Alice Barr leaves KHOU for KXAS NBC 5 DFW

KHOU 11 reporter Alice Barr heads up to North Texas at KXAS NBC 5

Alice Barr

As you probably have already heard, KHOU 11's Doug Miller is leaving the station after 23 years. And I don't want that to totally overshadow the upcoming departure of channel 11 reporter Alice Barr who has worked at the station for two years.

Yes, Barr is joining former KPRC 2 anchor Courtney Gilmore at NBC 5 KXAS in the Dallas-Fort Worth TV market.

"I have loved my time at KHOU and in Houston," Barr told mikemcguff.com. "I've worked with, and formed lifelong friendships, with some wonderful people here. I'm really going to miss it, but I'm very excited to join the outstanding team at KXAS. The station has a stellar reputation and a lot of new energy."

Lots of questions came in as to why Houston television reporters would want to go to North Texas. Well the DFW Metroplex is TV market #5 and Houston is #10, so I would imagine it is a bigger payday - plus KXAS just built a brand new, state-of-the-art station to boot (I used "boot" because KXAS is in "Cowtown" after all).

There is one more reason for Barr to move to the DFW area. Her fiance, KHOU 11 photographer David Soltis, has also accepted a job at NBC 5.

"I'm also getting married this summer," Barr told me. "My fiance's family lives in Dallas and having that support will mean a lot as we start our married lives together."

For those not in the TV biz, that is very fortunate they both landed a job at the same time, in the same city and even at the same station!

Barr's last day at KHOU will be April 21st, Soltis' will be April 22nd. Then it's that three hour plus trek up I-45 for the two TV lovebirds (the time to Dallas will be reduced to less than 90 minutes according to the Texas Central high-speed rail opening in 2021).

"I'll be sure to make it back to visit, so don't be surprised if you see me pop up around town," Barr added.

The Lone Star EMMY winning Barr joined KHOU 11 as a reporter in 2014 from KCTV5 in Kansas City where she has been since April 2012.

Previously she served as a reporter for KGAN/KFXA, the CBS/FOX affiliates in Cedar Rapids, IA, from 2009 to 2012. Before that she was as an MMJ Reporter for WIFR, the CBS affiliate in Rockford, IL, from 2006 to 2009. She got her start in local television news as a reporter for KULR-8 News, the NBC affiliate, in Billings, MT, in 2005.

While earning her degree as a student at the Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University, Barr interned at CNN's The Capital Gang, ABC's Nightline and National Geographic.