Telemundo Houston KTMD announced Crystal Ayala and Ingrid Barrera as the new anchor team for weekday editions of Noticiero Telemundo Houston at 4PM, 4:30PM, 5PM, 10PM, and 10:30PM.
Former 5PM, 10PM, and 10:30PM anchor Guillermo Ochoa left KTMD in early 2024.
Ayala joined KTMD in 2015 as a consumer investigative reporter and, a year later, was elevated to the station’s news anchor team. Prior to joining KTMD, Crystal worked as an anchor and reporter for Univision in Houston, Dallas, and Denver. She also worked for Univision’s national newscast and their affiliate news division in Miami. She began her career in her native Puerto Rico.
Ayala has won numerous Lone Star EMMY and Society of Professional Journalists awards. She was named 2024 On-Air Personality of the Year by the Media Alliance of Houston. Ayala earned a Bachelor of Arts in Journalism from the University of Puerto Rico and a Master’s in Journalism from Florida International University.
Barrera joined Telemundo Houston in November 2017 as anchor of the station’s 4PM and 4:30 PM newscasts, then added duties during a new midday newscast at 11AM. In 2021, she helped launch El Break, KTMD’s newscast for FAST channels, serving as its first digital anchor. Before KTMD, Barrera was a news correspondent in Telemundo’s Mexico City bureau. Before that, she was a news anchor for Mexico's Grupo Imagen Multimedia and Televisa.
Barrera has received multiple regional MMY Awards, and her work has been recognized with a Premio Nacional de Periodismo, which honors outstanding Mexican journalists for their work, quality, and commitment to the citizen's right to be informed. She earned a Bachelor's in Communication Sciences from the Instituto Tecnológico y de Estudios Superiores de Monterrey.
"We are thrilled to announce the pairing of Crystal and Ingrid to co-anchor all of our primetime newscasts,” said Freddy Oldenburg, Telemundo Houston’s Vice President of News. “Their combined expertise, dedication, and commitment to journalistic excellence will bring a new dynamic and provide our viewers with the highest quality of news coverage. This change not only reflects their outstanding talent but also our station's commitment to diversity and empowering women in leadership roles within the industry. We are confident that they will continue to uphold and elevate our reputation for delivering trustworthy and impactful news."
