DALLAS – The long-awaited premiere of CBS News Texas’s morning show aired this Monday, July 8, with its new talent line-up of longtime chief meteorologist Scott Padgett, the first time a chief meteorologist has led the morning forecast. He joins co-anchor Madison Sawyer and recently announced co-anchor Carmen Blackwell, who was hired from WKYC in Cleveland, Ohio.
Viewers will also be introduced to a new initiative, “The Desk,” and newcomer assignment editor Ashley Moss, who will lead the new concept. The Desk is unique in that Moss will be on camera live following breaking stories and sharing them with viewers as the information enters the newsroom. Moss joins CBS News Texas from KFOR, Oklahoma City’s NBC affiliate, where she was a reporter and fill-in anchor.
The Desk is an innovative and new generation concept coming to CBS News Texas that provides enhanced transparency and authenticity to viewers, and is part of the station’s latest revamp announcements.
“We are thrilled to show viewers the innovative breaking news concept, The Desk, and the revamped morning show and talent lineup which aligns perfectly with the fresh, dynamic approach our audience has asked for,” said Raquel Amparo, president and general manager of CBS News Texas.
In June, CBS News Texas announced an unprecedented industry community survey, the first of its kind to bring viewers into the newsroom and allow them to weigh in on what they want to see when waking up to their morning news. Texas viewers’ input was combined with the significant industry data-backed research the station already uses to increase audience engagement.
“As part of CBS Texas’ commitment to evolving with our community’s needs, we combined a formalized research study with a fun viewer survey to gather insights for our upcoming reimagined morning newscast. We loved the idea of including them in our process,” said Amparo. “We genuinely and authentically want to serve our audience with information they find useful. To do that, we needed to actively listen. Launching this community survey and involving the community accomplished that mission.”
During the premiere of the morning news show, CBS News Texas will reveal segments and elements that were incorporated into the show due to viewers’ suggestions. Additionally, a handful of those viewers who participated in the survey will attend the morning show as part of a one-time-only live in-studio audience, another first for CBS News Texas.
A newscast shaped by the viewers
The survey questions were broad and ranged from how long viewers wanted to watch the morning news to the tone of the newscast, the most important topics they wanted to hear about, and even the wardrobe they felt the anchors should be wearing.
Examples of those incorporated results are viewers wanting to see more “good news,” investigative stories and education/school-based stories, to name a few. Because of this, investigative reporting will continue to be a central part of the morning newscasts, making it the only one in Dallas-Fort Worth with weekly appearances of investigative journalists. Additionally, CBS Texas has launched a dedicated “Good News Unit” of journalists who will report on positive community stories, and a dedicated education beat that will focus on various issues such as how school board decisions impact local students, the segment will include increased student interviews and perspective.
“If you look at your everyday life, everything is customizable,” added Meagan Harris, vice president of news and creative content of CBS News Texas. “Why shouldn’t the news be built in the way you want to view it? We will continue to listen to our audiences and leave room for the show to evolve.”
