Following the departure of Emily Riemer in June, Boston ABC affiliate WCVB is adding adding one anchor and moving another to a different time slot.
Jessica Brown (pictured right) will join WCVB as co-anchor of the noon newscast alongside Antoinette Antonio. Brown, who comes from WXIX in Cincinnati, will also co anchor the 4 p.m. newscast with Maria Stephanos and Ed Harding, and will serve as NewsCenter 5’s medical reporter.
Before working at WXIX, Brown was an anchor/reporter at KSNF-KODE in Joplin, Mo. She started her career with WAGA in Atlanta, Ga.
In another move, WCVB announced that noon anchor Erika Tarantal (pictured left) will anchor the station’s 5 and 5:30 p.m. newscasts with Ben Simmoneau. Tarantal, who has been an anchor and reporter at WCVB since 2014, will continue hosting the station’s news segment 5 for Good, an ongoing effort to highlight people helping others in communities across Massachusetts.
“Both Erika and Jessica are extraordinary journalists who have demonstrated their exceptional story-telling, enterprise and breaking news reporting, and ability to connect with viewers over many years,” said WCVB president and general manager Kyle Grimes. “We enthusiastically congratulate Erika on her new assignments, and we are thrilled to welcome Jessica to WCVB’s team of outstanding journalists.”
Tarantal will begin her new anchor assignment in the coming weeks, and Brown will join NewsCenter 5 in mid-August.
“We could not be happier about this expanded role for Erika and to have Jessica join NewsCenter 5,” said news director Paige Harrison. “They are both exceptional journalists with proven track-records and a strong commitment to public service that will serve them well in these new roles.”