Albuquerque Journal

KOAT Welcomes New Anchors
By Rick Nathanson, Journal Staff Writer

Viewers of KOAT-TV, Channel 7, are seeing two new faces with the addition of Melissa Mahan and Royale Dá (pronounced "Day").
   
Mahan joined "Action 7 News Live This Morning" as the weekday news co-anchor with Marisa Maez. Christine Jones, who had been on temporary assignment in the mornings, has joined Mike Garofalo as co-anchor of Action 7 News' evening newscasts on Fridays and Saturdays.
   
Mahan comes to KOAT from the ABC affiliate in Providence, R.I., where she anchored the evening newscasts. She has also worked at TV stations in San Francisco, Grand Junction, Colo., and Monroe, La. She grew up in the San Francisco Bay area and attended the University of California-Santa Barbara.
   
"I'm very excited to be joining such a well-respected station," said Mahan.
   
Dá joined "Action 7 News Live This Morning" as a reporter and weekend co-anchor with Natalie Swaby. She came from CBS affiliate KOLN-TV in Lincoln, Neb., where she anchored morning and noon newscasts.
   
Prior to that she worked as a researcher, reporter and anchor at stations in Minnesota and Florida. She attended the University of Minnesota-Twin Cities.
   
Dá grew up in New Mexico and Colorado and is a registered member of San Ildefonso Pueblo. "I'm very excited to be returning home to New Mexico," she said. "I've missed the culture, the people, green chile, but especially my family."