TV news shakeups bring new faces to Fox 29, NBC10, and CBS3
Two new meteorologists, a new evening anchor, and a new news director are on the horizon at several Philly stations.
Starting later this month, we’ll be seeing some new faces on a couple Philly TV news stations, and a third station is making moves behind the scenes.
NBC10 will have two new meteorologists joining its on-air ranks starting Monday with the additions of Marvin Gómez and Michelle Rotella. Gómez will appear on NBC10 and Telemundo62 on weekend broadcasts, and Rotella will appear on NBC10 during the week. Both come to the station after meteorology-focused stints at AccuWeather in State College, Pa.
Their appointments come shortly after the retirement of longtime NBC10 meteorologist Glenn “Hurricane” Schwartz.
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Gómez, who was born in Guatemala and came to the United States as a child, became the first Central American-born meteorologist on a national English-speaking network when he joined AccuWeather, according to NBC10. He received a weather forecasting certificate from Pennsylvania State University, a bachelor of science in geosciences from the University of Mississippi, and a bachelor’s degree in mass communications from Lewis University in Illinois.
Rotella most recently served as a senior broadcast meteorologist for AccuWeather and also has worked as a meteorologist at a number of other stations. She earned a certified broadcast meteorologist seal of approval from the American Meteorological Society, and has a bachelor of science in meteorology from Florida State University.
“Having covered severe weather events in numerous markets during their respective careers, they are uniquely qualified to help serve our viewers in forecasting the changing conditions across the Greater Philadelphia region,” Elizabeth Flores, NBC10 and Telemundo62 vice president of news, said of Gómez and Rotella.
Fox 29 viewers, meanwhile, will see a new evening anchor starting Aug. 15, when Shiba Russell joins its desk. She will lead weekday broadcasts at 5 p.m., 6 p.m., 10 p.m., and 11 p.m. with current evening anchor Jason Martinez.
Before joining Fox 29, Russell, a New Jersey native, was most recently an evening anchor for NBC Atlanta. Russell was also an anchor for NBC News’ Early Today, and MSNBC’s Way Too Early.
“I’m looking forward to returning to the Northeast, connecting with all the people who call the Philadelphia region home, and sharing their stories in a compassionate and thoughtful way,” Russell said.
Russell replaces Shaina Humphries on the anchor desk. Humphries left for a role at CBS Detroit.
And finally, at CBS’s Philly stations, Kathleen Gerrow has been named vice president and news director at CBS3, WPSG-TV (the CW), the CBS News Philly streaming channel, and the CBS Philly website. Gerrow, a Philly native and veteran news executive, rejoins the station starting July 25.
She previously worked at CBS3 from 1983 to 1996 as a news producer. After moving on from the station, she joined NBC10, where she has been for the last 26 years — 10 as the station’s assistant news director. Gerrow, a University of Pennsylvania graduate, also started her career at KYW Newsradio as a reporter.
“The opportunity to take on an exciting new role in my hometown, come back to a news organization with such a great legacy and work alongside the outstanding team at CBS News Philly is a humbling honor,” Gerrow said.