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Friday, September 18, 2009

Breaking News WSMV Names Bob Sellers New Co-Anchor for Dan Miller's Former Slot

Posted by Jim Ridley on Fri, Sep 18, 2009 at 6:00 PM

click to enlarge sellersmug.jpg
The emptiest chair in Nashville--the permanent seat next to Demetria Kalodimos--may finally be filled. WSMV-Channel 4 has tapped veteran broadcast newsman Bob Sellers to fill the co-anchor slot left by the unexpected death of Dan Miller last April. In Sellers, the station acquires a co-anchor with a 17-year background in print and broadcast journalism. In 2002 he joined FOX News Channel as an anchor, reporting from Iraq in June 2003 and hosting weekend and frequent weeknight editions of FOX News Live. Before that, Sellers anchored CNBC's Market Watch and Today's Business while filling in often on Squawk Box and Power Lunch. His resume includes stints at stations in Seattle, San Antonio and Medford, Ore. He has also worked in print, penning business columns and other pieces for the Los Angeles Times, the Cincinnati Enquirer and other publications. Until 2008, Sellers hosted WTTG's Fox 5 Morning News in the Washington, D.C./Northern Virginia area. He left the station to become a senior investment consultant for Gary Goldberg Financial Services, a New York money management company. But he says he missed journalism and wanted a place where he could put down roots with his wife and 6-year-old twin daughters. "I'm a journalist, and I enjoy news," says Sellers, calling from his current home in northern Virginia. "I felt that when the right opportunity came along for me and my family, I'd pursue it." A Kentucky native whose father was born in Maryville, Tenn., and whose sister is a former Nashville resident, he says he didn't enjoy living in New York and is "looking for a place to stay a long time." "He's a strong communicator with a lot of depth," says WSMV news director Matthew Hilk, who admits the search for someone to handle Dan Miller's longtime spot was a sensitive issue. "There is no new Dan Miller," Hilk says. "We knew that from the beginning, so we didn't even bother trying. It was a coveted spot because of our news reputation. We went through dozens of applications across the country." The wake of Miller's passing from a sudden heart attack in April has been "a very difficult few months," Hilk admits. It has put extraordinary pressure on Kalodimos and the WSMV team, who have done a remarkable job of accommodating the late Miller's enormous popularity while keeping viewers focused on the station's coverage. But after months of grieving and talk about what might come next, Hilk says, "everyone is ready to start building our future." The immediate changes will start Monday, as Tom Randles assumes the 5 p.m. anchor duties with Kalodimos in addition to the 6:30 p.m. newscast with Jennifer Johnson. Sellers is expected to start co-anchoring the 6 and 10 p.m. newscasts with Kalodimos in mid-October. Besides the news, though, the city will be tuning in to see whether Kalodimos and her new co-anchor have the kind of easy, instinctual rapport that made the Kalodimos-Miller combination so popular. Kalodimos calls her new on-air partner "a very nice guy," and Sellers says he respects his new co-anchor's professionalism and experience. On top of that, Sellers says, she's already gone a long way toward making him feel at ease about the new gig. The big draw in a newsroom "doesn't have to be nice to you--they can have whatever attitude they want toward the new guy," Sellers says. "But she's been nothing but sweet and welcoming."

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He'll have to learn to report fact-based news rather than the 'fairly unbalanced' slant when he gets to WSMV.

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Posted by time for truth on September 21, 2009 at 8:31 AM

According to the AP Style Book "Spell out the names of the 50 states when they stand alone in textual material. Any state name may be condensed, however, to fit typographical requirements for tabular material. Use the state abbreviations below in datelines and in text when used with the city."

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Posted by hokey pokey on September 21, 2009 at 8:38 AM

Does anybody know what the hell hokey is talking about. Does the abbreviation for Oregon not suit him. Or is he just being hokey.

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Posted by Anon on September 21, 2009 at 8:49 AM

Now, we will get Fox News straight from Channel 4. We need a more neutral personality. There is nothing at Fox that is believable. I am disappointed. I will be watching channels 5 or 2.

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Posted by Blue on September 21, 2009 at 9:07 AM

I think hokey is just really excited about his/her first semester in j-school. Otherwise, he/she might have noticed that this isn't an AP paper.

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Posted by Anonymous on September 21, 2009 at 9:54 AM

Still, I do not see an AP style error in this story. Does hokey have a style book? Might what to look up those state abbreviations.
And the new anchor looks very creepy. The hair, the sickly grin, and the chill of Fox wafting off of him. Ick.

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Posted by stellabardo on September 22, 2009 at 9:47 AM

hey Bob ft. thomas ky. says hey old friend. as we used to say a bill cosby thing hey hey hey

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Posted by richard jackson on October 27, 2009 at 6:44 AM

Bob Sellers was in over his head as a "journalist" in the national media. I wish him well in Nashville where he may possibly be mistaken for or considered another Walter Cronkite or Edward R. Murrow.Yep,Nashville is just about right.

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Posted by hugh on November 8, 2009 at 5:26 PM

I rarely watch the local news. However, I tuned in to WSMV last night (to find out why Biden was in town) and there was Bob Sellars! I used to enjoy Bob's broadcasting on CNBC and was pleased to learn that he's now co-anchoring on WSMV. Count me as a fan. Kevin Mastaw

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Posted by kjmastaw on July 17, 2010 at 8:57 AM
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