It’s storm season, so that means local TV weather guessers are putting in extra hours. And it’s no time to be short on personnel.
That’s one reason WHAS-TV has called on a local weather veteran, Kim Stevens, to fill in on the air. Stevens is doing freelance weather in the spot vacated by Jamie Martin, who left for a job in South Bend. She’s was with WLKY-TV until leaving in 2009. She’s done some fill-in work at her old station, too.
Mark Neerman, the station’s news director, said using local, known freelance talent is a good way to get through gaps when someone leaves. “It’s less jarring to the viewer when you see someone who’s familiar in the market,” he said.
He said the station has used Gary Fogle, the former WAVE-TV sports director, in the same way in sports.
He said the station has hired a permanent replacement for Martin, but that Kristin Walls may not arrive until she fulfills her contract with WTOV-TV in Stuebenville, Ohio. That’s a Cox station. Walls, an Ohio State grad, will likely move to Louisville in June, Neerman said.
