Ernie Anastos, the face of Ch. 5’s news team for years, is being moved off the 10 p.m. news — and is being replaced by Greg Kelly, the handsome young son of Police Commissioner Ray Kelly.
It was the key move in a flurry of anchor swaps yesterday that caught station staffers by surprise.
Greg Kelly, who’d been co-hosting “Good Day New York” with Rosanna Scotto in the mornings, appears the clear winner in the shakeup — getting the station’s signature newscast.
Dave Price, the former “GDNY” weatherman, will return to Ch. 5 to replace Kelly and pair with Scotto on the morning show. The changes take effect Monday.
Anastos, 68, will keep his 5 p.m. co-anchor spot. The station will also expand his feel-good “Positively Ernie” specials at 10 p.m. (which are produced by an outside company).
Kelly, 43, has co-anchored “GDNY” with Scotto since July 2008. In addition to co-anchoring with Dari Alexander at 10 p.m., he’ll also join her on the 6 p.m. newscast.
Kelly made headlines earlier this year when he was accused of rape — a charge that was later dismissed. He was off the air for two weeks during the investigation.
Anastos — who’s been a constant local news presence since 1978, when he joined Ch. 7 — inked a five-year contract reportedly worth $10 million when he joined Ch. 5. His demotion is a bit surprising, since the station was performing well at 10 p.m.
Anastos, though, has made several embarrassing on-air blunders during his tenure — including his infamous “Keep f—in’ that chicken!” comment during a 2009 newscast (he meant to say, “Keep pluckin’ that chicken!”).
Anastos also had two anchoring stints at Ch. 2 and anchored at Ch. 5’s Secaucus-based sister station, Ch. 9.
Price, 45, left Ch. 5 in 2003 for a job at CBS — where he did the weather for “The Early Show.” He left CBS in 2010. “Dave Price is an extremely talented and experienced morning news personality,” Ch. 5 VP/GM Lew Leone said in a statement. “The moment he became available it was clear to me that he would be a great addition to our team.”
The Ch. 5 moves follow in the wake of the big shakeup at NBC-owned Ch. 4, where veteran anchor Sue Simmons was shown the door after 32 years at the station.