KPIX High Profile Anchor De La Cruz Missing From Airwaves; Still 'Settling In'; Misses Important May Sweeps; Attends 'Cultural Event' at Station

 Veronica De La Cruz, the mucho-pubbed new 6 and 10 PM anchor KPIX hired to vamp up its content and probably lessen this anchor's 'face-of-station' status, is still absent from the Channel 5 news desk.

She was to have begun her reading-the-news duties back on May 5th.

More importantly, PIX had hired her well in advance of the May sweeps period which has now ended and presumably during that all-important time, to introduce her to the Bay Area and amp up their new acquisition.

Wrongo.

De La Cruz, who most recently was a MSNBC anchor, is not AWOL nor has been kidnapped by strange aliens in spaceships from another planet. In fact, she attended a recent "cultural arts" event at the station. Then why is it she's been missing from Channel 5's newsroom?

A PIX staffer tells me it's still family stuff: "I really think it has to do with settling in and being ready to take on the job." So, she has the wherewithal to attend a station function but is unable to go to work and be ready for sweeps? Sounds suspicious to me.

"They wanted to revamp the 10 PM 'big time' and she's, (De La Cruz), is anchoring it, but no sight of her.  Still settling in with her mom and nanny."

I find it utterly incomprehensible that a CBS O and O in the 6th market that makes a splashy hire to enhance its presence on the local news scene is OK with De La Cruz's mysterious absence. Furthermore, and all the more irritating, KPIX hasn't said a word. Not to its staffers nor to its viewers. A little nod every now and then is most helpful and doesn't rev up the rumor mill. How simple is that? Apparently KPIX is OK with the present status of people in their own building who don't know what's going on and a key news hire mysteriously "settling in" after sweeps. Or not, in this case.

Whatever.

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