Roberto Kovalick, host of Hora 1, Globo’s latenight news program, has not been on the air since the 30th. The week before he had already missed two days. Due to the disappearance, many viewers searched Globo and Google for news about the 58yearold journalist.
Kovalick hasn’t left Globo, nor is he on vacation. He is at home recovering from pneumonia that has left him speechless. According to Globo’s press office, the former foreign correspondent was never hospitalized, contrary to rumors circulating behind the scenes at the channel. Hora 1 presentation is forecast to continue next Monday (12).
The journalist was replaced by the reporter Ana Paula Campos, who presented Globo Rural until the telejournal died out in November 2014, precisely because of the premiere of Hora 1.
However, on the last 31st, without being able to count on Ana Paula, Globo had to improvise with Sabina Simonato, the “official substitute” of the defending champions of Bom Dia São Paulo and SP1. Having never presented Hora 1 before, she had to make a short pilot in the middle of the night, mainly to test camera positioning and movement in the studio.
Journalist goes to São Silvestre
Roberto Kovalick took over as head of Hora 1 on September 9, 2019, replacing Monalisa Perrone, who had been hired from CNN Brasil a week earlier. Kovalick discreetly attracted the attention of the trade press through television coverage in February this year when he was stranded on the north coast of São Paulo after a storm wreaked havoc and claimed a total of 65 lives.
Kovalick and his family had a tough time as the property where they stayed in São Sebastião (SP) was flooded and the ground floor furniture was submerged.
Unable to enjoy the carnival on the beach, the journalist rolled up his sleeves and got to work repairing the damage caused by the rain. He started producing impromptu videos on his cell phone. It then went live on GloboNews and Fantástico. After all, already with a microphone and a structure from Globo, he became the “correspondent” of the tragedy.
In March of this year, Kovalick was in the news again, announcing a preparation plan for the São Silvestre race on December 31. His workouts and the guidance he receives from sports and nutrition professionals have been chronicled on a reality show of sorts. He is expected to resume his training regimen once he has fully recovered from his pneumonia.
Kovalick began his career as a journalist in 1987 at Rádio Gaúcha in Porto Alegre and soon after became a reporter for RBS, a Globo subsidiary in Rio Grande do Sul. Three years later, in 1990, he was hired by Globo to work in Rio de Janeiro and became a familiar face to Jornal Nacional viewers.
In 2005, after his tour of Brasilia, Kovalick began an international correspondent phase. He worked in New York, London and Tokyo. He returned to Brazil in 2016 when Globo began dismantling its network of medallion correspondents. He then began working in São Paulo as a special reporter for JN until he took over the management of H1.