at the anchor desk. In August 2016, WKBW hired Don Paul, the longtime chief meteorologist at rival WIVB. It also promoted Sports Reporter Joe Buscaglia to Sports Director, and added one half hour to its morning newscasts to begin at 4:30 a.m. in response to its rivals. The hiring of Paul and another reporter, Ali Touhey, was originally to provide personnel for a weekend morning newscast that Scripps had planned to launch on the station in early 2016, but Scripps postponed, then ultimately canceled the newscast before it debuted. As a result, WKBW's First Alert weather team had eight meteorologists on their payroll (including two freelancers and mostly off-air graphic artist Dave Vogan), by far the most of any station in the market. Citing budget issues, WKBW released Paul after his two-year contract expired in December, 2018; he eventually returned to WIVB. In April 2017, WKBW received a brand new set which is inspired by the Scripps graphics package. In fall 2017, WKBW began airing The Now, a local/national hybrid lifestyle and soft news magazine, in the 7 p.m. time slot, following World News Tonight and preceding The List. It initially outrated WIVB's 6:30 p.m. newscast on WNLO, the only comparable competition, but ratings quickly collapsed after several months. WKBW has an association with Syracuse University's S. I. Newhouse School of Public Communications, employing entry-level graduates of the university as part of the school's Journalism Career Program. Most move on to other stations in the Scripps portfolio within a few years. On August 6, 2019, it was announced that General Manager, Michael Nurse, as well as two key Sales Managers, were let go. Although details were not provided, it was speculated that the changes occurred as a result of the station's continuing ratings woes, and a preference for Scripps to move the station in a new direction. Marc Jaromin was hired to replace Nurse. Jaromin criticized his technical and on-air staff for multiple technical and editorial errors during a December 21 simulcast of an NFL Network Thursday Night Football game airing on a Saturday night with the Bills against the rival New England Patriots (a game that effectively determined that season's AFC East division championship), stating the game broadcasts and pre-game and post-game shows were well below the broadcast standards for an NFL market station. On December 18, 2020, longtime AM Buffalo host Linda Pellegrino retired after three decades of