOU 11 Houston
- Shern-Min Chow to leave KHOU 11 Houston
- DJ J-Que Joins Good Morning H-Town on 97.9 The Box
- KPRC 2.4 is showing KPRC2+ streaming
- Joel Eisenbaum, KPRC 2 Houston anchor?
- Chita Craft vs the microphone
- Mekenna Earnhart joins FOX 26 Houston
- Stephania Jimenez debuts on KPRC 2 Houston
- Melanie Lawson had an amazing ABC13 Houston send-off
- Daji Aswad is married
- Isiah Factor Uncensored moves into a battleground
SAN ANTONIO
KENS-TV weather chief Bill Taylor forecasts his perfect day in San Antonio.
After 35 years at KENS 5, Raymond Silva points to AI for sudden departure.
Gilbert Gomez joins KENS 5 as 4 and 5 p.m. news producer.
News 4 San Antonio WOAI I-Team photographer/editor Kash Cashell leaves the station.
KRTU 91.7 Trinity University Student-run jazz radio station celebrates 50 years on air - debuted on January 23, 1976.
- 102.7 BOB-FM launches in San Antonio
- Sarah Duran named KENS 5 4:30 a.m. news and traffic anchor
- Stephania Jimenez signs off KSAT San Antonio
- Ryan Shoptaugh becomes TEGNA Multi-Market Meteorologist
- Madalynn Lambert debuts on KSAT 12 San Antonio
- Ted Garcia returns to FOX San Antonio
- KENS 5 San Antonio's Alicia Neaves engaged
AUSTIN
CBS Austin KEYE meteorologist Avery Tomasco is making meteorology a meme-worthy 'trauma response.'
Kimberly M. Vazquez and Alyssa Estrada join Texas Monthly.
Ali Juell joins the Austin Business Journal as a reporter focused on residential real estate.
- ChatGPT roasts KVUE Daybreak
- Jenna Wilson joins CBS Austin
- KXAN Austin highlights January-February 2006
AROUND TEXAS
Joe Riley steps down after 16 years as KWBU Waco radio director.
Alexa Conroy joins 25 News KXXV Waco-Temple-Killeen as Good Morning Texas Reporter.
Budget cuts hit KZFM Corpus Christi.
KBMT 12 News Now Beaumont's Holton Pepper named the 2026 Southeast Texas Coaches Association Van Thomas Media Person of the Year.
KLAQ El Paso host arrested on multiple charges.
Mattie Powers leaves KLBK/KAMC Lubbock for KARK/FOX 16 in Little Rock, AR.
Drew Bishop joins KRIS 6 News Corpus Christi as a reporter.
KTEN Sherman Good Morning Texoma producer Emilio Alcantara Perez leaves the station.
Bryan Reeder promoted to General Manager of Country 101.7 KSAM-FM and Classic Hits “The Lake” 1490 KHVL/94.1 K231DA/104.9 K285GE Huntsville.
El Paso Radio: FCC Orders License Hearing For 3 Stations.
KAMR Local 4 News and Fox 14 News General Manager Brandy Sanchez was announced among 10 recipients of the 2025 “Citizens on the Move” award from the Amarillo Globe-News as part of its annual “Man & Woman of the Year” celebration.
KFDM Beaumont reporter Taylor Justice is leaving the station for a new career opportunity.
KAVU Victoria meteorologist Trey Meynig will lead viewers on a colonial tour vacation this fall, combining historical exploration with the celebration of America's 250th anniversary.
- Carly Smith promoted to KIII 3NEWS Chief Meteorologist
- Ruben Juarez leaves NBC 23 KVEO RGV
- Frank McCaffrey signs off NBC 23 KVEO RGV
- Donna Conrad joins Spectrum News 1 Texas
- Ernest Strawther leaves News Channel 6 KAUZ Wichita Falls
- KCBD Lubbock weather team announces transition
- Caleb Chevalier joins KSHB 41 Kansas City
- Mari Ferrel promoted to KAMR Local 4 News Amarillo evening anchor
- KTAB - KRBC Abilene rebrand to West Texas Today and West Texas Daily
- Rachel Davis anchors KETK 4pm news
- Matthew Stell joins FOX Charlotte
- Dylan Smith leaves KRBC Abilene
- Hope Boland joins 3NEWS KIII Corpus Christi
- Diana Gomez leaves KFOX14 Morning News El Paso
- Julia Kwedi joins WBIR Channel 10 Knoxville, Tennessee
- Matthew Hidalgo joins Live 5 WCSC Charleston
- Zach Woodard promoted to NewsChannel 10 Amarillo sports director
- Ryan Bailey promoted at KGNS 8 Laredo, Brenda Camacho leaves
- Nick Canizales returns to 12News KBMT Beaumont
- Texas TV anniversaries for January and December
REMEMBERING
Veteran Corpus Christi news broadcaster Bud Lockhart dies at 90.
Lee Elsesser, a major force in TV news in the Metroplex, died January 1, 2026, in Fort Worth.
Texas media members lost in 2025
Sunday, February 01, 2026
wAIsted Dreams
BY MARK GARAY
“See the men paint their faces and cry
(Like some girls) Like some girl, it makes you wonder why
City life, sure it’s cool, but it cuts like a knife, it's your life
So, forget all that you see
It's not reality, it's just a fantasy”
- Aldo Nova “Fantasy
Scarlett Johansson is pissed! So are Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Cate Blanchett, and 700 of their friends. All are actively calling for a leash on Artificial Intelligence. They don’t like how the new technology is replicating their images to sell stuff. And they really don’t like how their image rights are being sold downstream.
For their part, bigger platforms are taking notice. YouTube, for example, is requiring content creators to notify ahead of time of their use of AI. YouTube has also chosen to flag AI videos and explore software that can detect unauthorized use of the technology.
I have no idea why it has landed this way, but I find myself turning to YouTube more and more as an aspirational entertainment destination. When I was a kid, there were three main television networks to choose from. And if you were lucky, some obscure independent TV station that only defuzzed when the wind was blowing just right.
And so, it astonishes me, the number of options available to airwave originalists in this decade of digital decadence. The sheer tonnage of choices online has made anything offline a below-market risk. Yes, the world seems to be changing faster than a kid just home from church. Take a guy named Roberto Lopes Jr., a self-described “designer, architect, creative director and professor of creativity and AI”.
His work on @roblop_experience caught my eye because it married AI (which I know nothing about) to The Beatles (with whom I’m familiar).
If you are over 40 and have only a limited, if not casual, relationship to new technologies, you might be as clueless as I am about AI. Then again, I used to think Tiramisu was a Puerto Rican folk dance when I first heard the term. In fact, I was so sure that other people were as clueless as me about AI that I initiated my own private survey. So, I set up shop outside a local Kroger store and asked out loud. “What IS AI?”
“It’s a computer thing that creates stories and other things”, 67-year-old William told me. “It’s like a search engine.”
“Oh man! That’s technology that can mess people up,” said Lewis, a 28-year-old delivery man said.
“It’s something used to spread lies about people like Trump,” 38- year-old Linda feared.
“Is there anything good about it?”, I asked. “Probably not”.
Even my own 29-year-old son envisions an eventual machine revolt spurred by technology, like in The Terminator. Then again, I once had to explain the difference between butter and margarine to him at an age when I would’ve thought it was obvious.
Dictionary.com defines artificial Intelligence thusly: “the capacity of a computer, robot, programmed device, or software application to perform operations and tasks analogous to learning and decision-making in humans, such as speech recognition or question answering.” What that definition does NOT include is the human fear element. And, per usual, I can’t help but wonder how much fear has contributed to impression.
A man named Geoffrey Hinton is considered the “godfather of AI.” Hinton has regretted his life’s work because of how he says AI could become smarter than us. A couple of years ago, he quit Google to focus full time on warning the world. And as I think we’ve already seen, many others share his fears. A lack of transparency on how AI makes its conclusions and how it uses whatever input to create bias is kept under strict proprietary lock and key. Predictions are that robots will replace workers. And there’s the perceived threat to widespread privacy and technology. For example, China’s facial recognition could gather enough data to monitor peoples’ relationships and political views.
I don’t want to sound snarky, but I saw a whole new generation born upon the art world when I saw the works of Roberto Lopes Jr. the other day.
So, it comes to this for me. AI is a strange new cuisine with an untested flavor and an undefinable consistency. It is full of both bad calories and good. The results of its nourishment may make some people healthier and others sick. I’m not sure it’s a taste that will sweep the world away or take our lives to new heights. But for now, this dish is energizing us in unexpected and unexplainable ways. It’s gonna take a while to see how it affects our aggregate digestion. Meantime, consume at your own risk.
(Former ABC13 Houston KTRK anchor Mark Garay returns to mikemcguff.com as a guest blogger!)
Dominique Newland joins ABC7 KABC Los Angeles
Dominique Newland has joined ABC7 KABC Los Angeles as a reporter, effective January 2026.
Before making the move to Southern California, Newland joined FOX 10 KSAZ Phoenix in December 2023 as a weekend anchor and reporter.
Prior to Phoenix, Newland worked at KVUE in Austin, where she served as a weekend morning anchor/reporter after joining the station in November 2021. She came to Austin from KYMA 11/13 in Yuma, Arizona, where she had been working since June 2019.
Newland is a graduate of Indiana University Bloomington and previously interned with CBS’s The Late Late Show, as well as Indianapolis stations WISH-TV 8 and WTHR 13. Newland was also an anchor/reporter for Indiana University Student Television (IUSTV) and served as a special affairs chair for the local chapter of The National Association of Black Journalists (NABJ).
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