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ADRIENNE BANKERT IS OUT, KAREN BORTA IS IN AT CBS 11 NEWS THIS MORNING (photo from Bankert's Twitter page)

The collapse of my favorite morning news program is complete. Thanks Channel 11 for taking all the fun out of the first hour or two of my waking day.

First, co-anchor Brendan Higgins over-indulged one night up in Colorado while on vacay and got popped for disorderly conduct and resisting arrest. Channel 11 thinks this is a firing offense for some reason – hey, the dude was on holiday for chrissakes. Let the man party.

Next, cool beans traffic reporter Whitney Drolen flies the coop, saying she is leaving television for something “much more healthy for me emotionally, spiritually, physically, and mentally.” Those bosses at CBS 11 News This Morning sound like some hard cases.

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Plus, the anchors are on air from 4:30 to 7 a.m., so those can’t be fun work hours.

And now breezy co-anchor Adrienne Bankert is gone, the woman that Fort Worth Weekly designated as the hottest local female celebrity in its most recent Best Of issue.

Her replacement is Karen Borta, recently bumped down to mornings from her longtime nighttime news anchor desk. Borta (another former Best Of winner for hottest celebrity) is a consummate professional. But that’s not what I’m looking for at 5 or 6 a.m. when I first turn on the news. I’m looking for fun people with interesting deliveries to wake me up.

HIGGINS’ MUG SHOT FROM A WILD NIGHT IN THE MOUNTAINS OF COLORADO.

Higgins, Bankert, and Drolen were wacky, fun, and unpredictable. They are sorely missed by me. And, apparently, me alone. The Channel 11 morning show consistently trails in the ratings.

So good luck to Borta in recapturing ratings. But try to loosen up a little. This ain’t the 10 p.m. news.

7 COMMENTS

  1. You’re not alone Jeff. I completely agree with your assessment of CBS 11 News this morning. I wish Karen Borta the best, but I do miss Brendan, Adrienne and Whitney.

  2. Your not alone Demickey, I miss the unpredictable group, they were funny. Now it’s boring, I tried watching it for a month but it’s just not cutting it. Yall are being missed Brendan, Whitney, Adrienne!

  3. I got over Brendan leaving. I got over Whitney leaving. Adrian leaving was the last straw….I thought. Now….. They get rid of Tammy for a 20something blonde bombshell to reach a certain age group of viewers. Tammy worked her ASS off and was always happy and bubbly on the job. Jason is on his way out now, too. Channel 11 has ruined the morning news in my opinion. All they have done is draw negative attention to the station with unnecessary termoil. I won’t hesitate to watch another channel now…..

  4. Channel 11 has lost my viewing for morning news. It all started with Brendan who I really didnt like, but then it just got worse. and Karen Borda may be from Ft.Worth, but she should be in Dallas, because she thinks she is better than anyone else. Dont understand managment at this station.

  5. I really miss Adrienne, Tammy, and Whitney. They were unpredictably funny. The best line up would have been Adrienne and Whitney on the news desk and Tammy on traffic. I have no idea why the station has made changes over the last 12 months. I wish that someone would force Karen to sit up and stand up straight. Kicking that leg out does nothing but distract me from the news (it’s like a gangster lean). The new traffic person, conversely, is too stiff and should be a news reporter someplace.

  6. If people didn’t have anything to complain about, they wouldn’t be happy. I personally enjoy Karen Borta, she brings back what has been missing in morning news for a long time. Anne Elise is a little ray of sunshine even when its raining. Madison is good, but I totally dislike the fact that the “people that be” completely passed on Tammy, especially after she worked so hard to prove herself and stated on two different occasions that she wanted the job. I see a lawsuit in Channel 11’s future.

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