After leaving a TV station in the Rio Grande Valley, one former sports anchor and reporter has made the jump to an Austin station.
Blake Holland announced his new role as KXAN’s Streaming Anchor and Digital Producer on social media on July 1, finally giving an update after he departed from KVEO in late May. Holland told MySA he officially started at the local NBC affiliate on June 15 and has been loving it so far.
“It’s obviously something different than what I was used to on the traditional broadcast side of things, but I also know that this industry is going very digital, social media-driven, so being able to really kind of use that skill set in better terms kind of add another tool to my toolbox has been very fun.” he said.
The new role came about after four years at KVEO. Holland, who joined KVEO straight after graduating college, said he was “coming up to the end of my time there” when KXAN reached out about the new position.
“They were asking me if I’d be interested in a sports-news hybrid role, in terms of helping grow their digital channel, their streaming channel, whether it’s hosting various shows or breaking news or just events going on in the city,” Holland said, noting that the station felt like a perfect fit after meeting the news director and sports, news and digital teams.
A Mizzou graduate and native of St. Louis, Missouri, Holland said he has been enjoying his time in Texas, especially the people, culture and food.
“When I was in the Valley, I came to find out that there’s pockets of Austin, San Antonio, Houston, Corpus Christi, that was very eye-opening to me, like it was nothing that I was used to growing up in the Midwest,” he said. “It kind of felt very much like a second home for me staying here in Texas. So it was very much my intention to stay in Texas as best as I could, if the opportunities were there.”
All in all, Holland said “being able to grow in those opportunities that I had that really [propelled] me to be in this position is something that I don’t take for granted at all.
“I’m very thankful for my time in the Valley and just want to thank [KVEO] once again. I’m just really excited for the coming years here at KXAN, and kind of just building off of what I started down there too,” Holland said.