Sharon Ito's days of waking way, way early to anchor the morning news on News10 are almost over.
Come February - or sooner, depending on how quickly station bosses can hire a replacement - Ito will be leaving her "News10 Good Morning" gig and become a Web anchor on the station's site.
Stacy Owen, the station's news director, says Ito will not anchor Webcasts throughout the day, as Channel 3 has its anchors do. "What we don't want to do is just have somebody stand up and read headlines," Owen says. "People can read the headlines on their own online."
Instead, Owen says, Ito will be something of a Web host for users. She'll produce content, moderate chat room discussions, explain the station's reasons for airing certain stories.
"We want a different level of viewer and user engagement," Owen says. "Sharon really will be a one-person content developer and producer and get our users involved in the (editorial) process."
Ito, who couldn't immediately be reached for comment, asked for the new assignment, Owen says. Of course, News10's morning ratings have not exactly been sparkling. In the latest ratings period, it finished third behind Channel 3's "KCRA Reports" and Channel 31's "Good Day Sacramento."
"Sharon and I had been talking about this prior to the (ratings) book," Owen says. "She was looking to make a change in her life and she came up with a solution for us."
As for Ito's replacement, Owen half-jokingly says she's looking for somebody "who can keep (co-anchor) Dan Elliott in line."
Hmm. Good luck with that.
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