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WKBN Is Losing Its Anchor Team
March 8, 2007 12:06 p.m.
By Andrea Wood
YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio -- Just seven days into their ownership of WKBN-TV and WYFX-TV, NVT Television LLC is faced with finding replacements for their top news anchors, Robb Schmidt and Sarah Eisler.
Schmidt announced his resignation late Wednesday; his last day anchoring WKBN's 6 and 11 p.m. broadcasts and WYFX's 10 p.m. newscast is April 6.
Eisler announced her resignation last month; her last day anchoring WKBN's 5 and 6 p.m. newscasts is March 30.
Both resignations are not related to NVT taking ownership of WKBN, Youngstown's CBS affiliate, and WYFX, a FOX affiliate, station officials say. "Sarah made a decision to become a full-time mom," says David Coy, station general manager.
Schmidt has accepted a position as assistant director of athletic marketing and promotions at Youngstown State University.
"It's a job that I've always wanted to do," he tells The Business Journal. "It has nothing to do with the sale of the station."
Schmidt was sports director at WKBN from 1998 to 2005, and took over the news anchor desk at 6 and 11 p.m. after legendary anchorman Tom Holden decided to cut back his work hours. Holden died in June 2005.
Eisler will continue to have an on-air role with WKBN, "working on special projects for us," says Coy.
Dave Sess, anchor of WKBN's morning newscast, will replace Schmidt on a temporary basis, Coy says, and Whitney Ward, co-anchor of the 10 and 11 p.m. newscasts will take on Eisler's duties at 6 p.m.
Last week the news director of WYTV, Pat Livingston, announced he is leaving the Channel 33 to become news director at WNWO-TV in Toledo, an NBC affiliate.
Also leaving WYTV is weekend anchor Sabrina Lavdis, whose husband has accepted a position in North Carolina.
Livingston says his new position was "in the works" before the Feb. 6 announcement that Parkin Broadcasting LLC of Los Angeles is buying the ABC affiliate.
NVT and Parkin are closely affiliated, and documents filed with the Federal Communications Commission state the companies may enter into shared services agreements to consolidate certain operations. In markets elsewhere in the country where such agreements between stations are in place, that typically means consolidating news gathering but maintaining separate newscasts.
NVT's acquisition of WKBN took effect March 1.
Parkin's purchase of WYTV is scheduled to close in the second quarter.
Copyright 2007 The Business Journal, Youngstown, Ohio.