Carmela Karcher joined NBC Palm Springs in January, 2022. Carmela was born and raised in the San Francisco Bay Area and graduated from the University of Oregon in June, 2019 with a bachelor’s degree in Journalism and Communications. Before NBC Palm Springs, Carmela worked in Chico, California as a multimedia journalist covering everything from local politics to massive wildfires. Carmela’s passion for journalism started in high school when she formed her own sports broadcasting program.

Olivia joined the news team in February, 2020. Before coming to Palm Springs, she spent almost two years as a reporter and fill-in anchor for KETK and FOX 51 in Tyler, TX. There she covered a variety of stories from devastating tornadoes to political town halls. Olivia got a master of science in broadcast journalism from the University of Southern California. She also received a BA from the University of San Diego, where she was a division one softball player. Olivia is looking forward to returning to Southern California and sharing important stories with the desert community. 

With 20 years in television news, Thalia is a veteran journalist on a mission to help Americans get healthy.

A Wisconsin native, Jerry Steffen spent most of his professional career at WKMG-TV in Orlando before relocating to the Coachella Valley in December, 2009. A student of the University of Wisconsin system and a Madison Media grad, Jerry fine tuned his meteorology skills at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University.

Manny the Movie Guy has always had a passion for movies. His love of film criticism started while working for his school newspaper at Purdue University in Indiana. Upon graduation, Manny was offered a full-scholarship to complete his Post-Baccalaureate degree in Film at the School of the Arts Institute in Chicago. Currently, Manny is a member of the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) and the Broadcast Film Critics Association (BFCA) where he votes for the yearly Critics Choice Awards. Manny the Movie Guy is a multiple Emmy-award winning film critic/host based in Palm Springs.

Brandy is a passionate sports reporter/anchor. Before starting at NBC Palm Springs, she was a digital producer/host for Fox Sports covering the Angels, Clippers, Ducks and Kings. She also covered high school football in southern California as a sideline reporter for Fox Sports Prepzone. Brandy grew up in Hemet, CA and graduated from Cal State Fullerton with a degree in broadcast journalism. She is very excited to share stories about the amazing athletes right here in the Coachella Valley.

Kamari Esquerra joined NBC Palm Springs in July of 2021. A Texas native, Kamari is an alumna of The University of Texas at Austin (Hook ‘Em Horns!) with degrees in Journalism and Radio-TV-Film.