In broadcast TV news - and particularly in a major market like Boston, where newscasters have long careers and turnover is rare - main anchor slots rarely open up. So WHDH has been testing in-house candidates to replace Rivera, who was with the station for 10 years and is half of the station’s prominent female evening news anchor team. The station also has a secondary anchor position open for late afternoons and evenings, after anchor Matt Lorch announced he was leaving to return to his native Seattle.
Along with Delcamp, the other likely candidates include morning anchors Anne Allred, Amanda Grace, and Adam Williams, and anchor/reporter Sorboni Banerjee, all of whom have been alternating helming weekday and weekend mornings and evening newscasts.
“They have been definitely tinkering with the formula… . It’s not unlike a chef working on a new recipe,’’ said Geoff Klapisch, a media professor at Boston University. “Summer is a traditionally slow time for television, ratings overall are down, which is a great time to experiment with different combinations.’’
Chris Wayland, WHDH’s vice president and general manager, said a decision on who will replace Rivera or Lorch could be made soon. In recent years, the station has imported reporters and anchors from Miami sister station WSVN-TV (Channel 7). “We feel like we have a lot of good options both internally and externally,’’ he said.
Wayland and executives at the company’s Miami headquarters may be weighing several factors. For one, when a station has such a position available, agents flood general managers with video reels of their clients from all over the country. Station officials also consider viewer feedback and research from focus groups.
Then there is on-air chemistry with the other lead anchor, Khazei. With television being such a visual medium, both co-anchors must complement each other.
“We are going to pick the best person that would work with Kim,’’ Wayland said.
