KUTV-Ch. 2 is about to add one weathercaster to its staff, and may be about to lose another.
There's been no official word yet, but don't be surprised when KUTV announces that Jerry Brown will be doing the weather on the 10 p.m. news beginning in March.No, not the Jerry Brown who used to be governor of California. This one's a weatherman (but not a meteorologist) at WJLA-TV, the ABC affiliate in Washington, D.C.
Brown will be the replacement, more or less, for Tim Ross. Ross isn't leaving KUTV altogether, but he is cutting back on his work load to go into business for himself as a motivational speaker.
However, by the time Brown goes on the air in Salt Lake City it's possible that Ch. 2 could be looking for still another weathercaster. Rebecca Reheis may not be with the station much longer.
Reheis' contract with KUTV expires at the end of the year, and she has yet to sign a new deal. And she's interviewed elsewhere.
WCCL, the CBS owned-and-operated station in Minneapolis, flew Reheis in for an interview last week. At press time, she has not yet been offered a job, but sources in Minneapolis indicate she's very much in the running.
Reheis was not offered the 10 p.m. weathercast on Ch. 2 when Ross stepped down, but she apparently was not unhappy about continuing her 5 p.m. and 6 p.m. duties. However, an offer from WCCL would be a big step up - Minneapolis-St. Paul is the nation's 20th largest television market. (Salt Lake City is 41st.)
Not coincidentally, WCCL is the station that former KTVX-Ch. 4 morning anchor Brad Goode left Utah for several months ago.
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DOUBLE LOSS?: If Reheis does end up leaving for Minneapolis, it will be a double loss for KUTV. She's married to Ch. 2 reporter Jay Kolls, and, quite obviously, he'd be going with her.
The 31-year-old Kolls, meanwhile, has recovered completely from a rather frightening bout on Thanksgiving. What apparently turned out to be a rather freakish muscle spasm near his heart - possibly brought on by stress - was at first believed to be a heart attack.
And that may give you some idea of the stress involved in journalism ...
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JUST WONDERING: Was that a laugh track at the end of KTVX reporter Chris Vanocur's feature on the Salt Lake Convention and Visitors Bureau that aired Monday night?
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NOW THAT'S EERIE: Your local television editor received a very nice letter from the producers of "Eerie, Indiana" this week that read, in part:
"On behalf of Elvis, Bigfoot, Marshall Teller, Simon Holmes and everyone associated with `Eerie, Indiana' we want to express our deepest appreciation for the wonderful reviews and consistent support you've given our series since it first premiered this fall."
Well, yes, I have given the series good reviews and plugged it with some consistency. But it's hard to imagine that my little reviews had much influence - particularly because the letter was addressed to my predecessor, Joe Walker, who turned the television beat over to me almost 22 months ago.
At any rate, the good news is that NBC has ordered six additional episodes of the low-rated but critically praised "Eerie."