Randy Klein is joining KCEN 6 News Waco, Temple, Killeen as news director, bringing more than 30 years of local news and digital media leadership experience.
Klein will begin his new role November 9, 2026, leading the station's newsroom.
Here is what no TEGNA press release will tell you - Klein is more responsible for this very blog you are reading! He was the KTRK manager who took a chance on a young punk reporter from the then News 25 KXXV Waco and gave me a temp web job with abc13.com in 2001. I really do owe my life to this man! He gave me a chance when I really needed to come back to Houston for my mom's declining health.
I later went back and worked for him in 2006, which this blog even mentions when I made the jump from the KTRK news department (yes, this blog is old, and so am I).
Klein is a competitor in every sense of the word! As someone who has worked in the Waco-Temple-Killeen market (although way back in the Ray Peters and Ann Harder days - Gordon Collier is the only on-air person still there back when I was), I am very interested to see how he can shake up that market. One thing for sure, if kcentv.com is not the number one website in Central Texas now, it will be by this time next year.
He is like the Terminator of news; you cannot stop him. He will keep coming at you. No matter how long you work, I guarantee he will work longer! I am not kidding! Working for him was the kind of bootcamp you needed to write a blog like this one when I am up till 2am some nights writing posts.
I think I have my timeline correct, but I believe Klein hired Brandon Hamilton the first time he worked for ABC13.
Klein joins KCEN from KHOU 11 in Houston, TEGNA's CBS affiliate, where he served as story desk manager and digital director.
Before joining KHOU, Klein was regional director of digital content and digital managing editor at WTSP-TV, TEGNA's CBS affiliate in Tampa, Florida.
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| Former Houston Mayor Bill White with Klein |
His career also includes serving as digital manager at KTRK-TV ABC13 in Houston, senior producer at Cox Media Group in Orlando, Florida, and promotion producer at FOX Sports in Houston.
“Randy has a well-rounded set of skills that apply to multiple platforms,” said Rob Dwyer, KCEN's president and general manager. “He understands how to deliver news and content that will resonate with our viewers across linear, digital and streaming platforms.”
Klein's work has earned several industry honors, including the prestigious Alfred I. duPont-Columbia Award for social media. He is also a four-time recipient of the Texas Association of Broadcasters' Best Major Market Website award and has received an Anson Jones Award for online and mixed-media content.
“KCEN has a deep connection to the Central Texas community, and I'm looking forward to being part of that,” Klein said. “Leading a newsroom can be challenging, but my goal is always the same: create meaningful journalism, grow engaged audiences and make our station the place audiences turn to first.”
Klein earned a bachelor's degree in communications from the University of Houston.
His appointment brings an experienced Houston television news and digital media professional to Central Texas, where he will oversee KCEN's newsroom and its efforts to serve audiences across multiple platforms.
