Romona Robinson will be the co-anchor on three weekday newscasts at WOIO Channel 19.Starting Thursday, Feb. 2, Romona Robinson will be the co-anchor on three weekday newscasts for WOIO Channel 19. Ending speculation on what the addition of Robinson will mean to the station's anchor lineup, news director Dan Salamone confirmed Tuesday that Robinson and Denise Dufala will be the 6 and 11 p.m. anchor team.
Robinson, who parted ways with WKYC Channel 3 when her contract was up at the end of last year, also will co-anchor the 5-5:30 p.m. newscast with David Wittman. Dufala and Wittman will be the co-anchors for the 4-4:30 p.m. newscast.
Channel 19 announced the hiring of Robinson last week, giving this Thursday as her first day on the air at the Cleveland CBS affiliate station. Robinson had been with Gannett-owned Channel 3 as a primary news anchor for 15 years. Her last day on the air for Channel 3 was Dec. 16.
The other Channel 19 anchor teams: Danielle Serino and Paul Joncich at 4:30-5 p.m. and 5:30-6; Catherine Bosley and Serino at noon; and Bosley and Brian Duffy in the mornings (4:30-7). Wittman and Tiffani Tucker are the the co-anchors for the 10 p.m. Action News on Channel 19's sister station, WUAB Channel 43, also owned by Raycom Media. Lydia Esparra is the weekend anchor.
Robinson's first anchor stint in Cleveland was at Channel 43. She started there as co-anchor of the 10 p.m. newscast in 1988. Nine years later, the Missouri native moved to Channel 3, where she was first teamed with Judd Hambrick, then Tim White.
When White left the station at the end of 2008, Robinson was named the sole evening anchor. She was the first black woman to be the sole anchor of a weeknight newscast in Cleveland.