Ukee, Bilo moving up, Erickson out at CBS3

THERE WERE MORE changes yesterday at CBS3, which on Tuesday let go three of its biggest on-air names: anchor Chris May, chief meteorologist Kathy Orr and sports director Beasley Reece.

Starting July 13, longtime morning anchor Ukee Washington will replace May as co-anchor, with Jessica Dean, of the 5, 6 and 11 p.m. newscasts on CBS3 and the 10 p.m. newscast on CW57, a station spokeswoman said yesterday.

Meteorologist Carol Erickson, who has been with the station on and off since 1978, was offered a new contract but has decided to leave to, in her words, "focus on my commitment to animal welfare in the region."

Kate Bilo will replace Kathy Orr as chief meteorologist on those newscasts, with Katie Fehlinger taking over Bilo's duties on the noon show.

There's no word yet on a replacement for Reece, though weekend sports anchor Lesley Van Arsdall likely will fill in for now.

Washington, who was born Ulysses Samuel Washington III, joined KYW in 1986 as a sports anchor, moving to news 10 years later. He grew up in West Philadelphia and traveled the world as a member of the Philadelphia Boys Choir.

Few people, including station executives, wanted to be quoted yesterday, but sources suggested both Reece and May, at least, had time left on their contracts.

So what happened to May, Orr and Reece?

Think ratings, a new boss and possibly research - or gut instinct - that suggested the popular Washington and the up-and-coming Bilo might have star power the station could use at night. (Bilo, a Philly native, has twice guest-hosted CBS' daytime show "The Talk," and her interview with "Late Late Show" host James Corden was to air last night.)

CBS3 was the fourth-rated late newscast among the 25- to 54-year-olds news advertisers target - behind 6ABC and NBC10 at 11 and Fox29 at 10 - in May 2014. This May, it saw its 11 p.m. ratings fall 7 percent from the previous year.

It was also No. 3 in that demographic from 5-6 p.m. and No. 4 at 6-6:30 p.m., with ratings that were flat year to year.

The 11 p.m. numbers may be particularly irksome to parent company CBS, whose strong prime-time ratings don't seem to be helping.

Enter the new boss.

The arrival of Brien Kennedy, who was named general manager of CBS3 and CW57 in April, was quickly followed by the resignation of longtime CBS3 news director Susan Schiller.

"When I heard the news yesterday, I was not surprised at all," said Gerry Wilkinson, CEO of Broadcast Pioneers of Philadelphia.

"The new GM was brought in to shake up things and get the best numbers they can get. He has to do what he thinks is best. Maybe people don't always agree, but that's what he's hired to do. I would not be surprised to see more shake-ups. I won't say firings, but rearrangements."

Kennedy, who'd previously been GM at Minneapolis-St. Paul's WCCO, fired that station's news director not long after arriving in the Twin Cities in 2010. It was one of what Adweek reported at the time as "a handful of high-profile departures," including the retirement of an anchor, Don Shelby, who'd spent 32 years at the station.

Less than a year after Kennedy's arrival, however, WCCO's ratings were up. "In fact, they've rarely been stronger," reported the Minneapolis Star Tribune. "For the first time, WCCO ranked first among 25- to 54-year-olds in six newscasts, including the 5 p.m., 6 p.m. and 10 p.m. broadcasts.

"I think the biggest thing he did was reshuffle the morning show, which wasn't doing that well," Neal Justin, the Star Tribune's TV critic, said yesterday.

As Justin reported in March 2014, the morning show's ratings had grown 18 percent since introducing new anchors the previous June, helping to push "CBS This Morning" into first place in the Twin Cities.

CBS3 is also working on its early morning newscasts, canceling the 7-9 a.m. CW57 show to give its people more time to report for the next day's shows on CBS3.