L.A. morning news personality Kathy Vara, who is on her way out of KNBC’s ayem newscast “Today in L.A.,” has been hired by competitor KABC as a co-anchor/reporter.
She begins Monday co-anchoring ABC-owned KABC’s 11:30 a.m. newscast alongside Gene Gleeson.
Vara, who has anchored KNBC’s top-rated “Today in L.A.” with Kent Shocknek for seven years, is leaving NBC-owned KNBC as part of the station’s recently revealed on-air revamp (Daily Variety, Feb. 9).
The seat next to KABC’s Gleeson at 11:30 had been filled by various members of the ABC7 news ranks since Maggie Rodriguez, who had been the co-anchor, left the station last summer (Daily Variety, July 24, 2000).
In addition to filling Rodriguez’s seat, Vara will work as a general assignment reporter and fill-in anchor for the ABC station.