Mike Brooks leaving WGCL-TV’s ‘Better Mornings’

one of the two original hosts of “Better Mornings,” is leaving for personal reasons, said CBS Atlanta news director

Steve Schwaid

.

Mitch Leff, who tracks Atlanta media comings and goings, said Brooks is leaving at the end of May to be closer to family. Schwaid said his family is in Florida.

“We desperately wanted him to stay,” Schwaid said.

I’ll update this when I hear from Brooks, who arrived in 2007.

“Better Mornings” began that year with an emphasis on features stories, mostly national, with no hard news. It was an unusual gambit. Ratings were abysmal. They eventually moved to a more traditional format with regular news mixed with light features. Ratings are better but still far behind Fox 5, WXIA and WSB.

He is being replaced by Brandon Rudat, who arrives after a very short stint with KTLA-TV in Los Angeles. Before that, he was a weekend anchor in Boston.

Schwaid said he worked with Rudat during the Torino Olympics and liked his work. “I don’t have Mike Brooks. He’s the next best thing for ‘Better Mornings.’ ”

Here’s a sampling of Brooks:

And here’s some Rudat:

Tracye Hutchins remains as co-host while Jennifer Valdez is the meteorologist. (Dagmar Midcap started in the early mornings in 2007 but was soon moved to evenings.)

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