Spangler returning to KHON2 as weekend anchor

Broadcaster KHON2 is replacing longtime weekend anchor Kathy Muneno with Sam Spangler, who is returning to the station today.

Spangler, who graduated from the University of Hawaii at Manoa, was a pitcher for the Rainbow Warriors from 2007 through 2010 and subsequently spent two years in the Minnesota Twins organization.

He was hired as a sports reporter/producer at KHON in August 2012 and left the station a year ago to live on the Big Island.

“We’re thrilled to have Sam Spangler rejoin KHON as our weekend anchor,” said Kristina Lockwood, KHON president and general manager.

Muneno, 56, anchored her last newscast Sunday. She had anchored the KHON news since 2007 and worked as a Hawaii news broadcaster for more than 25 years. She said she left to spend more time with her 10-year-old twins. Her departure comes a month after Marisa Yamane left the station to become director of communications and public relations at the Hawaii Tourism Authority. Earlier this year Trini Ka­o­puiki, former co-host of KHON2’s “Living 808” lifestyle show, left the television station to head Make-A-Wish Hawaii. Veteran newsman Ron Mizutani left the station last year to become president and CEO of the Hawaii Food Bank. Also leaving last year was reporter Alex Zannes, who became public information officer for Mayor Kirk Caldwell, and Jai Cunningham, a longtime reporter, anchor and morning-show host who joined the Honolulu Authority for Rapid Transportation, known as HART.

Meanwhile, the station will have lost two producers by the end of the week as well as its director of finance and administration.

“We don’t want to see any of our good employees leave, especially our longtime employees, but that does happen in business from time to time,” Lockwood said. “It does seem like a lot of people, which is disappointing, but at the same time everyone sort of had their own reasons. We are fortunate because we have been able to add some good people to our staff.”

As the news media landscape evolves, KHON has added more time slots for local news with 47 hours of news per week, as well as ramped up its online and mobile device content.

It also added a new station — branded with the call letters KHII — that took over channels 5 and 1005, previously used by KFVE. The owner of KHON, Texas-based Nexstar Media Group Inc., in November acquired the broadcast license for KFVE formerly held by a firm affiliated with New York-based investment firm PennantPark.

The company is running new local newscasts on KHII at 4, 7 and 9:30 p.m. in addition to simulcasts of KHON’s current delivery of news.