{"id":420011,"date":"2026-08-29T07:12:14","date_gmt":"2026-08-29T07:12:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/420011\/"},"modified":"2026-08-29T07:12:14","modified_gmt":"2026-08-29T07:12:14","slug":"kprc-2-reloads-with-8-news-faces-after-wave-of-houston-tv-exits","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/420011\/","title":{"rendered":"KPRC 2 reloads with 8 news faces after wave of Houston TV exits"},"content":{"rendered":"

KPRC 2 has seen a revolving door<\/a> of talent this year, with a string of departures<\/a> reshaping the Houston station’s lineup. Now, a growing roster of new faces is filling the gaps.<\/p>\n

The Graham Media Group-owned NBC affiliate has added at least eight journalists so far in 2026, including anchors, reporters, meteorologists and investigative talent. And the hiring may not be over.<\/p>\n

KPRC 2<\/a> is also building a team of about 20 people for ENOUGH, its new accountability journalism program set to launch Sept. 13.<\/p>\n

Here’s a look at the new faces who have joined\u00a0KPRC 2 this year.<\/p>\n

Derick Garcia\"Derick<\/p>\n

Derick Garcia has joined KPRC 2 in Houston as the station prepares to launch a new accountability news program. (Derick Garcia)<\/p>\n

KPRC 2’s latest hire is Derick Garcia<\/a>, who announced Monday that he completed his first day as executive reporter for ENOUGH.
The Brownsville native comes to Houston from CBS4 and NBC 23<\/a>, collectively known as ValleyCentral, where he worked as an anchor and lead investigative reporter.<\/p>\n

Taylor\u00a0Bruck\"Award-winning<\/p>\n

Award-winning reporter Taylor Bruck joined KPRC 2 in August. (KPRC 2)<\/p>\n

Earlier this month,\u00a0KPRC 2 welcomed reporter Taylor Bruck<\/a>, an Emmy Award-winning and GLAAD-nominated journalist from Granville, Ohio.
Bruck most recently worked as an anchor and reporter at Spectrum News 1 in Ohio. She graduated from Ohio University’s E.W. Scripps School of Journalism with a bachelor’s degree in broadcast journalism.<\/p>\n

Ajay Patel\"Ajay<\/p>\n

Ajay Patel joined KPRC 2 as a reporter in July. (KPRC 2)<\/p>\n

Ajay Patel joined KPRC 2<\/a> in July after two years at LEX 18 in Lexington, Ky.<\/p>\n

While there, the Delaware native covered the Kentucky Derby, a mass shooting along Interstate 75 and major natural disasters, including an EF-4 tornado and historic flooding. He was also a finalist for the Kentucky Broadcasters Association’s Rookie of the Year Award.<\/p>\n

Rachel Briers\"Former<\/p>\n

Former ABC13 meteorologist Rachel Briers has joined KPRC 2’s weather team. (KPRC 2)<\/p>\n

Rachel Briers<\/a> made the jump between Houston TV rivals in July, joining\u00a0KPRC 2’s weather team after previously spending years at ABC13.<\/p>\n

The three-time Emmy winner, who left ABC13 in December 2025, joined\u00a0KPRC 2 on a part-time basis ahead of meteorologist Caroline Brown’s maternity leave. Her arrival came shortly after meteorologist Brittany Begley’s abrupt exit from the station in June.<\/p>\n

Kelly\u00a0Wiley\"Kelly<\/p>\n

Kelly Wiley is joined KPRC 2 Houston as an investigative reporter after five years at KXAN in Austin. (KPRC 2)<\/p>\n

Award-winning investigative reporter Kelly\u00a0Wiley joined KPRC 2<\/a> over the summer following the retirement of longtime investigative reporter Robert Arnold.<\/p>\n

Wiley previously spent five years at KXAN in Austin. A Columbia, S.C., native, she graduated from the University of South Carolina with a bachelor’s degree in broadcast journalism and a minor in political science.<\/p>\n

Sandy Torres\"Sandy<\/p>\n

Sandy Torres joined KPRC 2 earlier this year after previously reporting in South Texas and northern New York. (KPRC 2)<\/p>\n

Houston native Sandy Torres<\/a> returned home in May to join\u00a0KPRC 2 after reporting and anchoring in the Rio Grande Valley and New York.<\/p>\n

Torres most recently served as a weekend anchor for NBC 23 and reporter for both CBS4 and NBC 23 in\u00a0Harlingen. She graduated from the University of Texas at Austin with a bachelor’s degree in journalism.<\/p>\n

Nicole Nielsen\"Nicole<\/p>\n

Nicole Nielsen joined KPRC 2 Houston as a multimedia journalist. (KPRC 2)<\/p>\n

Dallas native Nicole Nielsen joined\u00a0KPRC 2<\/a> as a multimedia journalist in March after six years at CBS News Texas, KTVT, in Dallas-Fort Worth.
Nielsen held several roles there, including reporter, multi-skilled journalist, fill-in anchor and traffic anchor. Her work also appeared on CBS Mornings, CBS Overnight News and CBS-owned stations across the country. She graduated from the University of Oklahoma.<\/p>\n

Stephania Jimenez\"Stephania<\/p>\n

Stephania Jimenez joined KPRC 2 Houston as a weekday 6 p.m. and 10 p.m. co-anchor in January. (KPRC 2)<\/p>\n

Stephania Jimenez<\/a> kicked off KPRC 2’s wave of 2026 hires in January, debuting as the station’s new evening main anchor alongside Keith Garvin on the weekday 6 and 10 p.m. newscasts.<\/p>\n

She has since stepped away from the anchor desk as\u00a0KPRC 2 prepares to launch ENOUGH and a new 10 p.m. newscast Sept. 13.<\/p>\n

Jimenez previously worked at fellow Graham Media Group station KSAT 12 in San Antonio, where she anchored the flagship Nightbeat newscast.<\/p>\n

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For the latest and best from Chron, sign up for our daily newsletter here.<\/a><\/p>\n

This article originally published at KPRC 2 reloads with 8 news faces after wave of Houston TV exits<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"KPRC 2 has seen a revolving door of talent this year, with a string of departures reshaping the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":420012,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[146309,146308,56,58,57,29293,37862],"class_list":["post-420011","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-houston","tag-ajay-patel","tag-derick-garcia","tag-houston","tag-houston-headlines","tag-houston-news","tag-investigative-reporter","tag-kprc-2"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/420011","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=420011"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/420011\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/420012"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=420011"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=420011"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=420011"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}