WSBT, The South Bend CBS affiliate, has added Rick Schutt and Jennifer Copeland to a three anchor rotation that includes longtime anchor Cindy Ward. Ward’s previous co-anchor at 5 and 6 p.m., Dustin Grove, retired from TV news on Friday.
The lineup looks something like this: Schutt and Copeland will anchor the 5 p.m., Copeland and Ward will take the 5:30 while Schutt and and Copeland will again anchor the 6. Schutt will take the 10 pm. and will be joined by Ward for the 11.
News director John Haferkamp told TVSpy the plan is to eventually have Schutt and Copeland anchoring the 5, 6 and 11 p.m. newscasts with Ward and Copeland remaining a team at 5:30. Haferkamp assured TVSpy that the popular Ward, who has been with the station for more than 25 years, will remain on-air. He said there would be a slow transition for Ward out of the 11 p.m. anchor chair and into a news management role at the station.
It’s a bit of a homecoming for Copeland who previously worked at WSBT from 2002 to 2006. “It was my first on-air job,” she told the South Bend Tribune.
Schutt also previously worked in the South Bend area, reporting and anchoring at FOX affiliate, WSJV for eleven years before leaving in 2007. He told the Tribune:
[South Bend Tribune]“I’m excited to have Jennifer and Cindy as my co-workers and I believe that viewers are going to like what we bring to the table.”