WBZ Boston moves anchor to mornings

A Boston station is moving one of its anchor’s shifts to cover a vacancy on its morning newscast.

Paula Ebben, who previously anchored the morning news on the CBS-owned station from 2004 to 2013, will move back to the shift.

According to the station’s site, she currently anchors as noon and 5:30 p.m.

She will co-anchor with Chris Tanaka. He previously worked at WOIO and joined WBZ in 2022, according to his LinkedIn profile.

Former morning co-anchors Kate Merrill and Liam Martin both recently exited WBZ, with the reason behind Merrill’s departure still not clear and Martin saying he wanted to have a better work-life balance. Martin left the TV business and joined a PR firm, while Merrill’s future is unclear.

Some personal Breaking News… @wbz pic.twitter.com/Z2t1qEP7UZ

— PAULA EBBEN (@PaulaEbben) June 13, 2024

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The anchor shakeup comes as “WBZ Morning News,” which is produced by CBS News Boston, is revamping its morning newscast. One new feature will be a “Talk of the Table” segment inspired by one of the same title on “CBS Mornings.”

At least one other station in the CBS News and Stations group also appears to be considering a similar move, KTVT in Dallas. 

Most CBS-owned stations also added a 9 a.m. newscast in 2022, frequently pairing it with a 30-minute installment of “The Drew Barrymore Show” after 9:30 a.m.

“Drew” is now being produced to run either as a 60-minute or two standalone 30-minute shows. Some stations air the remaining 30 minutes at a different time or it is carried by another station in the market.