Russ McCaskey will join Karen Borta as co-anchor of the CBS 11 News This Morning (weekdays 4:30-7:00 a.m.) beginning June 1.
“Russ is a very skilled journalist with deep Texas roots,” said CBS 11 Vice President of News Mike Garber. “It’s going to be terrific to have two native North Texans side-by-side on the anchor desk each morning.”
McCaskey was most recently the 5, 6 and 10 p.m. news anchor at KJRH in Tulsa. Prior to that, he was a news anchor and reporter for KWTV in Oklahoma City. He has also worked as an anchor and reporter at KXII in Sherman.
"I am thrilled to be returning home,” McCaskey said. “It's the best possible scenario to be able to do a job you love, in a place you love and as a bonus, be close to family and friends."
Born in Dallas, McCaskey graduated from Plano Senior High School and went on to earn a bachelor’s degree from Texas Christian University. He has been recognized for his work by the Oklahoma Associated Press Broadcasters, the Oklahoma Society of Professional Journalists, and the Oklahoma Association of Broadcasters. He has also received nine regional EMMY Awards.
CBS had nationwide layoffs yesterday and those cuts also affected CBS 11 DFW KTVT employees
The bios of CBS 11 DFW KTVT morning anchor Russ McCaskey and weekend morning anchor Jennifer Lindgren were removed from the station's website yesterday.
This coincides with the much publicized layoffs in the CBS and Viacom merger that has not only affected the corporate side yesterday, but also the CBS owned an operated television stations.
I was told by a source there are around 15 or so employees of KTVT involved in this cost cutting measures.
In a statement CBS issued Wednesday:
“We are restructuring various operations at CBS as part our ongoing integration with Viacom, and to adapt to changes in our business, including those related to COVID-19. Our thoughts today are with our departing colleagues for their friendship, service and many important contributions to CBS.”
Yesterday McCaskey and Lindgren were no longer on the station's site. At the time of this post's publishing, McCaskey's KTVT Facebook has been deleted.
As we all know, this is a tough time for the media biz, but the timing of the merger between Viacom and CBS made this extra difficult.
Former CBS 11 DFW KTVT morning anchor Russ McCaskey has joined WINK News Fort Myers/Naples, Florida according to a social media post from October 19th while I was not blogging.
"Amid the craziness of 2020, I can officially announce my next chapter," McCaskey posted on Instagram. "This is day 1 at the CBS affiliate -- WINK News -- in Fort Myers/Naples Florida. The drive to the station is on a road lined with hundreds of palm trees."
I did not see a bio for McCaskey on the WINK site, no mention in the media about his new anchor gig, but he is clearly already on the air.
In fact, my own blog tipped me off because my last post about McCaskey was getting a lot of traffic all of a sudden.
That last post was from May when McCaskey, weekend morning anchor Jennifer Lindgren and other off-air staffers were laid off from KTVT in nationwide CBS owned station layoffs.
The award winning television journalist and Dallas native previously worked for KJRH Tulsa and KXII Sherman.
McCaskey is a Plano Senior High School and Texas Christian University grad.
Jennifer Lindgren moves to KTVT CBS 11 from WKYC Northeast Ohio to marry an Aggie
Jennifer Lindgren
Jennifer Lindgren, reporter at WKYC for Northeast Ohio, is moving to Dallas-Fort Worth's KTVT CBS 11 the Gannett station announced Friday.
According to her bio, Lindgren started at WKYC in August 2010. She was as a multimedia journalist or one-man band.
Before that Lindgren worked at WTLV Jacksonville as a reporter/fill in weekend anchor, WLTX Columbia, SC and KXII in Sherman. She's won a regional Edward R. Murrow among other awards.
Lindgren is originally from Dallas and went to UT. In her goodbye video (embedded below), Lindgren says the reason she's returning to Texas is because of her fiance who is an Aggie. Now that's a volatile combination!
Here is the goodbye message Lindgren posted on Facebook:
"It's hard to believe, but this Friday will be my last day at Channel 3 News.
That shiny thing you may have seen on my left hand is indeed a ring. I'm getting married to my longtime beau and moving to Dallas, Texas, which has always been home for us.
I've accepted a reporter job at KTVT CBS 11 News, so if you've got friends or family in the area, tell them to tune in!
It is incredibly hard to leave Northeast Ohio, and especially Channel 3. In the last three years, I've made many wonderful friends through work, and I truly love Cleveland--a place that I've seen grow with life.
I'll miss the seasons, the restaurants, the parks, the lake, the Browns, the Indians, the museums, the wineries, the markets, the history, the snowy holidays and the cool summers. Cleveland is gem many people around the country don't take the time to know, and I promise to leave here as its best ambassador!
Sometimes you just gotta look at the big picture though, and for me that means getting back to my family down south.
Thank you everyone for so warmly accepting me into this town and community. If you want to stay in touch, this page isn't going anywhere! I'll still be on Facebook and Twitter."
In the video below, the WKYC channel 3 anchor team, including former CBS weekend anchor Russ Mitchell, gives Lindgren a Texas quiz with answers I didn't even all know. For example there is one in there about what you can't sell in Houston on Sundays...
CBS has named Andrea Parquet-Taylor VP and station manager of KTVT CBS 11.
Due to “family reasons,” NBC5 KXAS anchor/reporter Cory Smith will be leaving at the end of this year. Laura Harris from WFTS Tampa Bay will replace him.
Russ McCaskey renews his agreement as morning anchor at the CBS owned KTVT-TV in Dallas, Russ’s home town.
- Napoli Management Group
Allie Spillyards is promoted to staff reporter at KXAS in Dallas. She had been a freelance reporter for the station.
- Napoli Management Group
HOUSTON
Back in January I blogged that WXYZ Detroit reporter Shelley Childers was joining abc13 KTRK. Well, we can guess that was a temporary position as her TV agent, Mort Meisner Associates, reports she has officially joined the Disney ABC Television Group station as a General Assignment Reporter/MMJ.
KHOU 11 News reporter Brandi Smith receives humanitarian award.
Natasha Geigel renews her agreement at KRIV in Houston as a Reporter.
- NWT Group
Associated Press reporter, Michael Graczyk, who is based out of Houston, is retiring.
Former KIII Corpus Christi news director Oscar Garcia has been named FOX 26 KRIV Nightside Executive Producer.
Aurora Losada joins KPRC 2 as Digital Executive Producer from Houston Public Media.
KCEN Waco, Temple, Killeen named Texas Today morning anchor Kris Radcliffe, weekend anchor Chris Rogers and reporter Emani Payne to new positions.
Former KRIS anchor Stephania Jimenez heads to WCAU Philadelphia as morning anchor.
KTAB anchor-reporter Stacie Wirmel adds 10pm news to her duties.
Former KVIA ABC-7 news anchor Rick Cabrera is replacing Rick Bonart on the City Plan Commission.
KXII promotes sports anchor-reporter Jeremy Thomas to morning anchor.
Alex Wilkins jumps 130 markets and becomes a News/Sports Reporter at WOWK-TV in Huntington, West Virginia from KAVU in Victoria, Texas.
- 3 KINGS ENTERTAINMENT, LLC
CANDACE MARTINO bumps 37 markets and becomes a Sports Reporter/Anchor at WJAC-TV in Johnstown, Pennsylvania from KMID in Odessa, Texas.
- 3 KINGS ENTERTAINMENT, LLC
REMEMBERING
Longtime KDFW 4 anchor, reporter Walter Evans dies at 86.
Veteran KCEN-TV broadcaster James K. "Jim" Ham died over the weekend and leaving a legacy of local news coverage that was a pathway for others who followed.
97.5 FM KFNC hosts Raheel Ramzanali and Barry Laminack lost their jobs because of the economic downturn associated with the COVID-19 pandemic the station said.
- Josh Innes joins ESPN 97.5 KFNC
Todd Freed's High School Sports Zone show on KUBE 57 has been cancelled due to economic factors stemming from the Coronavirus.
KPRC 2 consumer reporter/anchor Amy Davis celebrates 15 years with channel 2.
FOX 26 KRIV technical director Stuart Green retires from the station since 1986. Before that he was an audio director and camera operator at KXAN Austin from 1980 to 1986.
Amanda Drane joins the Houston Chronicle from Pittsfield, Massachusetts' Amanda Drane.
The Houston Chronicle won the Newsroom of the Year award in the state’s annual journalism contest, marking the second year in a row the newspaper has earned such a high honor. The Texas Associated Press Managing Editors (TAPME), which oversees the contest, made the announcement.
Texans drama provides 610 KILT morning ratings surge.
Three key members of ABC7 Amarillo KVII are leaving at the same time. Chief Meteorologist Steve Kersh, Morning and Midday Meteorologist Alyssa Pawlak and Niccole Caan are all leaving the station. Caan is leaving for a job in San Antonio.
Brittney Cottingham becomes assistant news director at KFDX Wichita Falls.
Olivia Rae Whitehead joins KLBK Lubbock as their weekend anchor/reporter.
Arif Memon, 58, a well-known DJ for 106.1 HUMFM, was killed in a crash.
Longtime sportswriter, radio host Roger B. Brown remembered for vibrant personality. Brown, the Star-Telegram’s first full-time black sportswriter, covered the Dallas Mavericks and high schools.
Former KTSA/San Antonio, Texas Public Radio News Anchor Brent Boller dies.
Ann Criswell, Houston Chronicle food editor for three decades, dies at 87.
Hugh A. "Tony" Lawrence, 73, passes away after a long career as both a radio announcer/deejay for KPLT, KLTV, WFAA, WRR, KPBC, KPLX, KRLD and as General Manager of a State broadcast network.
Chris Ryan Leaving KEGL
CHRIS RYAN, the PD/midday host for iHEARTMEDIA Classic Rock KEGL (97.1 THE EAGLE)/DALLAS, announced his departure from the Rock station he's been heard on for the past 20 years.
WBAP's Alan Scaia blogs about car-crash recovery
You may or may not recall that in December, Alan Scaia, morning-drive reporter for WBAP/820 AM, was one of three people injured in a head-on collision in Wise County.
KDGE's Jessie Jessup Drawings Turned Into Toy Dolls
IHEARTMEDIA Alternative KDGE (102.1 THE EDGE)/DALLAS afternooner JESSIE JESSUP has a new obsession in BUDSIES.COM, which turns drawings into actual toy dolls.
Will Gannett's Decision to Split Pay Off in the Future?
For quite some time now, Gannett Co., Inc. (GCI - Analyst Report) has been making endeavors to expand its presence in broadcasting and digital products with the aim of lowering its dependency on soft print media business and traditional advertising, therefore reducing susceptibility to economic conditions.
Chronicle's Falkenberg wins Pulitzer for Commentary
Houston Chronicle Metro columnist Lisa Falkenberg was named winner of the 2015 Pulitzer Prize for Commentary, one of 14 awards announced Monday in the most prestigious contest in American journalism.
CultureMap makes personnel changes, refines news coverage
Shelby Hodge has been promoted from editor-at-large to executive editor-at-large, and Eric Sandler, who covered restaurant and bar news for CultureMap, has been promoted to food editor for Houston.
Bo Money To Program iHM's KQBT
iHeartMedia/Houston has announced that Bo Money is the new Program Director at Urban KQBT-93.7 FM The Beat.
Hot 97/New York Lands Megan Ryte For Middays
EMMIS Top 40/Rhythmic WQHT (HOT 97)/NEW YORK inks DJ, radio and television personality MEGAN RYTE to handle middays at HOT. RYTE relocates to NEW YORK from HOUSTON, where she has worked for several RADIO ONE stations since 2013, including KMJQ and KBXX.
Good audience on Root Sports Southwest, ESPN for Astros opener
The Astros’ first regular-season game telecast on Root Sports Southwest, which made the games available to DirecTV and AT&T U-verse customers for the first time since 2012, paid immediate audience dividends.
LAFF Rolls Out Across Multiple Platforms
Nation's First Comedy-Driven Broadcast Television Network Licenses Spin City, Launches in Houston (KTRK abc13) NY, LA, Chicago & Other Major Markets
S.A. anchors quietly tie the knot
TV anchor lovebirds Isis Romero of KSAT and Phil Anaya of KENS recently tied the knot in San Antonio in a fun but intimate ceremony with about 80 family members and close friends in attendance.
Lamas named EP at KEYE
Ana María Lamas has started a new job as Executive Producer at KEYE-TV, the Sinclair-owned CBS affiliate in Austin.
Fonseca hired as MMJ at KVDA
Daniel Fonseca has left KAKW-62 Univision Austin, where he was Executive Producer for the past year, to take on a new job as an on-air Multimedia Journalist at KVDA-60 Telemundo San Antonio.
Lufkin sports anchor goes to prom
Hudson (Texas) Prom 2015 will be one to be remembered for members of the Hornets' Boys Basketball team, but in particular for their manager who took KTRE Sports Director Laura Sadler to prom.
MOVING
Denise Davis leaves the KTRK abc13 assignments desk after more than 15 years to become the assignments desk manager at KHOU 11.
Marisol Gonzalez joins KZTV Action 10 News Corpus Christi as a reporter.
KTXS Abilene's Dora Miller joins CBS 2/Fox 28 Cedar Rapids, IA as a reporter.
Univision Local Media announced the appointment of Angela Navarrete to general manager and director of Sales of Univision stations in El Paso.
UH Mourns Loss of Professor William Hawes
William Hawes groomed a number of broadcasters including KPRC Ch. 2 anchor Dominique Sachse, Houston Rockets announcer Bill Worrell, film producer Terry Jastrow and sports commentator Jim Nantz.
Alfred T. "Fred" King III,
Alfred T. "Fred" King III worked at The Houston Post as a copy editor and assistant editor of the editorial page for 18 years. Fred also was a public information officer for the Houston Police Department from 1994 to 2000, and he was the communications coordinator at the Harris County District Clerk's Office from 2000 to 2008. He was a communications specialist and manager at the Harris County Tax Office from 2008 to 2011.
