Here's to you, Ms. Robinson.
Over the past 26 years, six men have occupied the Monday-through-Friday night anchor desk at Fox-owned WFLD-Channel 32. And alongside all of them has been one woman — Robin Robinson.
The Chicago native and veteran broadcast journalist has been there since "Fox 32 News" debuted Aug. 3, 1987. She'd worked three years before that as a reporter and weekend anchor at CBS-owned WBBM-Channel 2. “Everybody said I’d disappear if I went over to Fox,” Robinson told me years later. Calling her a survivor is an understatement.
Now Robinson, 56, is being forced to step down as anchor, sources said. Once the change takes place (probably after the November sweeps), she'll appear once or twice a week on the 9 p.m. newscast with special reports under the banner of "Chicago at the Tipping Point."
No replacement has been named, but sources said Fox 32 is close to signing Sylvia Perez, former news anchor and health reporter at WLS-Channel 7. Perez, 52, was dropped last June after the ABC-owned station canceled the 11 a.m. newscast she co-anchored.
Here's a look at Robinson and her anchor partners over the years. Click on the arrows to advance the photos:
Tuesday night followup: Fox 32 officially announced Robinson’s departure as anchor, effective Nov. 27. Replacing her alongside co-anchor Jeff Herndon will be morning news anchor Dawn Hasbrouck. No deal with Sylvia Perez.