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The KEYE puzzle comes together
Michelle Valles, Sandy McIlree, Jason Wheeler, J.B. Hager and Fred Cantu: one big, happy KEYE family?
A puzzle piece stream of KEYE announcements over the past week — through social media channels such as Facebook and official press releases — have interlocked into a more or less coherent picture of what’s happening at the Austin television station.
On August 26, Michelle Valles announced on her Facebook page that she would be leaving KEYE’s morning newscast to co-anchor a new, lifestyle-oriented show on that channel.
“Happy to announce I will co-hosting our new lifestyle show on KEYE TV beginning Sept. 14th at 4pm. No more 2am wake up calls! More details to come. Stay tuned:),” Valles wrote.
She later revealed that her co-host would be KEYE weekend anchor Jason Wheeler.
Okay, so what about the morning show? Who would be Valles’ replacement? Would co-anchor Fred Cantu go it alone?
The list of questions only increased 5 days later when KEYE sent out a press release stating that it would begin to air Telemundo programming on Channel 42.2 beginning Oct. 1, displacing the Retro TV network.
Anchors for the Telemundo signal’s two Spanish language newscasts — weekdays at 5 and 10 p.m. — would be announced soon, KEYE president and general manager Amy Villarreal said.
It wasn’t a big leap to imagine Cantu anchoring a Telemundo newscast, a good idea that became even more obvious with Wednesday’s announcement that KEYE would be canceling the morning newscast and replacing it with a one-hour simulcast of radio’s JB & Sandy show (and leaving local news legend Cantu without a gig).
Re-enter Valles, who announced, again via Facebook, that Cantu would be anchoring at Telemundo.
KEYE management will neither confirm nor deny that information. “A press release has not been sent out regarding this,” is all Jerry Wagley, KEYE’s director of creative services, would say via e-mail.
If it’s true, it seems like all of the talent wins: Valles gets a sweet lifestyle gig that suits her personality; the cherished Cantu becomes the face of Telemundo in Austin; Wheeler gets a nice weekday slot; KEYE gets more exposure in Austin’s ever-expanding Spanish language market; and JB and Sandy get their mugs on TV for an hour a day.
It’s a bit frustrating that information from a trusted news source was disseminated in such a piecemeal fashion, but aside from official word on Cantu’s fate, the only remaining question seems to be: what will viewers think?
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By Hpdrifta
September 4, 2009 7:03 PM | Link to this
Day late & dollar short on going espanol