Kristen Skovira, who grew up watching her mother do weekend weather forecasts for Denver's KWGN-TV, joins Andrian Whitsett co-anchoring WCPO-TV's Good Morning Tri-State Wednesday, Jan. 11.
She replaces Julie O'Neill, the 27-year veteran who was pulled off WCPO-TV's morning show in September and told that her contract would not be renewed when it expired in December.
"I’m so excited to join the WCPO 9 morning team and explore my new city," Skovira said in the station's announcement.
Her Boise bio says watching her mother on the TV news was an "early introduction to TV that quickly turned into a life-long love of media."
Skovira had previous worked for KGWN-TV in Cheyenne, Wyo.; WINK-TV in Fort Myers; Denver's KMGH-TV; Nashville's WTVF-TV; and Colorado Springs' KRDO-TV.
Her first job after college was at Walt Disney Studios' National Publicity Department in 2008-09, where she organized celebrity red carpet events, press junkets, premieres and exclusive film screenings, including Hannah Montana: The Movie, UP!, The Proposal and High School Musical.
She left television for eight months in 2016-17 to work for the city of Boulder, Colo. She hosted a weekly newscast highlighting city programs and residents; shot, wrote and edited news packages for various city departments; and created social media content.
In Nashville, Skovira was nominated for two Emmy Awards, in the Light Feature News Series category for "Celebrate Tennessee" and in the "Video Journalist" category.
"Kristen is a veteran journalist with a decade of experience and expertise in news. We are very excited to have Kristen join the WCPO 9 News family," said Barry Fulmer, Channel 9 news director, in the announcement.
WCPO-TV says that in her free time, Skovira "enjoys hiking, snowboarding, playing tennis, listening to podcasts and drinking fizzy water."
