Dahler Going Network

Weekend anchor Don Dahler is leaving CBS 2 and headed to CBS News, Jerry Barmash reports at FishbowlNY. There he'll report for the CBS Evening News and CBS This Morning.

Dahler has been sitting next to Dana Tyler on CBS 2 News at 6:00 and WLNY-TV 10/55 News at 9:00 this week, filling in for Chris Wragge, who has been doing the morning and noon newscasts.

Dahler has served as co-anchor (with Cindy Hsu) of the weekend morning, solo anchor of the weekend evening newscasts, and a reporter two days during the week since September 2011, when Chris Wragge returned to the station after leaving for The Early Show.  Before that, Dahler co-anchored CBS 2 News at 6:00 with Tyler, taking over in May 2008 after the station let Jim Rosenfield go.  He joined the station in September 2007 as Mary Calvi's co-anchor on the weekend evening newscasts after being a correspondent for ABC News.

This opens up a second seat at CBS 2's anchor desk in recent weeks as Rob Morrison's replacement has yet to be named.

More of Those New Promos

The third batch of those still photos promos hit the air on Wednesday. One features the noon and 6:00 anchor team of Dana Tyler and Don Dahler, meaning that all three of the weekday teams are now been highlighted in these spots. The other shows Cindy Hsu and talks about her parenting reports.

"A Team You Can Trust"


"Your Family, Your News"


These spots began airing on April 29th and the second group debuted on May 21st.

In other promo news, as the heat wave gripped the tri-state area over the weekend and the early part of this week, CBS 2 debuted a few more summer-related weather factoid promos. Here are two: Summer Solstice and Hottest Day.

And in recent weeks, the station has been doing promos for the next day's 6:00 newscast, as is regularly done with the 5:00 and 11:00 newscasts.

Update: We hear that a promo for John Slattery has also been spotted.

Heat Wave Weekend NewsBytes

Here are a bunch of quick headlines for you as you try to keep cool in the tri-state this weekend... Feel free to weigh in in the comments section:

> For the first time since Christmas, Cindy Hsu anchored a newscast. The nearly 15-year veteran of the station filled in alongside Chris Wragge on CBS 2 News at 5:00 and at 11:00, and next to Steve Bartelstein this morning.

> A day after two climbers scaled The New York Times building in Times Square, Don Dahler tried to give viewers a sense of what the two publicity-seeking men were feeling. The anchor climbed a 25-foot wall in Chelsea Piers three times and said that, by the end of the climbs, his arms and fingers were cramping, even though he does rock climbing and has done 200-foot cliffs. "The physical feats these men accomplished are nothing short of astounding," Dahler said, adding that they were "very dangerous, illegal, foolish and they could have easily ended in death." Watch the video on wcbstv.com here.

> Megan Glaros filled in for Lonnie Quinn at 11:00 last night even though Quinn was on hand for the 5:00 and 6:00 newscasts. Quinn had to be in Newport, RI to do the weather live from the "Great Chowder Cook-Off" on this morning's The Early Show.

> And speaking of CBS 2 News at 11:00 last night, there were no commercial breaks until 11:32. Hsu and Wragge did a ten-second tease just after "NUMB3RS" and this is usually followed by a 60-second commercial break. Instead, there were a few seconds of black and then the newscast started up. After the one break at the end, Glaros was called on to give another look at the forecast and Hsu and Wragge chatted about it for a few seconds. In the close, Wragge mentioned that it was a "commercial-free edition of CBS 2 News." Was this intentional?

CBS 2 News Covers Deadly Upper East Side Crane Collapse

CBS 2 News broke in at 8:25 during its regular cut-in during "The Early Show" to report news of a crane collapsing on a 20-story building on 354 East 91st Street by 1st Avenue at around 8:00 (watch the initial report here on wcbstv.com). Maurice DuBois and Kate Sullivan handled the breaking news coverage, which lasted for the rest of the morning into the noon news. Initial reports said that two people were dead but that was later revised at 9:27 to at least one dead with several others injured. WCBSTV.com's breaking news text message alert was sent at 8:20 while the website streamed the live coverage.

Most of the pictures came from Reggie Harrison (a former NYPD cop) and Chopper 2. Sean Hennessey began reporting from the ground via phone but was later seen on camera at around 9:13 interviewing many witnesses of the collapse. Jay Dow also reported via his phone at around that time and was first seen on camera at East 91st and 2nd at 9:53. At 9:37, the first video from the scene was fed in as DuBois explained to viewers that it was difficult to get a live truck any closer. Katie McGee came on several times to talk about the traffic conditions and the bus detours. At 10:14, Chris Wragge reported from the 92nd and 2nd began interviewing witnesses and later spoke with Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer. Magee Hickey, who said it took her and her crew nearly an hour to get from another story in Brooklyn, joined the live coverage from the ground at 10:56. Additional reporting was sourced to Tony Aiello and John Slattery.

As is often the case during breaking news coverage, the anchors spoke with politicians, experts and witnesses via the phone. Among the phone interviews were: Councilman Tony Avella, Buildings Committe - NYC Council; Jessica Lappin, (D) NYC Council - Manhattan; Bo Dietl, retired NYPD detective; Ann Marie Kross, 60 Minutes producer/witness; James Pritchett, crane collapse expert in Mobile, AL; Phillip Shiffman, lives in building/witness; Erik Dilan, Chairman of Buildings Committee - NYC Council; Mary Jo Gillis, who lives nearby and was woken up by the sound of the crash; and Ira Goldman, Red Cross spokesperson. Audio and then video of Mayor Michael Bloomberg calling the accident "unacceptable" on his weekly WOR radio show ran a few times.

At 9:51, pictures that viewer Victoria Pericon e-mailed in to wcbstv.com came on the screen. The series of three shots showed the crane as it fell.

A new conference with Mayor Bloomberg, Governor David Paterson and Acting Buildings Commissioner Robert LiMandri began at 11:21. They provided some new information, including the fact that the one fatality and the two seriously injured were construction workers, and took questions from reporters.

Sullivan and DuBois signed off at the top of the hour as Don Dahler anchored CBS 2 News at Noon from the ground. He tossed to Hickey, Dow, Slattery, Wragge, Harrison in Chopper 2, and McGee in the studio with traffic updates. The station took its first break in almost four hours at 12:18. When Dahler returned 90 seconds later, he tossed to Sullivan in the studio with a brief look at the other stories making news before turning to John Elliott with the weather. Sullivan then tossed back to Dahler and then Harrison with some final comments before saying goodbye and closing just before 12:28.

Here are some snapshots of the coverage:


























Updated news on this story is available at wcbstv.com.

Update: CBS 2 News broke in again at 3:00. Don Dahler, reporting from the scene, reported the news that a second victim had passed away. He also provided the identities of the two fatalities. The special report lasted just over 90 seconds. Dahler returned at 4:00 with a quick update and said that one of the victims who had died was in the taxi cab that the crane fell onto.

Dahler Debuts at Noon and 6:00

Don Dahler made his weekday debut today though his new co-anchor was still off. Kate Sullivan filled in for Dana Tyler at noon while Kristine Johnson filled in at 6:00. No mention was made that it was Dahler's first day as permanent anchor of those newscasts.

Dahler is also filling in for Chris Wragge at 11:00.

Dahler to Replace Rosenfield

The Daily News reports this morning that Don Dahler has been named to take over Jim Rosenfield's spot on CBS 2 News at Noon and at 6:00. He'll sit next to Dana Tyler. Dahler joined the station the day after Labor Day, filling in for Rosenfield at 6:00.

Meanwhile, the paper also reports that Steve Bartelstein "picks up Dahler's weekend assignments," presumably meaning that he will do both the morning and evening newscasts on weekends. This is the same assignment that Mary Calvi has had since November when Bartelstein joined.

CBS2-HD Team Coverage of Crane Collapse

CBS 2 News provided extensive coverage of the Crane Collapse on Saturday. Breaking news updates cut into NCAA basketball and coverage continued online at wcbstv.com. At 11PM, Mary Calvi anchored live from the site of the collapse, while Don Dahler covered the rest of the day's news from the studio. Samantha Knapp, Jay Dow and Dave Carlin all contributed live in a split format during a breaking news event. Jim Rosenfield and Chris Wragge had anchored from Westchester and Brooklyn, respectively during severe weather. Mary Calvi last anchored breaking news during an explosion of a brownstown on East 61st Street in July of 2006; Roz Abrams was in the studio.

Don Dahler's Debut

Don Dahler has just appeared on CBS 2 News for the first time. He's filling in for Jim Rosenfield on the 6 p.m. newscast right now with Dana Tyler.

6:29PM Update: Before tossing to Lonnie Quinn with weather, Dana Tyler took note of Dahler's debut. "This is Don Dahler and we welcome him to CBS 2," she said. "So nice to see you here. You probably recognize him as a network correspondent, which you have done for years. And joining us as an anchor here on the weekends and subbing for Jim and Chris."

When asked how he felt halfway through his first CBS 2 newscast, Dahler said: "This must be what Joba Chamberlain felt like when he was called up to the Yankees, except I don't have a hundred-mile-an-hour fastball and I haven't seen 21 in a long time. That's where the resemblance ends." Then he added, "I'm very happy to be here, thank you."

It's Official: Dahler Joins CBS 2

CBS 2 News announced yesterday that Don Dahler will join CBS 2 News as a weekend evening anchor. He will begin on September 8th and will co-anchor with Mary Calvi, according to Broadcasting & Cable. The announcement comes nearly two weeks after the Daily News first reported the story with the news that he could soon move to weekdays.

Don Dahler to CBS 2 News?

CBS 2 News is "in the final stages" of hiring Don Dahler as anchor, Richard Huff reports today in the Daily News. The paper says that he is likely to be a weekend evening anchor, at least in the beginning, and could eventually move to weekdays. Huff adds: "As for the weekday part of the deal, a few contracts of weekday players are up soon, so Dahler's weekend run could be short."

Dahler joined ABC News as a correspondent in February 1999. He has also spent time at NBC News/CNBC and Fox News Channel and, before becoming an on-air reporter, he was a producer for CBS's 48 Hours. According to his ABC News bio, "Dahler has covered many of the biggest stories of the day, including the war in Kosovo, the school shootings at Columbine, the Oklahoma City tornadoes, and the presidential electoral recounts."