Good news for fans of Paul Robins: Soon he'll back be on the air - with his famous voice and, get this, his face, too!
Word just reached 21Q that Robins will be joining KTXL's new morning TV show called "Fox40 Live.". (Check out the station's promo clip.) He joins anchors Natalie Bomke and Rosemary Orozco along with reporters Bethany Crouch and newcomer Darsha Philips.
The show will air from 4:30 a.m. to 9 a.m. weekdays beginning Sept. 8.
OK, that's if all the parts for the station's new set arrive in time.
Fox40 news director Brandon Mercer is downright giddy about getting Robins to join the team.
"We were trying to find each other," Mercer says. "One day I left him a voicemail and he left me an e-mail. We finally talked, and it was a perfect match. He's the perfect guy for us because he knows this market - along with everybody in town. We're adding a voice people already know."
So will Robins go from being known as the "nicest guy in radio to the nicest guy in TV?"
One thing's for sure: It doesn't sound like he's been rising and shining too early since leaving Y92.5 (KGBY-FM) back in December. (Robins hosted "The Paul & Phil Show" for 18 years and "The Paul Show" for most of 2007.)
"To be honest, I'd hoped to never get up before the sun ever again. Ever!" Robins says. "But this opportunity with Fox40 ... it was just too good to pass up. But Monday was the first time I got up before the sun, when I came down to the station to hang out with the morning crew."
So what has Robins been doing since December?
"I spent three weeks in Australia with my lovely wife. Time in Costa Rice with my lovely wife and took a cruise to Canada with my lovely wife. And I've written 15 chapters in a novel. Nothing remotely described as work."
He's also a new grandfather!
Mercer adds the new morning show (which means no more "Andy Griffith" at 8 a.m.) will be very news driven and very relevant in what is becoming a very competitive TV timeslot locally. In fact, Mercer would have launched the 4:30 a.m. gig sooner than any other local station had the set been in place.
"We want to explain to viewers why they should care about a particular story instead of just reciting scripts behind the anchor throne," he says. "Viewers are too smart for that."
Robins' charm and smile should make for a decent wake-up call. But sorry Paul, I'll have to catch you around 6:30 a.m.; 4:30 is out of my time zone.
"Being on TV, I guess I can't show up in a ballcap and unshaven," Robbins says. "I'll have to talk to Brandon about casual Fridays."
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