The Jim Flowers era at Journal owned Omaha,NE, CBS affiliate KMTV has begun. Monday night, Flowers will debut on the station’s 5:00, 6:00 and 10:00 p.m. newscasts.
“We have been working hard over the past year to improve our KMTV Newscasts,” Chris Sehring, KMTV vice president and general manager told TVSpy. “With a new News Director, new News and Sports anchors, and a slew of new reporters and support staff, adding someone with Jim Flowers’ outstanding reputation to our team is incredibly exciting for both our Journal team and, more importantly, our viewers.”
The station wrapped up a countdown it began on its facebook page by adding Flowers’ picture with the caption, “Jim Flowers now on KMTV” early Saturday morning.
Flowers is a popular meteorologist who has worked in the Omaha market for 30 years. He disappeared from Omaha NBC affiliate WOWT late last year leaving many to question why he left including rumors of a scandal. On Christmas Eve, the Omaha World-Herald joked, “WOWT will be tracking Santa’s whereabouts. After WOWT finds Santa, perhaps it can find Jim Flowers.”
The Lincoln Journal-Star wrote,
Social media has been buzzing with reports of his contract expiring and of his being escorted from the building. His blog and Facebook accounts have been silent for more than two weeks. The station has answered viewers’ inquiries on Facebook and Twitter with “Jim Flowers is on vacation for the holidays,” but didn’t say when he will return.
Later, the official word was Flowers left the Omaha NBC affiliate when the station did not renew his contract. Sehring addressed the rumors, telling TVSpy, “all I’d probably say is that it is a shame that we live in a world where assumptions are made based on unsubstantiated speculation. After all, it could happen to any of us.”