Leftovers after the long holiday weekend:
Remember four weeks ago when I reported that former WGRZ-TV (Channel 2) meteorologist Elyse Smith was headed to a Houston station after more than three years here?
Smith confirmed over the weekend on social networks that she is joining KTRK, the ABC owned and operated affiliate in Houston as a weekend evening meteorologist and weather reporter.
Her biography is up on the Houston station, ABC 13, and part of it may have raised a few eyebrows among Channel 2 staffers.
The bio states: “Elyse has covered some of the most extreme weather in and out of the studio. This includes the historic November 2022 Lake Effect Snowstorm nicknamed ‘Snowvember 2.0,’ and the Buffalo Christmas Blizzard of 2022.”
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That may depend on how you define “covered.” One source noted she covered the days leading up to the Christmas blizzard, but was out of town when it actually happened. And in November, she left town right after the storm hit.
Big storms are equivalent to Super Bowls for the local weather departments and everybody in local news departments is usually called in to report on them.
Smith, who became popular here, discusses her passion for weather and her career in a 14-minute interview “to get to know her” that is on the Houston station’s website. Her Buffalo experience comes up in the final minute for about 30 seconds and barely deals with the storm coverage.
It was only a few weeks ago that former WKBW-TV (Channel 7) co-anchor Ashley Rowe appeared as a newscaster on “Succession.”
Now Rowe’s successor at Channel 7, Lia Lando, is promoting her appearances on two TV programs this week, “Manifest” and “Fire Island.” “Manifest” moved to Netflix after NBC canceled it. “Fire Island” is on Showtime. “Loved being a part of both of these,” Lando wrote on Twitter. According to her IMDb profile, Lando previously has appeared as a reporter or anchor on several shows, including the Apple TV+ series “Suspicion” and the CBS series “FBI” and “Bull.”
Former WIVB (Channel 4) co-anchor Christy Kern announced on social media over the weekend that she is leaving the Fox affiliate in Orlando after two years there.
“My job has come first for most of the last 12 years, and now it’s time to take a break to prioritize my baby girl, my husband and my family,” she wrote.
The late shift of the first Buffalo Bandits championship round playoff game Saturday with the Colorado Mammoth from ESPNU to ESPN2 undoubtedly was designed to get a larger audience for the lacrosse game. However, the switch came so late that it might have cost some viewers who weren’t aware of it. I learned about it from Twitter followers as the game was being played.
