WISH-TV reshuffles Daybreak anchoring lineup after loss of Lowrey

Kylie Conway

WISH-TV Channel 8 has reorganized its lineup of morning news anchors after losing Daybreak anchor Lauren Lowrey to a Tennessee station.

WISH, the local CW affiliate owned by Nexstar Media Group Inc., announced Thursday that it plans beef up anchor roles for three existing on-air employees: Kylie Conway, Drew Blair and Brenna Donnelly.

Conway, who has been at WISH for five years, will become lead co-anchor with Scott Sander when she returns from maternity leave in early January. Conway has been a co-anchor on Daybreak for three years.

Blair will serve as third co-anchor on weekday morning newscasts. She has anchored WISH’s morning newscasts on weekends for the past five years.

Donnelly, who joined WISH in July 2017 as a reporter, will become weekend Daybreak anchor. She spent two years as an anchor in her previous job with KFDX-TV, an NBC affiliate owned by Nexstar in Wichita Falls, Texas.

Drew Blair

Conway, Blair and Donnelly are all Indiana natives. Conway and Blair are both Indiana University graduates, and Donnelly got her broadcasting start by producing and anchoring morning announcements as a student at Fishers High School.

IBJ reported Tuesday that Lowrey, who had been on maternity leave, was leaving WISH after seven years at the station to take a job with WSMV-TV Channel 4 in Nashville, Tennessee, as a weekday evening anchor for the NBC affiliate.

Brenna Donnelly

“Lauren has been a valued member of our News 8 team since she started,” WISH-TV General Manager Randy Ingram said in written comments. “We will miss her in our newsroom and in the community.”

WISH extended its morning news schedule in September by adding a half-hour to weekend newscasts. Daybreak runs from 4 a.m. to 10 a.m. on weekdays and from 5:30 a.m. to 10 a.m. on weekends.