WISH-TV evening anchor departing for Atlanta station

Hoosier native and Indiana University graduate Lori Wilson is leaving her evening anchor position at WISH-TV Channel 8, marking the third on-air personality to exit or announce their exit from the station this month.

Wilson's last day at WISH will be Friday.

Lori Wilson

WISH officials said no replacement for Wilson has been announced, but a search for her replacement is under way. Though an interim plan is in place to deal with Wilson's departure, that plan has not yet been announced, a station spokesman said.

Wilson’s departure for WSB-TV in Atlanta will come on the heels of the retirement of long-time political reporter Jim Shella after this year's election and the announced exit of weekend and nighttime meteorologist Eboni Deon, who is taking a job with WFTV-TV in Orlando.

Officials for WSB-TV, an ABC affiliate, said Wilson—who is from Columbus—will begin anchoring the weekend news at 6 p.m. and 11 p.m. in early January.

“We conducted a wide search to find [a] replacement on the weekends,” Misti Turnbull, WSB News Director said in an announcement on the station’s web site. “We knew immediately that Lori was the right person to join Justin Wilfon on the weekends. She has what it takes to make this highly experienced team even stronger.”

WISH hired Wilson in June 2013 and later that year she replaced Debby Knox as weekday evening anchor. Knox left WISH and later became evening anchor for WTTV-TV Channel 4. 

CBS moved its affiliation from WISH to WTTV in January 2015 after negotiations with WISH broke down the previous year. The changes at WISH continue as its parent company, Media General Inc., is being acquired by Nexstar Broadcasting Group.

This will be Wilson’s second tour in Atlanta, having worked for the market’s CBS affiliate, WCGL-TV, during a three-year stint beginning a decade ago.

Sources familiar with Wilson's situation said she is moving to Atlanta to be in the same city as her husband, who has family there. Wilson was married in October.

Prior to joining WISH-TV, Wilson spent seven years at WCAU-TV in Philadelphia, where she held a number of positions, including morning news anchor, general assignment reporter, and host of the 10! Show, a daily lifestyle and entertainment show. 

Before WCAU, Wilson spent three years at WGCL, where she anchored the morning and noon news and was the station’s entertainment reporter.

Wilson also worked stints at KSLA-TV in Shreveport, Louisiana—where she got her first anchor experience—and at WCIA-TV in Champaign, Illinois.

Wilson could not immediately be reached Tuesday for comment.

"I’m thrilled to get this rare opportunity to join the No. 1 news team in Atlanta, and to continue to provide viewers with coverage they can count on,” Wilson said in a story on WSB-TV’s web site. “I am excited to return to work in a city I fell in love with years ago."