Preparing to Anchor WKYC’s 7 p.m. Newscast, Robin Swoboda Says ‘Things Have Gone Full Circle’

By Andrew Gauthier 

Robin Swoboda, who has been a familiar face to viewers in northeastern Ohio for the better part of two decades, is set to begin a new phase in her career as co-anchor of WKYC‘s 7 p.m. newscast.

Swoboda will make her WKYC debut, alongside Chris Tye (right), on Monday.

For Swoboda, who hosted a daytime lifestyle show on rival station WJW for the past four years, the move represents a return to where she began her TV career in Cleveland: as an anchor and reporter for the evening news.

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“It does feel like things have gone full circle,” Swoboda told The Plain Dealer recently. “When I started out, I knew I wanted to be an anchor-reporter. I branched out and tried this and tried that… but my first love is news. And at this stage of my career, this is it.”

Swoboda’s eponymous daytime show on WJW was canceled in January and, meanwhile, WKYC’s news director Rita Andolsen was looking for an anchor for the NBC-affiliate’s 7 p.m. newscast, which was being anchored by two longtime beat reporters.

“The opportunity to hire Robin coincided with our realization that we needed to reinstate resources for our medical coverage and Akron/Canton content,” Andolsen said upon signing Swoboda in early February. The addition of Swoboda allows Monica Robins and Eric Mansfield, the newscast’s onetime anchors, to return to reporting.

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