Changes at Fox 5’s ‘Good Day Atlanta’
Buck Lanford takes over the 7 to 9 a.m. "Good Day Atlanta" slot for Mark Hayes, who remains anchor from 5 to 7 a.m.
Loading ...Fox 5’s “Good Day Atlanta,” which now airs nonstop from 4:30 a.m. to 10 a.m., is getting a line-up makeover at least through the summer.
To give WAGA-TV’s reliably hard-working Mark Hayes more time to do reporting, he will now be anchoring only from 5 to 7 a.m. (He had previously been doing a bulk of anchoring work from 4:30 a.m. to 9 a.m. with only a short break.) Hayes has worked with “Good Day Atlanta” since 2002 when he teamed with Suchita Vadlamani. She left last December and I have heard nothing about her future plans.
Karen Graham will continue to helm the 9 a.m. hour but will also take over 4:30 a.m. for Hayes. She’s been with Fox 5 for more than a decade.
Weekend sports anchor Buck Lanford, who has been with Fox 5 since 1998, will replace Hayes from 7 to 9 a.m. and also do reporting.
Gurvir Dhindsa, who re-joined “Good Day Atlanta” from Washington D.C. in March, won’t see her hours change. She will continue to work with Hayes from 5 to 7 a.m., then co-anchor with Lanford at the 7 to 9 a.m. time period. She worked at Fox 5 in the late 1990s as well.
I’m told this is not necessarily permanent but will be the lineup for the time being.
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By Rodney Ho, rho@ajc.com, AJCRadioTV blog
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109 comments Add your comment
Nelda
July 26th, 2011
9:30 pm
Good Day Atlanta is not the same without Mark hayes……What is going on? Are they trying to get rid of Mark? If that is the case the station is making a big mistake.
B
Good Night Atlanta
July 27th, 2011
7:58 am
Something about that wake up chemistry with Mark, Suchitha, and Jeff that always got my day going… Gurvir no sense of humor, then remove Marks wittieness, now Jeff has no one he can relate to (Poor Guy). Someone please TELL ME THE DEFINITION OF A MORNING SHOW? I dont get it GDA
GT
July 27th, 2011
9:37 am
You guys have really messed up Good Day Atlanta. Suchita needs to come back and Mark and Jeff are the anchors to the whole morning. I don’t know who’s running the ship there but someone needs to fire them. They are making poor decisions and your audience is going to move to other stations. Some of us just keep sticking around to see if you will get the show back. I’m sure the ratings are going to continue to decline.
Stephanie
July 28th, 2011
7:52 am
I agree, they got rid of suchita and replaced her with a robot, ghurvir is ok but to stiff, i figured they would mess with mark, i miss him and though i like karen she is too danged greasy! Come back to your regular time mark please! Buck sux!
Stephanie
July 28th, 2011
7:58 am
And GT, i totally agree with you. I am one of many im sure that only continue to watch just to see if they do return to “NORMAL”
TheDeeDee
July 29th, 2011
8:09 am
What’s going on at GDA? They had the best morning show in town (my opinion) with Mark Hayes, Suchita Vadlamani, Jeff Hill and Cheryl White. What great chemistry between them. What’s happening now is just not working. Gurvir is not connecting, and reducing Mark’s hours is ludicrous.
Audie
July 31st, 2011
9:46 am
I was born and lived in New Orleans all of my life until Katrina. When I first turned on the news it was Fox 5 there I seen Suchita Vadlamani and Mark Hayes. I enjoyed the relationship they had with each other with their playful spirit. Especially with the weather man Jeff Hill. This was a team that carried themselves very professional and like family at home. When the station remove Suchita Vadlamani. I continued to watch because of Mark Hayes and Jeff Hill. I think you guys should want your people to feel like they are in a persons home and sharing humor and playful spirit. However, Time bring on changes and changes sometimes make people move on and then ratings change. Think about it.
rick
August 2nd, 2011
6:16 am
good day is a joke…….Gurvir is a joke, she looks like she’s 65….it is just nasty watching her on HD….the good days of suchita are gone.
Nelda
August 3rd, 2011
1:29 am
Bring Mark back………..I have been changing the channel at about 7:15. Good morning America is being watched. I am waiting for Fox 5 to come to their senses and bring Mark back who knows how to deliver the news.