Former KTLA news anchor Lynette Romero has formally announced her decision to sign with cross-town rival KNBC.
The decision to move down the dial was one of the worst-kept secrets in Los Angeles, particularly after her morning news co-anchor lost his job after coming to her defense.
Romero spent more than 20 years at KTLA (Channel 5) and was sent off with an unusual farewell: A 30-second statement read earlier this month by the station’s entertainment reporter, Sam Rubin.
Her farewell didn’t sit well with her weekend morning news co-anchor, Mark Mester, who offered a four-minute monologue the following weekend apologizing for the station’s handling of her departure. He was fired several days later.
Romero will start at KNBC (Channel 4) next month, where she will co-anchor the station’s weekday morning newscast from 4 a.m. to 7 a.m. Originally, reports indicated she would reprise her role as a weekend morning news anchor. Her decision to move from KTLA to KNBC was first reported by FTV Live, a Florida-based blog that covers the local news industry.
“I have a new family, I have a new home,” Romero said in a video message posted to her Instagram profile on Wednesday, which KNBC later posted to its website.
In a statement, a KNBC executive said Romero had the “right combination of journalistic experience and genuine warmth that comes across on the air and in person.”
“She is a dynamic anchor with an upbeat approach to help our viewers kick-start their day,” Renee Washington, KNBC’s Vice President of News, said on Wednesday. “I am happy to welcome her to the NBC4 family.”
Romero’s first day on air at KNBC is October 10.
