Lionel Moise and Erin Kennedy

A morning news anchor from the CBS affiliate in Columbia, South Carolina, is the latest warm body to turn up on the anchor desk at CBS-owned WBBM-Channel 2.

Lionel Moise, incoming from WLTX-TV in Columbia, will join Erin Kennedy as morning news co-anchor on CBS 2, starting September 21. Airing from 4:30 to 7 a.m. weekdays, it’s Chicago's lowest-rated newscast, averaging a 0.2 rating among viewers between 25 and 54.

Through a spokeswoman, CBS 2 bosses denied they were about to hire a morning anchor when I inquired a few weeks ago. On Wednesday, they announced Moise’s appointment.

“Lionel is an insightful and energetic broadcaster who will be a terrific addition to our morning team,” Jeff Kiernan, vice president of news, said in a statement. “We are excited to welcome him to Chicago and CBS 2.”

A Haitian-American who grew up in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, Moise graduated from the University of Miami. He was a reporter and producer at WXIA-TV, the NBC affiliate in Atlanta, before joining WLTX in 2012. He also also served as an adjunct professor in visual storytelling at the University of South Carolina and completed his MBA there in June.

“From the moment I visited Chicago and the station, I knew this is where I want to be,” he was quoted as saying. “Chicago is a dynamic city with incredible people and history and I’m excited to have an opportunity to work here and make a difference.”

He succeeds Kris Gutierrez, who left in March after three years to join KXAS-TV, the NBC-owned station in Dallas.

There might as well be a revolving door alongside CBS 2’s morning anchor desk. Besides Kennedy and Gutierrez, others who’ve popped up in recent years included Marissa Bailey, Steve Bartelstein, Susan Carlson, Kristyn Hartman, Don Schwenneker, Roseanne Tellez, Jim Williams and the late Randy Salerno, not to mention “Monsters & Money in the Morning,” the four-headed beast featuring Mike North, Dan Jiggetts, Terry Savage and Mike Hegedus.