WPIX - PIX11 News

[MisterBill 99]

They've switched the 6-7am hour back to the early morning anchors, and Dan and Hazel are now only doing 7-10.

[IceManNYR 240]

Kaity Tong posted she'll be back anchoring tonight.

https://www.instagram.com/p/C2VMsQXunfW/

[civic110 18]

Kendis Gibson has been announced as anchor of the PIX11 News at 4 and 5pm.

 

https://tvnewscheck.com/journalism/article/kendis-gibson-joins-wpix-new-york-news/

[RealNews18 204]

2 hours ago, civic110 said:

Kendis Gibson has been announced as anchor of the PIX11 News at 4 and 5pm.

 

https://tvnewscheck.com/journalism/article/kendis-gibson-joins-wpix-new-york-news/

Interesting. So I’ll assume anyway it’ll be Airinee and him at 4 and 5 then Shirley and Kori at 6 and 10?

[MediaZone4K 2172]

Pulling for big names much like Fox 5!

[JoseRM303 171]

15 hours ago, RealNews18 said:

Interesting. So I’ll assume anyway it’ll be Airinee and him at 4 and 5 then Shirley and Kori at 6 and 10?

That’s my guess as well. Hopefully he lasts longer than he did at WFOR. 

[NYNewsCoverage 300]

Seems like a pretty good hire, and will hopefully make a good partner for Arrianee. My guess is the same as above (Kendis/Arrianee for 4pm and 5pm and Shirley/Kori for 6pm/6:30pm/10pm). He is also one of "New York's very own", as they say.

 

[TheNewsTV 253]

On 1/30/2024 at 8:43 PM, civic110 said:

Kendis Gibson has been announced as anchor of the PIX11 News at 4 and 5pm.

 

https://tvnewscheck.com/journalism/article/kendis-gibson-joins-wpix-new-york-news/

 

When does he start?

[IceManNYR 240]

Kaity Tong noted that for now she's anchoring the 10pm weekend newscasts.

John Muller will anchor 6pm Sunday.

Edited February 3, 2024 by IceManNYR

[RealNews18 204]

Looks like Kendis and Arainee will be doing the 4&5 he debuted last Monday from what it looks

like on insta 

[NYNewsCoverage 300]

3 hours ago, RealNews18 said:

Looks like Kendis and Arainee will be doing the 4&5 he debuted last Monday from what it looks

like on insta 

Yes, from what I've noticed the schedule is:

4,5pm: Kendis, Arrianee and Chris Cimino

6/6:30/10: Kori, Shirley, Mr. G

Previously, Chris did the 4/6 and G the 5/10.

Happy that PIX has finally diversified their evening teams, from what I saw of Kendis he seems like a great fit and adaptable to the lighter fare of the 4pm, and the harder approach to the 5pm.

[MediaZone4K 2172]

2 minutes ago, NYNewsCoverage said:

Yes, from what I've noticed the schedule is:

4,5pm: Kendis, Arrianee and Chris Cimino

6/6:30/10: Kori, Shirley, Mr. G

Previously, Chris did the 4/6 and G the 5/10.

Happy that PIX has finally diversified their evening teams, from what I saw of Kendis he seems like a great fit and adaptable to the lighter fare of the 4pm, and the harder approach to the 5pm.

Nice and clear talent line up too. not confusing to know which time your favorite personality will be on.

[TheNewsTV 253]

Kaity Tong is back at 6pm today.

[NYNewsCoverage 300]

A recent interview in Newsday featured Katiy Tong: https://www.newsday.com/entertainment/tv/kaity-tong-wpix-qhg4zhj3

She reflected on her time at WABC (where there were protests in 1991 when she was dropped as anchor) and WPIX (where she reminisced about her time with Jim Watkins).

She also mentioned that her recovery has not been easy. Hoping for the best for her.

[MediaZone4K 2172]

13 hours ago, NYNewsCoverage said:

A recent interview in Newsday featured Katiy Tong: https://www.newsday.com/entertainment/tv/kaity-tong-wpix-qhg4zhj3

She reflected on her time at WABC (where there were protests in 1991 when she was dropped as anchor) and WPIX (where she reminisced about her time with Jim Watkins).

She also mentioned that her recovery has not been easy. Hoping for the best for her.

Paywalled. would you be able to screenshot or copy/paste the text of the article? Thanks.

[NYNewsCoverage 300]

2 hours ago, MediaZone4K said:

Paywalled. would you be able to screenshot or copy/paste the text of the article? Thanks.

Quote

After 43 years on New York TV, the past 32 at WPIX/11, Kaity Tong was where we've always found her just as the Oscars were wrapping last Sunday night. As long-running anchor of the station's weekend 10 p.m. news, she went through the usual rundown of stories and teases. From behind the anchor desk, she appeared to be who she has always been. More remarkably, she looked like who she has always been.

Away from the anchor desk has been another story altogether.

Last December, Tong, 76, said on Instagram that she had been diagnosed with stage 1 lung cancer — “me! a nonsmoker my entire life” — and that she had undergone robotic surgery to remove the tumor.

The reason she was revealing this, she explained, was because her doctors “told me this diagnosis is increasingly common among Asians, especially women, who are nonsmokers. That would be me. And maybe that’s you.” She then urged viewers to get tested.

After a short time off the air, Tong returned to the anchor desk earlier this year, but in texts and emails to Newsday, she said her recovery has been arduous and that her doctors have told her that recovery takes “six months to a year.”

 

At first, she says, she could barely walk a block. Now it takes all her energy simply to show up for work two days a week, she said. 

As part of its Women's History Month coverage, Newsday has been focusing on notable women who have trailblazed paths for countless others. Tong, New York TV news' first Asian American anchor, is one of them.

Born in China, raised in Washington, D.C., Tong was wrapping a Ph.D. program at Stanford in Chinese and Japanese literature in the late '70s, when she took a summer job at an all-news radio station in San Francisco. That led to a TV reporter job in that city, then as an anchor in Sacramento. She was hired at WABC/7 in 1981 and over the next 10 years, became among the most popular anchors on local news.

Then, abruptly and she says without explanation, Tong was dropped by the station. A coalition was launched to protest her firing, and on April 18, 1991, 200 supporters turned up at Ch. 7 headquarters on Columbus Avenue to demand her reinstatement. (That was a tough year for female pioneers — WNBC/4's Pat Harper had been dropped just weeks before.)

Tong joined Ch. 11 later in 1991 and has remained there since. Her boss at the station, news director Nicole Tindiglia, calls her a “local news pioneer who has guided New Yorkers through unprecedented times. She's an inspiration and leader to us all.”

Tong said she was unable to do an in-person interview because of her ongoing health issues. Instead, we conducted one via email:

Let's address your health. How are you doing, and when do you think everything will be back to normal?

 

It's now been about three months since my lung cancer surgery and I must admit the recovery has been harder than I'd expected. Right after the surgery, which removed one of three lobes of my right lung, I couldn't even walk a block and a half without stopping to catch my breath. My doctors tell me to be patient, that it will take six months to a year before I feel like myself. I'm not a patient person and to relearn how to breathe while delivering the news and having much less energy has been frustrating. But there is progress. I've gone from struggling to walk … to being able to take the subway again and getting my steps in. The station has been very supportive in my recovery and the viewers have kept my spirits up with their wonderfully uplifting comments.

Back when you joined Ch. 7, in 1981, had it occurred to you that you would be the “first” — or, for that matter, a trailblazer?

The thought of being a trailblazer of any kind never crossed my mind! I was just so happy to be offered a job in the greatest city in the world with the No. 1-rated news station in the No. 1 market.

What was it like back in those early days with Tom Snyder, John Johnson, Bill Beutel, Roger Grimsby and Ernie Anastos [her anchoring partners]? I know you became popular quickly, but was it harder behind the scenes with some of them — dealing with the usual nonsense, like sexism or racism?

Kaity Tong and her former "Eyewitness News" co-anchor Ernie Anastos attend 60th Anniversary New York Emmy Awards Gala  in 2017 in New York City.   Credit: WireImage/John Lamparski

Roger Grimsby was a tough nut to crack. But I think his initially dismissive attitude toward me was not because I was Chinese or a woman, but because in his mind I was a rookie. And I think there was that initial attitude from others in the newsroom as well. Did I belong there? Was I good enough? I think I proved I was. I refused to be intimidated, gave as good as I got, and maybe most importantly, I made them laugh. The respect became mutual.

Roger and I ended up lifelong friends … Bill Beutel was a gentleman from the get-go [but] ultimately, it was my close friendships with many of the women who worked there that sustained me. All strong, accomplished and funny — women that I am still close to today.

There are never protests over anchor firings, but you got one in 1991. People I spoke with were genuinely upset — you meant something to them, obviously. Had that ever occurred to you as well?

New York's Asian American community rallied in support of Kaity Tong after she was replaced on WABC-TV's "Eyewitness News" in 1991. Credit: Frances Chu

That protest was incredible to me. I was astounded that people cared that much. Looking back, it's really gratifying to think this was before social media — this was picking up the phone, writing letters, showing up in person with a poster or a sign. I began to realize early on that for many viewers I was more than just an anchor when I began getting letters from girls of Asian American heritage who would tell me how they were so happy to see someone doing the news who looked like them. And when mothers told me they had named their daughters after me, not just Asian moms but Hispanic and Caucasian ones as well.

I feel very humbled by this. What an amazing honor and a great responsibility. It makes me think of the day I started kindergarten. Me, this little girl who didn't speak a single word of English, shy and scared, as my mother solemnly said to me, 'You carry on your shoulders the reputation not just of our family, but that of the entire Chinese people as well!' I was 5 years old. Thanks, Mom!

Why did Ch. 7 let you go?

I still am not clear about why. I'm sure part of it was that Walter Liss, the new GM and I did not get along at all, but our numbers were stellar [she left a top-rated newscast at the top-rated local news station]. I had a feeling things were not going well when he kept asking me into his office so that he could coach me on the proper way to anchor. [Liss died in 2022.]

Of course, we have to talk about Ch. 11. What's been the high point of your 30 years at the station? And feel free to share a low point, too, if there was one.

Ch. 11 anchors Jim Watkins and Kaity Tong at the tree lighting and ice spectacular event at Uniondale's Reckson Plaza in 2006. Credit: Pablo Corradi

One of the highlights was working with Jim Watkins. We had great chemistry in the 12-plus years we co-anchored together. It was effortless and we covered many big stories together, including 9/11. [Watkins, who joined Ch. 11 in 1998 as Tong's co-anchor, left in 2011.]

A low point was when we lost all our wonderful makeup artists because of the pandemic, and they are still not back.

 

[NowBergen 681]

FCC has rules Mission (Nexstar) must sell PIX11 within a year.  Nexstar has been fined as well for essentially being over the ownership limit.  If Nexstar wants to keep the station they’ll need to sell others to stay under the cap. Good to see this side car crap finally got called out 

 

https://www.nexttv.com/news/fcc-orders-mission-to-sell-wpix-fines-nexstar-dollar18-million

Edited March 21, 2024 by NowBergen

[mre29 1519]

How many stations would Nexstar have to sell to get back under the cap?

 

[Recovering Producer 218]

20 minutes ago, mre29 said:

How many stations would Nexstar have to sell to get back under the cap?

 

NYC market is 6ish% of the country, and WPIX transmits on VHF, so there is no 50% UHF discount (which is dumb in the digital world because PSIP and transmitter frequency are no longer tied and UHF signals perform better than VHF with digital transmission)

 

So, the answer is variable, depending on their strategy to get as close to the cap as possible,  but if they divest from the smallest markets they own, it would be a decent number. That's assuming every appeal goes poorly for them, the FCC makeup doesn't change due to a change in which party is in the White House, and ownership rules don't change during the appeals process. 

 

Also, this is a notice of apparent liability. So, in theory, the FCC could change its mind. Don't hold your breath, is all I'm saying.

Edited March 22, 2024 by Recovering Producer
Added this is NAL

[mre29 1519]

1 hour ago, Recovering Producer said:

So, the answer is variable, depending on their strategy to get as close to the cap as possible,  but if they divest from the smallest markets they own, it would be a decent number.

 

Just what is Nexstar's current coverage percentage, anyway?

 

[HSV cheesehead 99]

2 hours ago, NowBergen said:

FCC has rules Mission (Nexstar) must sell PIX11 within a year.  Nexstar has been fined as well for essentially being over the ownership limit.  If Nexstar wants to keep the station they’ll need to sell others to stay under the cap. Good to see this side car crap finally got called out 

 

https://www.nexttv.com/news/fcc-orders-mission-to-sell-wpix-fines-nexstar-dollar18-million

The link you posted was broken, at least for me. if anyone has the same problem, I found the article after a bit of digging.

 

Next tv probably updated the article (1.8M to 1.2M)

 

https://www.nexttv.com/news/fcc-orders-mission-to-sell-wpix-fines-nexstar-dollar12-million

[NowBergen 681]

Definitely updated and expanded article including the reason the FCC views WPIX differently: no other Nexstar stations in the DMA 1.  

[DMA 135]

Interesting that Nexstar claims that Mission Broadcasting is somehow an independent entity when the CEO of Nexstar's son was hired as a sports reporter!

[NYNewsCoverage 300]

4 hours ago, DMA said:

Interesting that Nexstar claims that Mission Broadcasting is somehow an independent entity when the CEO of Nexstar's son was hired as a sports reporter!

Haha FTVlive also made this point

Quote

The FCC did not poit out that Nexstar controls WPIX so much, that Nexstar’s CEO Perry Sook, place his son Perry Sook Jr. as a Sports Reporter at WPIX, despite the fact he had little experience.

 

[DENDude 217]

A lot of you will disagree with me on this but, I think Scripps should have right of first refusal at WPIX seeing how they once owned it.   Or better yet, shake down mission broadcasting & force mission into being it's own company (it will never happen), prohibit Nexstar from doing ANYTHING for Mission stations nationwide (Websites, ad sales, ect). I'm happy that the FCC is finally taking some action against Nexstar & Mission.