She left Little Rock for Fayetteville as a blond TV reporter, but two years later Hilary Hunt has announced her return to KARK as a brunette anchor.
Hunt mentioned the hair change in a Twitter post noting her career move on Wednesday, the same day Channel 4 hailed her return from KNWA and KFTA in northwest Arkansas, where she had been evening anchor. She will start as weekend anchor at KARK shortly after Labor Day.
“Two years ago, Hilary made the decision to head to Northwest Arkansas in an effort to sharpen her anchoring skills,” KARK News Director Austin Kellerman said in a news release, noting that KNWA is a sister station to KARK in the Nexstar Media Group chain. “She vowed to return one day, and I’m proud she lived up to that goal. She’s maintained strong relationships in central Arkansas and should immediately fit right in.”
A native of Tampa, Florida, Hunt was a volleyball standout at Mississippi State University, where she earned a bachelo’s in communication, broadcasting and public relations in 2012. “You can write that I went to Mississippi State, but right below it you have to write Woo Pig Sooie!” Hunt joked to Arkansas Business when she announced the Fayetteville move in May 2016.
“I’ve really made a home here in the state, and this seemed like a great step and an awesome opportunity to stay with the company and in the eyes of Arkansans”
In her years in Arkansas, Hunt covered the deadly Mayflower-Vilonia tornado in 2014, the murder of Pulaski County real estate agent Beverly Carter later that year, and the firings of Athletic Director Jeff Long and football coach Bret Bielema at the University of Arkansas in 2017. Her work earned her an Edward R. Murrow Award.
Hunt, who worked at KNOE-TV in Monroe, Louisiana, before joining KARK the first time, is replacing Victoria Price as weekend anchor. Price will transfer to Nexstar’s WFLA in Tampa in early August.