Sibila Vargas Named Co-Anchor Of CBS2 Morning Newscasts
LOS ANGELES (CBS2) — Former Los Angeles-based CNN anchor, correspondent and producer Sibila Vargas will be returning to Southern California as co-anchor of CBS2's weekday 4:30 – 7:00 a.m. and 11 a.m. newscasts, beginning Monday, October 11, it was announced today by Steve Mauldin, President and General Manager, CBS2 and KCAL9.
Vargas has co-anchored the weekday morning newscasts for KRIV-TV, the Fox owned-and-operated station in Houston, since October 2007. During her three years with the station, KRIV attracted record-setting ratings. Just months after her arrival, the station made history when its four-hour morning news block finished the May 2008 sweep in first place in the key adults 18-49 demographic. The station also received its first-ever Best Morning Newscast award from The Associated Press in Texas. In April of this year, the Texas AP also recognized Vargas with an honorable mention in the Best News Anchor/Team category.
"We are excited to welcome Sibila to the new CBS2," Mauldin said. "We love her energy, intelligence and track record of success and look forward to having her join Kent Shocknek, Josh Rubenstein and Whitney Drolen to play an important role in the growth and success of our morning newscasts as well as having a major presence in our community."
Mauldin added, "We are also extremely fortunate to have a consummate team player in Lisa Sigell, who we want to thank for doing a fantastic job of filling in behind the anchor desk on our morning newscasts since March. Lisa will continue to be a very important and multi-talented member of our news team, both as a substitute anchor and award-winning reporter."
Prior to KRIV, Vargas lived in Los Angeles and was an anchor, producer and entertainment correspondent for CNN, where she provided regular reports for "American Morning," "Anderson Cooper 360" and "The Situation Room." She also appeared regularly with Nancy Grace on CNN's sister channel HLN.
Before that, Vargas reported for KTLA-TV in Los Angeles, hosted TV Guide Channel's "Hollywood Insider" and appeared on the nationally syndicated series "Real TV." She began her career in broadcasting as a news writer and producer for WPIX-TV in her hometown of New York.
Vargas is the daughter-in-law of the late Ike Pappas, a former CBS News correspondent who spent 25 years with the network and covered foreign wars, the Pentagon and Congress. He also reported on the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
Vargas, who is fluent in Spanish, graduated cum laude with a bachelor's degree in journalism from Long Island University. She and her husband Alex have two sons who were both born in Los Angeles.
