TELEVISION
WGRZ brings John Beard back to anchor 'Daybreak,' 'Midday'
John Beard, an Emmy-winning North Carolina native who was a news anchor in Buffalo from 1977 to 1981 before leaving to work in Los Angeles for 26 years, will return to local television starting Sept. 14.
Beard will take over the morning anchor spot on the “Daybreak” show from 5 to 7 a. m. weekdays on Channel 2, WGRZ-TV, joining Jodi Johnston and meteorologist Andy Parker. Beard will also anchor the station’s show “Midday,” which airs at 11 a. m.
Beard was an anchor on Channel 4, WIVB-TV, from 1977 to 1981.
WGRZ General Manager Jim Toellner said that Pete Gallivan, who has been co-anchor of “Daybreak,” will “begin a new role, as the most senior multimedia journalist on the talented ‘2 On Your Side’ staff.”
“This is not a demotion, it’s a reassignment,” Toellner said. “He will contribute to our brand and our newscast as much as any anchor will. He’ll be going back to his roots — he was a reporter first, and he’ll be our reporter who’s been here for the longest time.”
Beard spent four years as a Navy corpsman with the U. S. Marines before getting his degree from East Carolina University and starting television work at WITN-TV in North Carolina in 1972. After leaving Buffalo in 1981, he worked in Los Angeles, first for KNBC, the NBC affiliate, and then for the Fox station, KTTV, which failed to renew his contract in 2006.
Beard also appeared on several television shows playing a newscaster, including 15 episodes of “Arrested Development,” and two episodes each of “Spider-Man,” “The Bernie Mac Show” and “24.”
During his career with NBC, Beard anchored national news-breaks and filled in for Bryant Gumbel on the “Today” show.
Beard was on the KNBC set Aug. 19, 1987, when a gun-wielding mental patient forced consumer reporter David Horowitz to read his manifesto on the air. The final lines of the manifesto revealed that the gun was fake, and Beard grabbed it when the man set it down.
Beard kept strong ties with Buffalo during his years in Los Angeles, staying in close touch with Channel 2 weatherman Kevin O’Connell and Channel 2 Sports Director Ed Kilgore. He was best man in Kilgore’s wedding years ago.
Beard could not be reached to comment, but in the Channel 2 statement, he said, “I am thrilled to be coming back to Western New York.”
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