TVSpy
In the Twin Cities, veteran anchor Frank Vascellaro finds himself in an oddly familiar role. With Don Shelby‘s retirement from CBS-affiliate WCCO, Vascellaro will once again have the difficult task of succeeding a local legend.
Shelby anchored his final newscast on Monday, ending a 32-year tenure at WCCO and handing the reigns to Vascellaro. It’s a similar situation to what Vascellaro experienced at rival station KARE. In 2003, popular anchor Paul Magers left KARE for Los Angeles’ KCBS after 20 years with the station and Vascellaro was chosen as his replacement. He maintained KARE’s #1 standing in the ratings before leaving in late 2005. He made his WCCO debut in 2006, sharing the 6pm anchor desk with his wife, Amelia Santaniello.
“I’m very fortunate that I’ve already run this play,” Vascellaro told the Pioneer Press recently. “I can’t tell you how much that’s improved my situation and outlook on everything. I’ve already replaced somebody who was supposedly irreplaceable and everything worked out great, so I’m not terribly stressed right now.”