CBS Anchor Retires After Nearly 29 Years, Replacement Named

A new face is greeting KCTV viewers at the evening anchor desk.

Following longtime anchor Carolyn Long’s retirement from the channel after 29 years, Lauren Magarino has joined the Kansas City CBS affiliate as evening co-anchor.

“We are beyond excited to welcome someone of Lauren’s character and talent to our newsroom,” KCTV5 news director Josh Morgan said. “I can’t wait for the community to get to see just how much she cares about her work, her teammates, and the Kansas City area as a whole.”

Magarino officially took over co-anchor duties on Monday, June 2 following Long’s final broadcast just days earlier on Friday, May 30. Long retired after being a familiar face at the network for nearly 30 years. She joined the KCTV team in 1996 when she was hired by former KCTV5 news director Don North, who recalled that it was “an easy hire to make. I mean, she was really good from the very beginning.” She quickly moved up the ranks, eventually being promoted to the anchor desk, becoming one of Kansas City’s most recognizable faces in local news.

“I remember when I walked in the door the first time and there was a long-time reporter here, Lana Joyce. And up on the board was ‘celebrating 20 years,’” Long said as she prepared to retire. “When I came in for my interview I thought, ‘Oh my gosh. Who stays at a television job that long?’ And look at me now. It’s been a blink. It really has flown by.”

Long said she decided to sign off from KCTV in order to reunite with her family, as her husband accepted a job in Saint Petersburg, Florida, and while he’s already there, “we’ve just been commuting back and forth. It’s time to reunite our family and get back together.” She also said that “it’s just time to try new things.”

Offering some advice to her successor, Long told Magarino, “I will tell you a secret about this desk. This news desk, I think, has magical powers. I can have a full-on migraine, and I come around here, and I stand in my little spot, and I get ready to talk and that migraine goes away. It’s a magical moment here and it happens in every newscast. I hope that magic passes along to you. I hope you feel it, too.”

Prior to taking her seat at the anchor desk, Magarino began her career as a reporter at KOMU in Columbia, Missouri. She later worked as a national correspondent with Scripps News in Chicago and as an anchor for Scripps News in Atlanta’s national broadcasts.

As she stepped into Long’s shoes, the new KCTV evening co-anchor said, “Joining the KCTV5 newsroom is a full-circle moment. As a kid from Miami, I had no clue what would be in store for me in Missouri. The Show-Me state helped develop my skillset to tell stories, introduced me to life-long friends, and created space for me to come into my own.”

Magarino will anchor KCTV5’s 5 p.m. and 10 p.m. shows alongside Brad Stephens, and also work alongside anchor Zac Summers at 6 p.m. She will also share anchor duties with Stephens on Kansas City’s only all-weather show, the First Warn 5 Weather Show, weekdays at 6:30 p.m.