Media Moves

Mekahlo Medina has been named permanent co-anchor of KNBC’s weekend editions of “Today in LA,” alongside Michelle Valles.

His promotion comes after doing the job on an “interim” basis for the past year.

“It’s been a dream of mine to anchor news at KNBC since I was 18 years old in New Mexico and meet former KNBC TODAY in LA and fellow New Mexican Carla Aragon,” Medina tells Media Moves. “Carla became my mentor and now I’m living my dream thanks to her and so many journalists who took me under their wing.”

In addition to anchoring weekend mornings, Medina will continue to anchor “TheTrend” segment, covering technology and social media, on “NBC4 Midday,” as he has done for last five years.

He will also do general assignment reporting for the station’s 4, 5 and 6 pm weekday newscasts.

Medina joined KNBC in 2006 as a digital anchor for “News Raw.”

He previously worked as a reporter at KSTP in Minneapolis, KPNX in Phoenix and KOB in Albuquerque.

Alysha Del Valle has landed a new job as traffic anchor and reporter for KNBC.

She spent the last decade as a morning traffic reporter at KABC until suddenly disappearing from that station earlier this month.

Del Valle joins morning newscast “Today in LA” and is expected to start on air in about a week.

Before KABC, she had several jobs as a morning radio traffic reporter for “Rick Dees in the Morning,” “On-Air with Ryan Seacrest,” and the “The George Lopez Morning Show.” She also hosted TV shows on SíTV and LATV.

Daniella Guzmán and Michelle Valles

Daniella Guzmán starts her morning anchor duties at L.A.’s KNBC-4 this Monday, June 30.

That means that Michelle Valles, who had been filling in since Alycia Lane left the station in October of last year, will be moving back to her previous role.

Michelle returns to field reporting next Wednesday and back to anchoring the weekend editions of Today in L.A. on Saturday, July 5.

In April, KNBC hired Daniella from WMAQ, the NBC-owned station in Chicago, where she was also morning anchor.

Michelle joined KNBC-4 from KEYE, the CBS affiliate in Austin in April of 2012.

Daniella Guzmán, co-anchor of early morning show “NBC 5 News Today,” is leaving Chicago and moving to Los Angeles. Her last day at WMAQ-5 is Tuesday, May 21.

She has been named morning co-anchor at KNBC-4, weekdays from 4:30 to 7 am. She starts the new job in June.

The announcement was made shortly after the station revealed that Zoraida Sambolín was returning to WMAQ to anchor the morning show.

“It’s really a bittersweet feeling because I fell in love with Chicago and Mid-westerners. I made amazing forever friends, beginning with my NBC 5 Chicago morning team Stefan Holt NBC5 Kye Martin and Andy Avalos,” Daniella wrote on her Facebook page. “Chicago will always have a very special place in my heart because I made some incredible memories with my husband and daughter.”

Daniella joined NBC 5 Chicago as co-anchor of NBC 5’s weekday morning newscasts in March of 2012. She was previously a weekend anchor and general assignment reporter at KPRC-TV in Houston, where she had been since 2006. Before joining KPRC, she worked for KTMD, Telemundo’s O&O in Houston and Univision network in Miami.

Since Alycia Lane left in October of last year, Michelle Valles, the station’s weekend anchor/reporter, has been anchoring KNBC’s morning newscast.

 ** Correction:  the first version of this story incorrectly stated Daniella’s last day at WMAQ was April 21.

Alycia Lane (L) was replaced by Michelle Valles as NBC4’s morning co-anchor.

Alycia Lane has been ousted from KNBC in Los Angeles in a talent shuffle at the station. Her last day at the station was October 16.  Michelle Valles took over the morning co-anchor role the next day, October 17.

Before her new role, Michelle had been weekend anchor and general assignment reporter at the station since April of 2012.  She arrived to L.A. from Austin, where she was morning anchor at KEYE.

Alycia had been co-anchor for the stations’ early morning newscast since February 2010.  She was previously weekend morning anchor since August 2009. She joined the L.A. station more than a year after she was fired from KYW-TV, the CBS O&O in Philadelphia, following a series of scandals there.

After 12 years at the station, Ana Garcia is no longer at KNBC-4.   In an email sent this past Monday, VP of News Todd Mokhtari told staff that was Ana’s last day at the Los Angeles station.

Ana joined NBC4 in 2001, first as a reporter, then working as midday and 6 pm anchor.  She was taken off the anchor desk in 2011 and moved to NBC4’s investigative unit as a reporter.

In that same email, Mokhtari mentioned that Ana had just been nominated for two more Emmys last week.

Prior to joining NBC4, Ana worked for KABC-TV in Los Angeles as a weekend anchor and reporter. Before that, she was a reporter for KGO-TV in San Francisco.

Emmy-award winning news photographer Ernesto Torres is leaving KMEX-34, the Univision O&O in Los Angeles for a new job at KNBC-4.

His last day at 34 will be tomorrow, April 5. He starts at KNBC on Monday April 8th.

Ernesto has been with KMEX for the past 2 years.  He was previously a news photographer at KHOU-11, the CBS affiliate in Houston for 7 years. During his time at KHOU, he was Mexico City Bureau Photographer from 2001 to September 2004.

Before that, he was at KOMO-4 in Seattle.  He started his career at KBAK-29 in Bakersfield.

Kathy Vara will no longer have to get up at 2 am to be on the set at 4:30 am. She has been reassigned to anchor 6 and 11 pm weekend newscasts, as part of an anchor shuffle at KNBC.  She starts the new gig this weekend. She replaces Stephanie Elam, who was moved to full-time general assignment reporter.

Kathy rejoined KNBC in March of 2010 as a solo morning anchor of the 4:30 to 5 am newscast and a contributing anchor on “Today in L.A” from 5 to 7 am.

She had previously anchored KABC’s early morning newscast at KABC for nine years. Before that, she co-anchored NBC4’s “Today in LA” from 1994 to 2001.