TheBuzz
TheBuzz
What has long been whispered was made official Friday. KGMB-9 reporter and weekend weather anchor Paul Drewes has inked a deal to head down the dial to News 8 to co-host morning show NBC Hawaii Today. He received his signed copy of the deal yesterday. Forecaster Drewes moves
down the dialA broadcast meteorologist certified by Mississippi State University, Drewes said it's not so much for the money but for increased time in grade doing weather.
Drewes gives the station three "full-fledged meteorologists on board, which is really a first for Honolulu." Mary Ann Esteban, weather producer turned weekend weather forecaster, "has been coming through in a clutch," Feldman said.
His interim co-host will be reporter and fill-in anchor Minna Sugimoto, according to KHNL News Director Seth Feldman.
Current morning anchor Lyle Galdeira will be one of the anchors for the early evening news.
"It'll be a different 5 p.m. show -- it will not be a traditional two-anchor program," he said.
Feldman said he's planning the show with anchor Barbara Wallace in the mix, though she is currently out on personal leave.
There's no official start date for the reformatted program, but Feldman said they're shooting for September, and that "with the start of UH football we'll be doing our newscasts on Maui leading up to the UH-Montana game."
Howard Dashefsky and Jodi Leong continue as lead anchors at 6 and 10 p.m., he said.
KGMB News Director Bob Loy finds himself with two vacancies in the weather department with the departures by Drewes and Kuualoha Taylor, as well as in sports, with Ross Shimabuku heading for Phoenix.
"I'm weighing my options," Loy said, "considering some very well-qualified applicants" for the weather positions. For sports, he said, "I can move a little bit more deliberately as I have two quality people on staff and additional staff to help shoulder the burden."
The next bit of rampant TV industry speculation is the next stop for Hawaii Today weathercaster Guy Hagi, whose tenure with the station ends next month.
Erika Engle is a reporter with the Star-Bulletin.
Call 529-4302, fax 529-4750 or write to Erika Engle,
Honolulu Star-Bulletin, 500 Ala Moana Blvd., No. 7-210,
Honolulu, HI 96813. She can also be reached
at: eengle@starbulletin.com