It may be only 25 miles from Bryant to Sherwood, but Elicia Dover took the long route.
Between graduation from Bryant High School and settling in Sherwood with her husband a decade later, she became a Nebraska Cornhusker, then a breaking news producer for ABC based in New York and a more-than-frequent flier.
“When a story would break, I would be one of the first people to hop on a plane,” Dover said the other day from her current post at KATV in Little Rock. “I lived in hotels and on airplanes, and I had my bags packed at all times.”
She logged “thousands upon thousands” of miles covering stories like Hurricane Sandy, the 2012 presidential campaign, the massacre at Sandy Hook Elementary School and the Boston Marathon bombing. “I think I traveled to every state except Alaska, Hawaii and New Mexico.”
But in her mid-20s (she’s now 29), Dover realized that she basically had no life outside work. She called Nick Genty, Channel 7’s news director, and told him she was ready to come home. “I told him I’d been running around the country but that I was tired of that. He said to come on down; for the last four years I’ve been reporting on Channel 7.”
When Arkansas Business caught up with her last week, Dover was transitioning again, and the first step was nailing down a hair appointment. She had to shoot promos for a new job, co-host of “Good Afternoon Arkansas,” the Little Rock market’s first news, talk and lifestyle show to go live in the afternoons.
The 3 p.m. weekday show, which she’ll pilot along with weather veteran Barry Brandt, will make its debut on Sept. 5.
It’s perfect for her, she said. “First of all, I’m an Arkansan, and the show will be focused on Arkansas lifestyles and the things we care about here.” She made that part of her pitch for the job, for which KATV sought a “an excellent communicator, storyteller and writer with an energetic and terrific on-camera presence.”
Dover said that her writing experience as a network producer should be an asset in the new role, along with an openness to trying new things to hook an audience of young mothers, retirees and others who commonly tune in to afternoon TV.
“I deeply care about reporting the news and providing important content,” Dover said. “But there’s also a side of me who loves to cook and keep a garden and decorate for every holiday. We’re going to do those kinds of stories, along with useful segments on beauty regimens or products you see in the drugstore. Magnetic eyelashes? I’ll try them out, take them to the eye doctor to see if they’re safe. The show will strike a balance.”
Along with the hourlong “Good Morning Arkansas” at 9 and the 30-minute “Midday Arkansas” at 11:30, the new hourlong show will give KATV two-and-a-half hours of local programming between “Good Morning America” and “Channel 7 News Live at 5.” “We’re excited to be the only station in Arkansas to have an afternoon show that will bring updated news and weather, along with other content that our viewers can use to make their lives better,” Genty said.
Channel 7, whose local news programming routinely leads the ratings pack in Little Rock, will give the new show a heavy social media push, and Dover expects to produce some content that won’t be on the airwaves. “We’ll be out there at the Little Rock Razorback game, giving tailgating tips, showing tailgating history, asking viewers to send memories. We want to really engage with viewers on all platforms, and that’s one of the things making ‘Good Afternoon Arkansas’ different.”
Dover called Brandt, who has been on the air for three decades, an “Arkansas legend.” Brandt demurred on that, but he predicted that Dover is destined for stardom. “Talented, beautiful and really smart is a great combination, and that sums up Elicia,” Brandt said. “I know she is thrilled.”
Dover said her life back in Arkansas has been grand. She met her husband and moved to Sherwood, his hometown, and they now live down the street from her parents. Her grandparents are building a home one street over, and the in-laws are in town, too. “It’s like a Mayberry experience,” she said.
So does the Arkansas girl miss anything about New York? “I do miss the food and the fact that I could have Thai, Indian or sushi delivered to my doorstep at all hours.
“It’s the greatest city in the world, but you can’t replace home.”
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