After being laid off from anchoring the morning show at Gray’s WTVG, Jeff Smith is moving across the street to the evening anchor team at Tegna’s WTOL.

A new job and he gets to sleep in.

“I want viewers to know how I am not only honored to have earned their trust over the years, but also how fortunate I feel to have this opportunity to connect and reconnect a region that shaped who I am,” Smith said.

“Viewers want to know that when the news is bad, it will be handled professionally and with empathy. And, conversely, when the news is good, you want to feel comforted that this person on the air gets it - 'they get me' - they're real, they're being honest," he said. "Finally, availability. Thanks to social media, there is now this conversation off-air that never existed during the days of unpublished numbers and rotary phones. I believe building our connections with viewers on Facebook, Twitter and so on is as important as the appointment viewing at 5, 6 and 11 p.m. before turning out the lights. “

Nothing like connecting with the demo, by talking about rotary phones.