Ever since he added a 5 o'clock newscast to his station's news operation, KUTV News Director Dan Webster has been looking for another male anchor to take some of the load off of Bob "Three-Shows-A-Night" Evans.
And now he's looking for another female anchor, too.Kathy Brock, a long-time KUTV anchor and reporter who has lately been co-anchoring the station's 6 p.m. news, has accepted an offer to take her strong package of skills to ABC affiliate WLS in Chicago. She'll be anchoring that station's early morning newscast and doing some reporting for their later shows.
"It's a wonderful opportunity," Brock said Tuesday. "WLS is a fine operation - it had to be in order to get me to consider leaving KUTV after six wonderful years here. But the decision to go wasn't as clear-cut as you might think."
Are you serious? I mean, you even had to think twice about moving from the 41st market to No. 3?
"Yeah, we did," she said, with the "we" referring to her and her husband, attorney Michael Staab. "Salt Lake has been a great place for us. We've got so many friends, so many happy memories. And of course, Michael has his practice. We're comfortable, and we really weren't looking for a chance to move."
And no one can say KUTV wasn't doing everything it could to make Brock happy, including moving her into the highly visible 6 p.m. slot. Indeed, there are those who speculate that giving Brock something more substantive to do (short of having her replace Michelle King, of course) was a major factor in the decision to implement the 5 o'clock news.
"There's no question in my mind that working here at KUTV has helped prepare me for this new opportunity," Brock said.
So when WLS came calling, Brock was ready to listen. And so was Staab. And finally, the decision for both of them was to relocate to Chicago. "Mike is behind this 110 percent," Brock said. "This was absolutely a joint decision. I don't think I could do it if it were any other way."
The final details of her agreement with WLS - including her exact departure date - still have to be worked out. But no one from KUTV is going to try to keep her from moving onward - and upward.
"I'm really happy for her," Webster said. "This is a big step up for her in her career, and I know she's going to be successful.
"Sure, we're going to miss her," Webster continued. "But in this business, when an opportunity like this comes along you just can't ask someone to pass it up."
Even if it means conducting still another nation-wide talent search.
- ALSO AT KUTV: Reporter Vaughn Roche has returned to Ch. 2 after working for KUTV-East in Denver . . . Ch. 2's Washington correspondent Rick Shenkman has taken a leave of absence to work on his third book. His most recent piece of non-fiction, "Legends, Lies and Cherished Myths of American History," had a respectable run on the New York Times best-seller list . . . And KALL Radio newscaster Mary Sawyers will become a TV reporter next week when she joins the KUTV reporting staff.
- IT'S OFFICIAL. CBS News announced Tuesday that former ABC News anchor Paula Zahn will take over for Kathleen Sullivan on CBS This Morning beginning next Monday. And with the announcement comes - finally - CBS's explanation of how this latest round of early morning channel-hopping started.
"It wasn't so much that we wanted to replace Kathleen as that we wanted to get Paula Zahn," said "This Morning's" executive producer, Erik Sorenson. "It was one of those judgment calls that you make."
It all started, Sorenson said, when Zahn recently filled in for a vacationing Joan Lunden on "Good Morning America." CBS officials were impressed with her work and contacted her agent to find out when she would be available. When they found out they only had eight days to make a deal, Sorenson and CBS News President David Burke had to act fast.
"It wasn't easy," Sorenson said, "because Kathleen is a helluva broadcaster." But "This Morning's" ratings "hadn't exactly been going through the roof," Sorenson acknowledged, and CBS officials felt a need to shake things up.
And if you're wondering about a replacement for Zahn at "GMA," well, I happen to know about this terrific new anchor at ABC's Chicago affiliate . . .