Shortly after 11amET/8amPT, Benedict XVI departed the Vatican for the last time as Pope. Local stations in the top five markets broadcast special coverage of his departure and flight to Castel Gandolfo, the Vatican’s vacation retreat.

ABC, NBC and CBS affiliates in New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Philadelphia and Dallas broadcast national coverage from their affiliated networks of the Pope’s final farewell.

Fox News Channel’s Rick Folbaum anchored a special report that was broadcast on the Fox O&Os. KTTV in Los Angeles incorporated coverage of the farewell address into the morning newscast, anchored by Steve Edwards, instead of taking the national report.

• Related, TVNewser: Covering a Once-in-a-600-Year Story

Without national coverage to broadcast, CW affiliates produced their own special reports. Sukanya Krishnan and Frances Rivera anchored on WPIX in New York City, Frank Buckley and Michaela Pereira anchored on KTLA in Los Angeles, and Steve Sanders and Dina Bair anchored on WGN in Chicago.

Philly’s CW affiliate WPSG is owned by CBS and operated as a duopoly with KYW. KDAF, the CW affiliate in Dallas, had no special coverage of the Pope’s farewell.

WPIX reporter Hilary Whittier was reporting from Manhattan’s Columbus Circle when an angry woman, shouting in a foreign language, interrupted her live shot.

“You see a lot of odd things on live TV. You see a lot of odd things on PIX 11,” anchor Frances Rivera said following the incident. “That takes it to a whole new level” (video above).

WPIX anchor Frances Rivera broke down crying during the CW-affiliate’s morning show, after the station played a new Procter & Gamble commercial that, Rivera’s co-anchor Sukanya Krishnan warned, is “bringing moms and daughters to tears.”

Rivera, a mom herself, couldn’t contain her tears following the video.

“This is so cheesy. I’m crying on the air,” Rivera said, dabbing her eyes with a tissue. “That’s a career first, ladies and gentlemen, that has never happened before. I’ve never cried on the air, ever.”

The New York Daily News reports WPIX will try out a studio audience next Monday as a way to boost ratings during February sweeps. The crowd, expected to total 22 people, will be made up of guests selected from an online contest:

Fans of the newscast, anchored by Sukanya Krishnan and Frances Rivera, can enter the contest at the station’s website.

The station will do the 8 a.m. hour of the morning news with the audience present and the anchors are expected to interact with the crowd. Read more

Jay Dow, a reporter at WCBS in New York, has joined WPIX the CW-affiliate in the same market, FishbowlNY reports.

Dow has been a reporter at CBS O&O WCBS since 2001. He will be a reporter on the WPIX’s morning newscast, which is anchored by Sukanya Krishnan and Frances Rivera, beginning January 16.

Read more at FishbowlNY

“It’s really hard to fall on live TV,” WPIX morning anchor Sukanya Krishnan said this morning, after falling on live TV.

Krishnan and her morning co-anchor Frances Rivera were doing a segment about high heels and orgasms (yeah, you read that correctly) when the veteran anchor tripped and fell while showing off her heels (video above).

As she got up from the floor, Krishnan blamed her fall on WPIX’s makeshift set. The station is currently renovating its studio and has been broadcasting its morning newscast from a temporary set.

Kristen Drew joins KXTV in Sacramento as a reporter from WLKY in Louisville.

Frank Holland joins WGN in Chicago as an anchor-reporter from WDIV in Detroit.

Joel Brown joins WTVD in Durham, NC as an anchor-reporter from correspondent at CBS Newspath in Washington, D.C.

Ray Villeda will be joining KXAS in Dallas as a reporter from WFSB in Hartford, CT. Read more

Boston’s WHDH has hired Reid Lamberty to replace Frances Rivera, who recently left the station to join WPIX in New York.  Lamberty will co-anchor WHDH’s 5, 6, 10, and 11 p.m. newscasts alongside Kim Khazei.

“Reid is the consummate pro. He’s an experienced journalist and a perfect complement to Kim on the anchor desk,” WHDH general manager Chris Wayland said, in making the announcement.

Lamberty comes to WHDH from Miami’s WSVN (both stations are owned by Sunbeam Television).  During his career, Lamberty has worked as an anchor at WNYW and WCBS in New York, and WFXT in Boston.

“I can’t wait to return to Boston and join 7 News,” Lamberty said.  “I look forward to making New England my home once again.”  His first day on-air will be Monday, September 12th.

We told you last month that Frances Rivera — a longtime anchor at Boston’s WHDH — left the station to join WPIX, the CW affiliate in New York City. Today, the station makes it official in a news release, calling Rivera a “key addition” to the news team.

“When viewers come to watch, they’ll be impressed,” WPIX news director Bill Carey said.

Along with the new location will come a new schedule for Rivera, who anchored WHDH’s evening broadcasts. Beginning next Monday, she will anchor the WPIX morning show alongside Sukanya Krishnan from 6 a.m. to 9 a.m. on weekdays.

Rivera, who left WHDH weeks after protesting outside of a station event in Boston, said the driving factor in her decision was to be closer to home with her young daughter. “I am really looking forward to joining the PIX11 Morning News, a show that is essential for so many Tri-State viewers,” Rivera said. “I am thrilled to be back home near my family in New Jersey.”

Read the full release from WPIX after the jump. Read more

Michelle Relerford, a weekend anchor and reporter at Boston’s WHDH, is leaving the station to join WMAQ in Chicago.

Relerford will start at WMAQ — Chicago’s NBC O&O — on September 6. She joins the station as a general assignment reporter and fill-in anchor. This will not be her first time reporting in the Chicago market — prior to joining WHDH, Relerford was a freelance reporter at WFLD, the Fox O&O. She has also reported at WEWS in Cleveland, WNDU in South Bend and WBOC in Salisbury, MD.

Relerford is the third on-air personality to depart from the Sunbeam-owned WHDH this month. The station is currently auditioning in-house for replacement anchors for Frances Rivera, who is joining WPIX, and Matt Lorch, who is joining KCPQ.