Charter Communications has hired former CBS News and CNN correspondent Lisa Ling to serve as a television journalist for its Spectrum News operation as the organization expands to two new regions in California.
Ling will contribute reporting to Spectrum News 1 in Los Angeles and file reports for a new statewide Spectrum News outlet that will cover Sacramento’s Capital Region and the San Francisco Bay Area, the company said on Wednesday.
“California is made up of distinct communities, but the issues shaping daily life are deeply interconnected,” said Mike Bair, the Executive Vice President of Spectrum Networks. “This expansion allows us to go deeper, telling more layered, purpose-driven stories, connecting what’s happening across state, and bringing audiences closer to the issues that matter most.”
Sacramento and San Francisco already have access to Spectrum News 1 from Los Angeles on Spectrum TV and through Comcast’s Xfinity TV. The new statewide network will provide reports from those communities and others where Spectrum News operates, including Bakersfield, Fresno, Palm Springs, San Diego, San Luis Obispo and Redding.
Spectrum News 1 will focus primarily on events happening in Los Angeles, but will also pull reports from the forthcoming Spectrum News outlet covering all of California.
The new California news channel will involve dedicated reporters in Sacramento and San Francisco who will cover news and events happening in those communities. The channel will also feature the “SN90” headlines segment that pulls reports from the national Spectrum News operation and regional bureaus across the country.
Sacramento and San Francisco will also have dedicated Spectrum News channels of their own, a spokesperson confirmed by e-mail.
Ling joins Spectrum News from CBS News, where she served as a contributor. She also worked for CNN, where she hosted the program “This is Life with Lisa Ling,” and had journalism and contributor roles at outlets like the Oprah Winfrey Network (OWN) and Channel One News. Ling was a contributor to ABC’s “The View.”
Spectrum News is available to all California customers on Spectrum TV Channel 1 and Xfinity TV Channel 1132.
A national Spectrum News channel, called Spectrum News Plus, is available on the free streaming app Xumo Play.
