WSB-TV’s Channel 2 Action News has incorporated Karyn Greer into its anchor mix starting Sept. 6 at 5 p.m.
Greer, who was most recently working at CBS46 (WGCL-TV) as a community affairs director and noon anchor, was hired by WSB-TV to fill an opening left after primary anchor Jovita Moore died of an aggressive brain cancer last year.
Management made it clear that Greer was not a “replacement” for Moore when the station hired her six months ago. In fact, there is no primary female anchor under the new arrangement.
Instead, spread over four newscasts will be three different female anchors. Wendy Corona, who came to WSB-TV in 2013, will maintain her spot at the 4 p.m. newscast with Justin Farmer and will join Jorge Estevez as an anchor on the 11 p.m. newscast.
Linda Stouffer, who joined Channel 2 Action News in 2009 after a long stint at CNN, will co-anchor with Farmer at the 6 p.m. newscast, which draws the most viewers of the four newscasts, based on recent Nielsen ratings.
Greer, in the meantime, will be paired with Estevez at 5 p.m. She had a six-month non-compete clause in her contract that kept her off the air for six months. She is the longest-running anchor in Atlanta TV, having started at independent station WGNX-FM in 1989. That station eventually became a CBS affiliate, where she stayed until 1999. She then spent 16 years at 11Alive (WXIA-TV), the NBC affiliate, before jumping back to CBS46.
The well-respected, well-liked Moore was co-anchoring the 5, 6 and 11 p.m. newscasts at the time she fell ill. She was 54 when she died last October. Moore joined WSB-TV in 1998 and became the primary female evening anchor after Monica Pearson retired in 2012.
In 2011, WSB-TV added a 4 p.m. newscast after Oprah Winfrey’s talk show ended, opening up more slots for anchor positions.
WSB-TV has been the ratings leader in the market for decades and in recent months has largely beaten its rivals on competing newscasts in both overall ratings and the target 25-54 demographic.
Credit: WSB-TV
Credit: WSB-TV
