New Anchor Hire in Indy
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2016 has seen a lot of turn over in the Indianapolis market.
Starting next year, WTTV will have a new morning Anchor.
On the heels of losing two of its morning news personalities, WTTV has hired Frank Mickens as its new morning Anchor.
WTTV announced the hire of Mickens, who comes to the station from CBS affiliate WFMY in Greensboro/Winston-Salem, North Carolina.
The Indianapolis Business Journal reports that in the last month, WTTV has lost one of its morning news anchors, Marianne Lyles, and its traffic reporter, Katie Solove.
In late November, Lyles left WTTV to take a corporate communications job for Medline Industries Inc., she reported on her Facebook page. Medline is located near where Lyles grew up in the Chicago area.
Solove left WTTV earlier this month to take a job as morning and noon anchor with the ABC affiliate in Lexington.
WTTV’s morning anchor desk is currently occupied by Tim Doty and Nicole Pence. Lindsay Riley is the station’s morning weathercaster. Doty and Riley also work on the station's noon newscast.
The industry rumor mill has been churning about a possible overhaul to WTTV’s morning news team as the station has struggled in the early time slots to gain viewers’ attention in a crowded news market. Officials for WTTV or its parent company, Tribune Media Co., did not repond this morning to requests for comment.
In November, WTTV ranked fifth of five local news station in the all-important 25-to-54 age demo during the 5 a.m., 6 a.m. and 7 a.m. news, according to Nielsen Media Research. WXIN, WTTV’s sister station, ranked No. 1 in those time slots in the 25-to-54 age group, which is most sought after by advertisers.
Mickens will join WTTV’s morning newscast in early 2017.
