Bob Sellers and Jennifer Waddell debuted today as the new morning co-anchors at WZTV, the Fox affiliate in Nashville. News director Bryan McGruder talks to The Tennessean about the revamped newscast, which has been developed since he took over at WZTV in February:
Bryan McGruder, news director at Fox 17 since February, pioneered the new show. He said that it would be more personality-driven, but with hard news, weather and traffic, plus an extra piece of news that the staff feels will prompt workplace conversation. He said “extra” could mean anything from a report of Bono’s impersonation of Bill Clinton to a story about how a dog saved a boy’s life.
“I don’t know if viewers have had much of a choice,” McGruder said. “If you watch (channels) 2, 4 and 5, it’s cookie-cutter, and when you watch us, you’ll get something extra and you’ll get it quickly.”
AdvertisementPopular television personality Kelly Sutton, who was the face of “Tennessee Mornings” for the past 12 years, was let go at the end of August to make way for the show’s redesign.
Sellers has previously worked at Fox News and CNBC. Waddell comes from KGUN in Tucson.