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For more than 30 years, John Kiesewetter has been the source for information about all things in local media — comings and goings, local people appearing on the big or small screen, special programs, and much more. Contact John at johnkiese@yahoo.com.

New Clements-Mongillo Anchor Team Delayed For A Second Time

Courtesy WKRC-TV
Meghan Mongillo and Adam Clements won't co-anchor together until Mongillo returns from maternity leave in October.

You'll have to wait three more months to see WKRC-TV's new late afternoon anchor team of Meghan Mongillo and Adam Clements.

Mongillo was heading to the hospital today to deliver her third son. She'll take her seat next to Clements on the anchor desk in October for the 4 p.m. and 5:30 p.m. news on Channel 12, and the 10 p.m. news on WSTR-TV (Channel 64).

Credit Courtesy Adam Clements
Clements and Mongillo co-hosting on Fountain Square.

"I think we will work very well together," says Mongillo, hired by Channel 12 in 2016 from sister Sinclair Broadcast Group stations in Dayton. She had worked at WXIX-TV from 2005 to 2010.

The Mongillo-Clements afternoon team was supposed to debut in late March, several weeks after the station named Kyle Inskeep and Paula Toti as main anchors to replace Rob Braun and Cammy Dierking. Inskeep and Toti will continue to anchor at 5, 6 and 11 p.m.

Clements, a Cincinnati native and  St. Xavier High School graduate, signed a new three-year contract on March 4 to move to afternoons from morning breaking news anchor.

"Then the global pandemic grew worse," Clements wrote on Facebook. "Like many employees at Local 12, I was sent to work from home. That was almost four months ago, and until (the week of June 21), I truly had no clue when I would be coming back. Thankfully, management has been great about looking out for our health and safety throughout all of this madness. I’m both relieved and anxious to return to the building."

Credit Courtesy Adam Clements
Paula Toti (right) and Kyle Inskeep celebrate Adam Clements' first day on the afternoon news Monday.

Mongillo and Clements haven't worked together much. She has anchored weekend nights, and reported three days during the week. Clements was getting up at 2:15 a.m. to work on Good Morning Cincinnati.

"My time with Adam has been limited, but he and I have easy rapport around the newsroom. He’s got a great personality, loves this city, his job and his family," says Mongillo, who was born and raised in Columbiana, Ohio, south of Youngstown. She worked in Zanesville and Fort Wayne before getting hired by Channel 19 in 2005.

Credit Courtesy WKRC-TV
Meghan Mongillo's WKRC-TV photo.

Mongillo was a morning reporter and fill-in morning anchor at WXIX-TV for five years. When she was passed over the for Channel 19 morning anchor job, she went to Dayton to co-anchor morning news on Sinclair's Channels 22 and 45. But she continued to live in Cincinnati and commute to Dayton. 

"I met my now husband (Adam) when I was working in Dayton," she says. "So I was overjoyed when life worked out that I got a job at Local 12 in March of 2016 and got married a month later. Now my husband and I are having our third baby – and I’m returning to work in a new and exciting role. It’s definitely a 'pinch myself' moment. I feel very blessed to have both the family and career I’ve dreamed of. I’ve got to thank the viewers for lots of support and encouragement through the years."

Jon Lawhead, Sinclair group manager and Channel 12 general manager, proudly noted that the station was "able to grow a great anchor team from within our current staff. It really demonstrates the strength of talent we have available to us at Local 12."

Credit Courtesy Adam Clements
Adam Clements after signing his new three-year contract on March 4.

While disappointed in the long delay to work next to Mongillo, Clements said he's "happy to offer a slight bit of relief to Kyle and Paula, who have been anchoring pretty much every single show since the beginning of the year. They’ve done a wonderful job, and I look forward to joining them in the afternoons and evenings."

Clements was hired by Channel 12 in 2012. He has been a reporter and substitute anchor. When he was offered the new contract in February, Clements thanked Channel 12 viewers for their "continued support, and for allowing me into your homes every morning," he wrote on Facebook.

"It’s an honor to be able to live out my dream of delivering the news and sharing your important community stories in my hometown. My family and I are truly blessed," Clements said.

John Kiesewetter, who has covered television and media for more than 35 years, has been working for Cincinnati Public Radio and WVXU-FM since 2015.