WRAL’s anchor shuffle is settled with new weekend morning hire
The morning anchor shuffle that started at WRAL with the departure of Kathryn Brown back in November has settled with the addition of Michelle Mackonochie, who officially started anchor duties last weekend.
Mackonochie (pronounced “ma-KON-ah-kee”) co-anchors the 6-8 a.m. Saturday and 9-10 a.m. Sunday morning news, and will also do traffic and Live Center spots on other broadcasts.
The Long Island, N.Y., native comes to WRAL from WINK News in Fort Myers, Florida, where she was a morning anchor and reporter for three years.
Her start date at the Capitol Broadcasting Co. station was Jan. 25.
In her bio, Mackonochie notes that her mother is Italian and her father is British, and that he was born and raised in England. She has two younger brothers who are identical twins.
The anchor shuffle: who went where
Brown, who had anchored evening news spots at 4, 5:30 and 10 p.m. on WRAL and Fox 50, left the news business at the end of November 2020, opting for a new career with a more family friendly schedule.
Weekday morning co-anchor Lena Tillett was promoted from mornings to take Brown’s evening spots alongside Gerald Owens.
Mikaya Thurmond, who had been the weekend morning anchor, was then promoted to weekday morning Live Center anchor and Fox 50 anchor, taking Tillett’s old spot. Thurmond co-anchors with Ken Smith.
Mackonochie now takes Thurmond’s weekend morning spots, alongside Adam Owens.
