Sharon Tay, Rick Garcia And Evelyn Taft Will Move From Nights On KCAL9 To Mornings On CBS2

STUDIO CITY (CBSLA.com) — Changes are coming to the news broadcasts at CBS2 and KCAL9 later this month.

Anchors Sharon Tay and Rick Garcia, who deliver the news on KCAL9's weeknight 8 p.m. and 10 p.m. broadcasts, will move to CBS2 Nov. 18 to anchor the station's weekday 4:30 a.m. to 7 a.m. newscasts, as well as the 11 a.m. show. Also moving to the morning shift on CBS2 will be meteorologist Evelyn Taft, who currently is on the 8 p.m. and 10 p.m. newscasts on KCAL9.

The trio will be joined by Stephanie Simmons, who will continue to serve as CBS2's morning traffic reporter.

"Sharon, Rick and Evelyn are a proven winning combination," said Steve Mauldin, president and general manager of CBS2 and KCAL9.  "They bring a tremendous mix of experience, insight and personality to every newscast and they know what it takes to achieve success in morning news.  We are confident in their ability to help us grow our audience during the morning news...in the same way they've given us a big lift during primetime."

Tay, Garcia and Taft began working together in August 2010. Since the beginning of the new television season on Sept. 23, the 10 KCAL9 news has ranked first among local newscasts in the time period with an average of 160,000 viewers — up 28 percent versus comparable dates last year.

Also on Nov. 18, Kent Shocknek and Suzie Suh, the current CBS2 morning anchors, will join meteorologist Rich Fields to anchor KCAL9's weeknight 8 p.m. and 10 p.m. newscasts.

"Kent Shocknek is second to none when it comes to anchoring breaking news events," Mauldin said. "Suzie Suh has been a rising star for us and successfully handled every assignment we have given her. And Rich Fields is among the most respected and charismatic meteorologists in Southern California.  We feel great about having such an accomplished, well-rounded and likable trio joining our 9 p.m. anchors Sylvia Lopez and Leyna Nguyen to give us a primetime anchor team that will continue to uphold KCAL's tremendous primetime news legacy."

Pat Harvey and Paul Magers, who now anchor the CBS2 weeknight 5 p.m. and 11 p.m. newscasts, will take over the 6 p.m. newscasts, currently anchored by Garcia, on Nov. 18. They'll be joined by weathercaster Jackie Johnson and sports anchor Jim Hill.

"The decision we made in April 2010 to bring Pat and Jackie over from KCAL to partner with Paul and Jim been great for us," Mauldin said. "Our late news ratings have increased by double digits and we're excited to give Southern Californians even more opportunities to get their daily news, weather and sports from this outstanding team."

Josh Rubenstein, CBS2 and KCAL9's chief meteorologist, will appear on KCAL's noon, 2 p.m., 3 p.m. and 4 p.m. newscasts.  Amber Lee (mornings) and Kaj Goldberg (evenings) will provide weather reports for both stations' weekend newscasts.