Weatherman Drewes moving to KHNL-8
By Wayne Harada
Advertiser Entertainment Editor
Paul Drewes, a weather anchor at KGMB-9, is switching over to KHNL-8, becoming the third meteorologist on the NBC affiliate. Drewes also will co-anchor KHNL's "News 8 Today" morning show in the weeks ahead.
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He replaces Guy Hagi, who is departing the station shortly; Hagi's contract is not being renewed.
Paul Drewes is leaving KGMB-9 after four years.
The other morning anchor, Lyle Galdeira, will soon be moving to a revamped 5 p.m. news show.
Minna Sugimoto, who has been been a replacement co-anchor and reporter, may inherit the Galdeira morning slot, though a final decision is yet to be made.
The shuffle also results in 5 p.m. anchor Diane Ako moving to weekend news; she had been doing the early newscasts since May.
Drewes has been a weather anchor for the CBS station since June 1997. He was also a news reporter for KHNR-AM Radio.
The Drewes-Sugimoto lineup should be in place by September, though in-house buzz indicates that station officials are still interviewing other prospects for the morning co-anchorship.
The switches are the latest in a series of changes in TV news here. KHNL is trying to beef up its Nielsen rankings. It has been making strides recently, but remains No. 4. The newsroom at KGMB, acquired in a packaged deal with other stations by Emmis Communications Corp., owner of news leader KHON-2, has been hit by a string of recent departures, including KGMB news staffers Ross Shimabuku, weekend sports anchor and reporter, and Ku'ualoha Taylor, weather anchor, leaving to join stations in larger broadcast market places — Shimabuku at KTBK-TV in Phoenix, Taylor at KFMB in San Diego. Uncertainty reigns at the stations, since Federal Communications Commission regulations forbid one owner to operate two top-rated stations in a single market.
Changes are also in store at KITV, which is welcoming a new weather anchor in Kathy Muneno back from the Mainland; she previously was host of "Good Morning Hawai'i." The ABC affiliate also is searching for a new news director after the recent departure of veteran Wally Zimmermann.
