Changing Channels: Two More Reporters Leave KATC
The revolving door in Lafayette TV continues to spin. This time, two KATC anchors and a KLFY anchor are causing it to turn. It's time for our latest edition of "Changing Channels."
Abby Breidenbach Exits KATC
After four-and-a-half years on Channel 3, Abby Breidenbach has said "Good Morning, Acadiana!" for the final time.
Sources tell us that Breidenbach's last day on the air was Friday. Breidenbach has not made any public comments as of yet about her departure or where she's going next. However, Breidenbach's picture and biography are no longer listed on the KATC website.
Breidenbach was hired at KATC in the fall of 2017 after graduating from the University of Missouri and working at the university-owned NBC affiliate KOMU-TV/Columbia. After a few months of working the evening beat, the Arizona native moved to the early-morning shift, serving as Good Morning Acadiana's roving reporter and Right Now Desk anchor.
Her effervescent personality endeared her to GMA's viewers. This was evident during this year's Mardi Gras celebration, when Breidenbach served as one of KATC's Float Finders along the Lafayette parade route.
No word on who will succeed Breidenbach.
Eman Boyd Also Leaves KATC
Only three months after KATC's weekend anchor, Eman Boyd has left the station for another professional opportunity. Boyd posted about her departure on Facebook after she anchored her final newscast last week.
As we reported in January, Boyd was the latest Opelousas native to claim one of the local anchor chairs, following in the footsteps of Darla Montgomery, Marcelle Fontenot, and Jasmin Thibodeaux. Boy, an alumna of the University of Louisiana and of Port Barre High School, interned at KATC, helping the news crew cover the 2019 gubernatorial election. She was hired in January 2020 as a producer, later moving into the field as a reporter and onto the desk as a fill-in anchor.
In October 2021, Boyd was nominated for an Emmy Award for her three-part series Worthy of Redemption. In that series, Boyd took a look at the state's habitual offender law through the eyes of Fate Winslow. The Shreveport native received a life sentence for a fourth felony offense, a $20 cannabis sale.
In addition to anchoring, Boyd still served as a nightside reporter three days a week. No word on who will succeed Boyd as a reporter.
However, Boyd's successor in the anchor chair has been named. That person is the longest-tenured newscaster currently in the market.
Scott Brazda Returns to the Anchor Chair
KATC jack-of-all-trades Scott Brazda has been named the station's new weekend anchor. That appointment became effective in early April.
Brazda first joined the KATC news crew in 1990 as a sports reporter. A few years later, he moved into news, becoming one of KATC's evening anchors. In 2003, he moved back into the sports department, taking the roll as sports director.
He held that position for three years before leaving TV full time to become the executive director of the Stuller Family Foundation.
Despite leaving news full-time, Brazda never really left the TV news business. He continued to work part-time for KATC, filing Spirit of Acadiana reports and filling in as needed as a news and sports anchor. In 2020, he returned to KATC full-time as a reporter and a fill-in anchor.
KLFY Anchor Jumping Across the Hall
Channel 10 will soon experience an on-air staff change of its own. On Thursday, the station posted a job opening for a morning news anchor.
"KLFY has an opening for the #1 Morning Show in Acadiana, Passe Partout," the posting on corporate owner Nexstar's careers site reads. "We are looking for an Anchor/Reporter to work with the great team that makes up Passe Partout. We have a great morning team and now we just need to add one more piece to it. This position will also anchor the #1 Noon show, Meet Your Neighbor.
According to our sources, Caroline Marcello is leaving the anchor desk for a new opportunity. She's not leaving town. In fact, she's not leaving KLFY. She's moving from the news department to the sales department, where she will work as an account executive.
Marcello is the latest in a long line of local on-air personalities who have moved from in front of the camera or microphone to sales. Mike Barras, Mary Galyean, and Sean Traclek--just to name a few--all worked on air before moving into sales (or doing both simultaneously). In the cases of Barras, Galyean, and Traclek, they parlayed their experiences in both departments into becoming sales managers and general managers.
Former KADN Sports Director Lands in Pennsylvania
Earlier this month, we reported that KADN/KLAF sports director Ron Snyder was leaving the station. We now know where he went.
According to Snyder's social media pages, he's now the sports director at WNEP/Scranton, Pennsylvania.
Everybody there will soon get to know--and love--Ron.
And Finally . . .
From this moment in history, an almost complete KLFY newscast from Sunday, April 24, 1988. Kris Pedelty and Chuck Huebner are your anchors.