Former WESH anchor Wendy Chioji has returned to the Orlando NBC affiliate.
She’ll be hosting alongside former co-anchor Jim Payne on the quarterly show Surviving & Thriving, a show about people who have overcome illnesses and setbacks.
“It’ll be fun working side by side with Jim again,” Chioji told Orlando Sentinel TV writer Hal Boedeker. “I’ll probably pick up where I left off and steal his lines. (Just kidding, Jim. Probably.)”
The shows are part of the Growing Bolder series, also co-hosted by Chioji, which moves to WESH next month from the local CBS affiliate WKMG. The two shows are run by former WESH producer Marc Middleton‘s company Bolder Broadcasting.
Chioji left WESH in 2008 after working there for 20 years.
The specials will air either at 7 p.m. or in prime time on WESH, Carter said. The programs could feature other WESH staffers, and the intros will be filmed at the station, he added.
Middleton said he started negotiating for a new home for his programs after an opportunity became available. “We were on WKMG for two years,” he said. “I loved working at WKMG. We had a great relationship with the staff. WESH provides more opportunities.”
Those opportunities include a Growing Bolder section on WESH.com that will feature both TV programs as well as additional material.
“We wanted to create a digital platform, and the WESH team embraced it,” Middleton said. “Most sponsors want to be on digital platforms. WESH wanted to be associated with the Growing Bolder brand.”