KCTV turns back time, gives prime anchor spot back to Peterson

Anne Peterson, the long-running KCTV, Channel 5, personality who appeared to be in the twilight of her career, has instead moved back into the spotlight. In a surprising turn, KCTV management this week named Peterson co-anchor for the station's 6 and 10 p.m. newscasts. The move comes nearly 23 years after Peterson was first named co-anchor at 6 and 10. Beginning April 15, Peterson joins Russell Kinsaul, who adds the 10 p.m. newscast to his duties. Current 6 and 10 p.m. co-anchor Dee Griffin is being moved to weekend evenings, and 10 p.m. anchor and political reporter Dave Helling is being teamed with Dana Wright for KCTV's 4:30 and 5 p.m. weekday newscasts. The moves were the first to be announced under new Channel 5 news director Regent Ducas. KCTV general manager Kirk Black said it was station policy not to comment on personnel changes. In 1979 Peterson, then 23, a first-generation Swedish-American, Northwestern University graduate and runner-up in the Miss Wisconsin Pageant, was named co-anchor alongside Wendall Anschutz on KCTV's evening newscasts. The two were paired until Anschutz retired last year - one of the longest tenures of any news anchor team anywhere. For much of the 1980s they reigned atop the local news ratings. Even after Channel 9 became No. 1, the Anschutz-Peterson team remained enormously popular. In 1994 Peterson was moved to 5 p.m. newscasts and replaced by Tracy Townsend at 6 and 10. After Townsend was hired last year by Chicago's WBBM-TV, Griffin was brought in from Hartford, Conn., to take her place. Though Peterson's re-emergence as Channel 5's lead female anchor was surprising, changes were expected at the CBS affiliate. Ratings had been soft for the 10 p.m. news with Helling and Griffin. And like many CBS affiliates, KCTV has struggled to attract the younger audiences coveted by advertisers. Though a 40-something news anchor may seem counter-intuitive to a station looking to grow younger, it's happened before. Channel 9's Larry Moore left Kansas City for several years in the late 1970s and early 1980s. When he returned, he defied the skeptics and won over a new generation of viewers. Furthermore, the current anchor lineup at KCTV was set by a management team that no longer exists. Black replaced general manager John Rose last fall, and he has a new boss at Meredith headquarters in Des Moines, Iowa: Kevin O'Brien, a former Bay area station manager who has cleaned house at several Meredith stations since coming on board in December. To reach Aaron Barnhart, phone (816) 234-4790 or visit the TV Barn Web site at www.tvbarn.com. @ART CAPTION:Peterson; Griffin @ART:Photos (2)