Mark S. Allen is joining TEGNA’s Sacramento ABC affiliate KXTV as a morning anchor.
Allen, who was a host of Good Day Sacramento on CBS-owned KMAX, says he starts Friday. The Sacramento Bee reports GM Risa Omega wasn’t so specific.
Allen resigned from KMAX in an emotional video in March. He’d been off the air since December after his second DUI arrest in ten years.
Allen began his television career in 1988 at KXTV, where he appeared with Lisa Ling on the teen show “Scratch,” which later became nationally syndicated. Allen’s new gig will involve entertainment coverage, stories on local people and working with an on-air team that includes Walt Gray, who ranks with Allen as one of the region’s best-known media figures.
His previous stint at Channel 10 was “the most formative growth period of my career,” Allen said. “And I know without a doubt, based on meetings with (KXTV parent company) Tegna, that I am about to go through another formative growth period.”
Allen said his new deal with KXTV/Tegna could potentially revive his “Mark at the Movies” review and interview show, which was produced by and aired on “Good Day” station Channel 31 (KMAX) and also nationally, on ReelzChannel. Regarding prospects for the movie show, Omega said: “Mark has a lot of ideas and we have a few of our own. We’re still looking at possibilities and opportunities.”