By RODNEY HO/ rho@ajc.com, originally filed Tuesday, March 10, 2015
The dismantling of 11 Alive's long-time sports anchoring team is complete.
Randy Waters retired in 2013 after 29 years. Sam Crenshaw was let go last year after 16 years. Now Fred Kalil is moving to CBS46 as their new sports anchor starting March 23. He will be on air for the first time on Thrusday, March 26 at 6 p.m. He worked at 11 Alive for 22 years.
Collectively, those three had been at 11 Alive for a combined 67 years.
Kalil stepped down as sports anchor in August, 2013 and has only done taped pieces since then. He has admitted in the past that he has not fully recovered from a brain tumor 15 years ago. He said in 2013 that he was having trouble reading the teleprompter. A source said his ability to ad lib coherently was also limited.
Waters, who left about 15 months ago, said Kalil may have had issues at the time with his medications he was taking, but he hasn't kept up to date on his medical status. Another source said he had his meds adjusted and he is now okay to read the news.
"I'm really happy for him," Waters said. "He's a smart guy. I'm sure he'll do fine."
UPDATE: 3/30/15: Based on what I've seen so far on air, he seems to be doing just fine.
Curiously, 11 Alive chose to let Kalil go and waive his non-compete clause. Typically in this market, when an on-air talent leaves, they aren't allowed to go on air on another station in the same market for six months based on the non-compete clause. (That was the case with David Chandley between Channel 2 Action news and Fox 5.)
Kalil didn't respond to a text and call for comment. “I look forward to joining CBS46 and using my local contacts and experiences to help build the best sports department in town,” said Kalil in the press release.
"We are very excited to have Fred join the CBS46 Sports team. He brings with him over 20 years of outstanding sports reporting in Atlanta. He knows the city and the community and we look forward to him bringing our viewers the best local sports coverage in all of Atlanta," said CBS46 News Director Larry Perret.
Kalil will be the network's first sports anchor in more than five years. In October, 2009, CBS46 dropped Gil Tyree and Mark Harmon as its sports anchors and outsourced sports to 790/The Zone.
That deal ended in the summer of 2013 and the station hired a sports director Larry Smith . Smith hosts a weekly show "One on One" and sports specials.
Kalil will work five days a week as an anchor at the 6 p.m. and 11 p.m. news. Smith will fill in the other two days and report for three.
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