WRAL Expands ‘Morning News On Fox 50’ By An Hour

Beginning June 3, it’s even easier to catch your favorite local news at a time that’s convenient for you when Capitol Broadcasting-owned NBC affiliate WRAL’s Morning News on Fox 50 (WRAZ, co-owned by Capitol Broadcasting) expands by one hour each weekday, 9-10 a.m. Veteran WRAL News anchors Ken Smith and Lena Tillett will anchor the additional hour of news.

“WRAL’s morning news has tremendous momentum right now, so it’s perfect timing to add this hour, ” said Joel Davis, WRAL-WRAZ vice president and general manager. “It will feature WRAL’s traditional emphasis on covering major news and weather, but will also include an even larger emphasis on community in this hour, focusing on some of the incredible people and events in our area.”

Ken Smith leaves the weekend news anchor chair for this new assignment with Lena Tillett. “We’re really excited with the pairing of Lena and Ken. They’ll make a great team, showcasing their abilities to deliver a wide range of news and information in a compelling, engaging manner,” said WRAL News Director Rick Gall.

Taking Ken’s place on WRAL’s weekend evening news will be Julian Grace, who recently joined the WRAL News team. He previously worked as a reporter at KMOV St. Louis and most recently as a weekend anchor at WISH Indianapolis. He’s an accomplished journalist, having won a number of Emmy, Edward R. Murrow, and SPJ awards.

Julian Grace joins the WRAL News team and will take Ken Smith’s place anchoring weekend evening newscasts on WRAL when Smith moves to 9 a.m. on WRAZ with Lena Tillett.

With the addition of this new hour of news, WRAL’s total news per weekday increases to 10.5 hours.