RIVERA MOVES FROM KVOA MORNING DESK
NBC affiliate KVOA Channel 4 has moved Lorraine Rivera from the morning anchor desk and placed her in the field as a general-assignment reporter.
“Lorraine continues to be an asset to News 4 and is now reporting for us full-time,” said KVOA news director Cathie Batbie-Loucks via e-mail. “She is looking forward to being able to spend more time with her family.”
Hosting the morning show means arriving at the station in the 3 a.m. to 4 a.m. neighborhood, which means heading to bed early each evening. On the plus side, because the live portion of the newscast concludes at 7 a.m., the morning anchor can have some flexibility during the day—and can often avoid the general-assignment reporters’ fate of lugging around a camera in 100-plus-degree heat as part of the one-person multimedia-journalist (MMJ) approach.
Rivera, who grew up in Douglas and graduated from the UA, has been with KVOA since interning there in 2004. She landed a reporter position with the organization in 2005 and was later promoted to anchor the weekend newscasts, and then the station’s morning program, Tucson Today.
“I’ve visited dozens of schools and organizations throughout Southern Arizona—rarely turning down an invitation to speak/volunteer on behalf of my experiences as a homegrown girl from Douglas and as a journalist at KVOA,” said Rivera via e-mail. “I did that even if it meant I did it on my own time and my own dime. I have been on the No. 1-rated morning show for the last 2 1/2 years. My reporting at the station has taken me to just about every nook and cranny of our viewing region. While on Tucson Today, I managed to do Spanish news for (KCMT FM) 102.1 La Caliente (per KVOA’s request) and was an adjunct professor in the School of Journalism at the UA this past spring semester.”
KVOA has begun the search for a replacement anchor.
KVOA’S RECKER BRANCHES OUT WITH PODCAST PROJECT
KVOA sports director Ryan Recker is utilizing ryanrecker.com to host a series of podcasts—some of which involve sports topics, and others which showcase expanded interests.
“I want to be careful when I make a comparison like this, but somebody like Brian Williams, when he’s on Jay Leno, they find out Brian Williams has a different personality, and that he’s not just a news guy,” Recker said. “Doing sports, we have a lot more leverage to be lighthearted, to be funny, but it’s confined to the three or 3 1/2 minutes you get. Along with the couple guys I’m working with, this allows us to talk about and do different things—about entertainment, or have some sports debates that perhaps could not fit into a three-minute sportscast.
“I want to differentiate what I’m doing at KVOA from this. Naturally, there are sports topics that will mesh together, but I don’t necessarily want to duplicate what I do at KVOA with what I’m doing here. I want to make them two separate properties.”
He’s doing the podcasting with KVOA’s blessing.
“They’ve been assured this will take a backseat to anything that happens there,” said Recker. “I want to give them the credit for allowing me to do something like this. Not everybody would allow their employees to do this, or have faith in letting them do this, and I want to thank them for the opportunity. KVOA is still my No. 1 priority. It is where all my work time will be going. This is all on my free time. KVOA and KVOA.com are first and foremost. This will not take away from my duties there. If anything, it will make me have more energy and become hungrier and more excited.”
Recker is personally financing the podcast-driven website.
“It’s more or less a passion project, not something I plan on getting rich off of,” Recker said. “It’s something I chose to do to expand myself, and challenge myself, in different facets of media, and one thing that’s always fascinated me has been longer-form interviews. I’ve listened to a number of different podcasts around the country, and I like the format. It’s uninterrupted; you can breathe and talk to the person. If you want to go 15 minutes, you can go 15 minutes. If you want to go a half-hour, you can go a half-hour. In this on-demand age, it gives people the chance to listen to it at their convenience.
“I had looked into getting something in the local radio scene, but I never saw anything that would fit, so I could do something similar to radio on the side, and this seemed to be the best option.”
KOLD TO LAUNCH 4 P.M. NEWSCAST
The Oprah void has motivated KOLD Channel 13 to embark on a 4 p.m. newscast beginning Sept. 12.
Instead of opting for a syndicated replacement, the local CBS affiliate believes it can make headway with the market’s second foray into news at 4 p.m.
“We decided to take our fate into our own hands,” said KOLD general manager Debbie Bush.
It is an interesting gamble. KVOA, the only provider of news at 4 p.m. in the market, has never been able to make significant ground in the ratings war, which was dominated by Oprah’s syndicated juggernaut.
“Oprah is No. 1 in the time period,” Bush said. “We really looked at what kind of viewers she has, and they do like news. That audience will be up for grabs come September.”
To keep audiences around, KOLD hopes to implement a news approach that will separate it from KVOA’s hour-long entry.
“We’re going to do a hard newscast that moves quickly and is informative,” Bush said. “Our format will not look anything like KVOA’s.”
KOLD is in the process of hiring five employees for the endeavor.
This article appears in Jun 30 – Jul 6, 2011.
Word on Facebook is that Lorraine’s leaving the morning show wasn’t her idea and that she was forced back into the field. Since–as far as I can tell–the movement was never announced and wasn’t mentioned on the morning newscasts, I tend to believe it. This is the third time in a row that the KVOA female morning anchors mysteriously move or vanish, and it’s not explained except in this column or in certain places on the internet. I was annoyed with the disappearance of the other two, but I’m downright ticked with the exit of Lorraine. I really loved her in that slot, and she is very much missed. The morning team just isn’t the same, and I’ve found myself watching other morning shows instead.
“She is looking forward to being able to spend more time with her family.”
Real meaning…we’re dumping her. She had no choice.
Want a job…hit the field….don’t like it…leave…
Who do you think your fooling? We all know that ANYONE is this line of work when they move on EVERY channel does a story on them and how they are either moving on or moving up, changing jobs ect…But we viewers turn on the t.v. only to see you made changes AGAIN and what you fail to mention Cathie Batbie-Loucks is that it was never THEIR choice or to go spend time with family YOU FORCED THEM OUT!!! You have had some really awesome people on KVOA 4 but for whatever reason you dont like them, cant keep them and with this change moving Lorraine Rivera guess we will do the same and just change the channel. Maybe one day you’ll get your act together and LISTEN to the PEOPLE of Tucson or you’ll be the one to see change from your job, one pay grade DOWN NOT UP! Maybe then you’ll enjoy spending time with your family!! GO BACK TO THE EAST COAST or wherever you came from cause you just dont get the people of THE OLD PUEBLO!!!
I’ve missed Lorraine, but not for the reasons others stated. Lorraine had a difficult time being into the frivolity of the morning, and I write that not as an insult to the show, but because she just didn’t seem to fit. That became really obvious when Larissa Wohl joined the group. She is vivacious and really adds to the up side that a morning show needs. Perhaps Lorraine is a serious journalist, but she always gave me the impression that she thought she was better than everyone else and that she looked down her nose at her colleagues.
You have really messed up this time . Moving Ms. Lorraine away from US the viewers who kept you up in the ratings and to be pulled away from one day to the next for YOUR reasons. I have been lucky enough to be one of those persons to have called Lorraine to visit OUR South Side Schools as an inspirational speaker to our children the future and not once did she say NO, I have to spend time with my family. She was always willing to come on HER Time to inspire the students, always positive to encourage, help in what ever way she could. Maybe it is time YOU spent time with your family Ms. Louckes and let the viewers decide what is best for us!.
KVOA must have one of the worst ethics in broadcasting or as an employee. I watched the morning show simply because Ms. Rivera presented the news in a professional manner with no hype, just providing what most viewers want to see, the news. I don’t want to see Brandon’s stiff upper lip, Larisa and the weather guy flirting like two high school kids.
Lorraine is a native Arizonan and they may be one of KVOA’S problems, they don’t want an intelligent hard working Hispanic, & good looking at that. SHAME KVOA,
You lost another viewer.
mike
Lorraine Rivera was demoted to an MMJ because of bad ratings. It’s as simple as that. A Majority of viewers did not want to watch her in the mornings. She had no personality whatsoever!
As far back as I remember KVOA was always the overall #1 show in the mornings. But their ratings started dropping even before Josh Benson left. If you follow this weekly media section, you can see they have gotten progressively worse. KOLD is now the morning leader.
Lorraine is ok as a reporter but was never someone I wanted to see first thing in the morning.
Oh saguaro you must be in the “INSIDE” how can you say she has no personality whatsoever!!! DUMB STATEMENT, GOOD OR BAD, EVERYONE HAS PERSONALITY, I guess you must be the Manager since they demoted her because she was someone you didn’t want to see.
KVOA is the home of bad decisions…
Remember them dumping Patty Weiss because she was getting old for Krispy Tidbit or whatever her name is?
I haven’t been a fan since Michael Goodrich left! 🙂
@Gnash, true that! That’s when I lost favour w/ KVOA, the minute they turned their backs on Patty Weiss for that Tabasco woman. I didn’t shed a tear when Jimmy “I’m Totally Obsessed w/ Cochise County” Stewart left this year either.
as a resident of tucson 4 25 years ive seen them come and go…and now with lorraine gone in the morning i have switched to channel 13…mindy blake is still there…but now with lorraine and meredith viera gone from the today show….find myself watching saved by the bell on tbs…haha oh give me the 90s with micheal goodrich patty weiss and john (forgot his last name)..still watch channel 4 at night with tom and kristie who i find professional at all times…but this morning mess goes all the way back to rebecca taylor who i dearly miss…channel 4 lost it all when she left…
I have been watching channel 4 morning news for longer than I can remember. I found Lorraine Rivera a serious and professional anchor along with sensitivity in her reporting. Her ability to report the news should not be based on her “looks” just because you may not want to look at her in the morning! I switched channels for awhile after Chris Nallan appeared on the set. Especially didn’t not find him professional when Brandon Gunoe joined the team. Caught his condescending attitude directed at Gunoe one morning. What a shame they let Matt Brode get away from them! As for ratings; maybe it’s not because of Rivera, but due to Nallan that they have dropped. Since Josh Benson leaving, the changes that have transpired have not been positive. I also agree with the comment in reference to Nallan and Larisa’s adolescent behavior, that is not why most of us watch the news. Bottom line ~ Time to change channels!
what a low blow to our community. Your supporters and the ones that help you have a job. Who did you ask if they didnt like Ms. Rivera ! ? certainly not the people of Tucson or surrounding communities. Where were your ratings from? I think it is time you swallow your pride admit you did wrong and bring Ms. Rivera back to us.
Ms Rivera had a large following in Southern AZ she is a local girl that knows Southern AZ better than any newscaster in Tucson Media and it showed with her newscast. KVOA makes it sound like she choose to step down, they blew it we no longer watch KVOA. The ratings show that KVOA is no longer number 1, Ms. Rivera is not the reason that the morning show was number 2, she was the only person with any talent on the set,KVOA erred in demoting the young Hispanic anchor.
Former KVOA viewer.
Ms Rivera was the morning news you have o now pass viewer
When are you going to wake up admit you did wrong and bring back Ms. Rivera? WE miss her. She was an assett to KVOA and OUR community. you go spend time with your family mb they miss YOU
we wont.!!!!
I find myself watching channel 13 now that Lorraine isn’t on the morning show- she has a quick wit that I enjoyed and she kept her personal opinions to herself unlike some of her colleagues.
She sounds pretty arrogant to me. Ms. Rivera makes it a point to tell everyone about her volunteer work. Just because she speaks to students “on her own time and on her own dime” doesn’t make her special. She acts like it’s a chore. Personally I never liked seeing her in the morning. Homegrown or not, I’d rather see someone who is down to earth and not full of themselves. She always came off like she was better than her colleagues. Judging by her own words, sounds like she really is full of herself. Thank you for the change KVOA.
She couldn’t handle Larissa Wahl or Wohl–the new girl on the morning show. You could tell right away–she was extremely jealous of her and she shouldn’t have been. Jealousy caused her to lose her job. She wanted to just be with the guys and herself. She could barely talk with her or look at her and Larissa really tried to be friendly and nice with her. She should have not felt so threatened because the viewers could really see this and it was not very becoming of her to act this way. Too bad, but I think Larissa is better than Lorraine for being the better person.
It’s a year later and where is Larissa Wohl now?