Jodi Applegate - TVSpy

Jodi Applegate Signs Off From WPIX: ‘I’m very happy with my choice’

Merrill Knox — Thu, 20 Dec 2012 14:20:57 +0000

Jodi Applegate has anchored her final broadcast at WPIX, Tribune’s CW-affiliate in New York City. Applegate, who is expecting a child through surrogacy with her husband, Yankees broadcaster Michael Kay, tells the New York Daily News about her decision to put family first:

But when the solo anchor for both the 5 p.m. and 10 p.m. newscasts asked her bosses if it would be possible to scale back her hours following her maturnity leave, they said no. And so did she — a rarity in the TV business, especially in New York, the biggest television market in the U.S.

“It was an all-or-nothing deal,” Applegate told the Daily News. “They were offering me a new contract, but I figured that I had been putting my career in front of life for so many years that it was time to focus on something else.”

Then there was issue of being a solo anchor. On many other stations, news anchors usually work in pairs, but Ch. 11 is currently a one-anchor operation, “and there’s no margin for error,” she said. “I understand how rare these jobs are,” Applegate said. “But I’m very happy with my choice.”

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Jodi Applegate, Expecting a Child Through Surrogacy, to Step Down From WPIX Anchor Desk

Merrill Knox — Tue, 20 Nov 2012 15:52:40 +0000

After two years at WPIX, Jodi Applegate will step down from the anchor desk at the Tribune-owned CW affiliate in New York.

Applegate announced today that she and her husband, Yankees broadcaster Michael Kay, are expecting a daughter in January via gestational carrier. Her final broadcast will be December 19. In a statement, she said she looks forward “to returning to media in the future.”

“After years of putting my career first, I’ve decided to step back for a moment and enjoy this new role,” Applegate said. “It was a difficult decision to choose to step away from a full-time anchor position but I want to take this time to enjoy being a new mom and focus on the baby.”

Applegate is a former anchor of “Good Day New York,” the morning newscast on Fox O&O WNYW. She joined WPIX in October 2010 as the anchor of its 10 p.m. newscast. She now also anchors the 5 p.m. newscast, which was launched in 2011. continued…

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Media Prof.: WPIX Should Cut 10 p.m. News in Half

Kevin Eck — Tue, 23 Oct 2012 14:27:01 +0000

With WPIX news director Bill Carey‘s recent departure, our sister blog, FishbowlNY, took the opportunity to look at the state of the station before the next news director has a chance to put their stamp on it.

FishbowlNY spoke with Queensborough Community College professor Eileen White who said she thinks the next news director should be given a blank slate to work with. “For that new person, that’s going to be the carrot,” White said. “You can do what you want, take a failing thing and turn it around.”

One of her suggestions concerns the news at 10 p.m. “Especially if you don’t have a sports department, come on, cut it down to an half-hour,” White told FishbowlNY. “And then people can get to bed… because I think Fox strings you along, way too long. I think a half-hour is perfect.”

continued…

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WPIX News Director to Step Down

Kevin Eck — Wed, 03 Oct 2012 18:01:19 +0000

FishbowlNY is reporting Bill Carey, news director at WPIX, will be leaving the station.

A well-placed source tells FishbowlNY that Carey is leaving Channel 11 before the November sweeps period. It is believed that Carey is fielding several offers, including from a startup company. Carey had no comment to FishbowlNY about a change to his job status.

Carey is credited with hiring Jodi Applegate and having a new set built for her as well as revamping the morning news.

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NYC Stations Cover New York Giants’ Victory Parade

Merrill Knox — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 12:53:40 +0000

New York City stations devoted all resources this morning to coverage of the celebration parade for the New York Giants, who returned home yesterday after a big win in Sunday’s Super Bowl XLVI.

Rob Powers and Lori Stokes anchored WABC‘s coverage from City Hall. The pair were joined by 10 reporters along the parade route for “up-to-the-second excitement of this great parade,” Powers said.

WNYW-WWOR‘s coverage kicked off at 1o a.m. with Dari Alexander, Ernie Anastos and sports director Russ Salzberg anchoring outside City Hall. Steve Lacy, Jill Nicolini and John Huddy were along the parade route. continued…

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WPIX Newsroom Shut Down After Anthrax Hoax

Merrill Knox — Fri, 02 Dec 2011 10:19:07 +0000

The WPIX newsroom in New York City was locked down yesterday evening after a staffer opened a threatening letter that contained white powder.

The New York Daily News reports that the incident happened around 3 p.m., just two hours before the the CW-affiliate’s first evening newscast. Upon arriving at the newsroom, police immediately shut it down and started the process of decontaminating the staffer who opened the letter by a Hazmat team.

News Director Bill Carey told the Daily News that the 5 p.m. newscast was produced in a certain way due to the uncertainty of the newsroom situation, with reporter Kristen Cole doing an outside live shot at the top of the show. continued…

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Veteran Anchor Jim Watkins Fired From WPIX

Andrew Gauthier — Fri, 30 Sep 2011 10:18:35 +0000

Anchor Jim Watkins has been fired from New York’s WPIX.

According to FishbowlNY, Watkins, who had been with the station since 1998, was abruptly let go on Tuesday by news director Bill Carey and has been barred from the station’s offices.

Watkins had a long run as weekday evening co-anchor, alongside Kaity Tong, but moved to weekends last year when Jodi Applegate joined the station.

>Update: Okay, not so fast. Carey is now saying that Watkins “remains employed by WPIX.” Watkins has been unavailable for comment. Read more at FishbowlNY

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WPIX’s 5 p.m. News Geared Toward Female Viewers

Merrill Knox — Wed, 07 Sep 2011 17:21:36 +0000

Next week, New York City CW affiliate WPIX will launch a newscast designed to capitalize on a lead-in audience from CNN anchor Anderson Cooper’s syndicated daytime talk show, “Anderson,” which will debut on WPIX next Monday at 4 p.m.

“The television station has never been primed to support an afternoon newscast the way it is about to be,” WPIX news director Bill Carey told The New York Daily News. “There’s never really been a better time to have a serious conversation to poke at and enter the afternoon news race.”

The newscast, which will be anchored by Jodi Applegate (pictured, left) will be geared toward a female audience, according to Carey. Most evenings, the broadcast will lead off with a five-minute segment featuring multiple reporters covering the same topic. The show will also often feature a follow-up on a story featured on “Anderson” that afternoon. continued…

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New York Veteran Jackie Hyland Out at WPIX

Andrew Gauthier — Mon, 25 Apr 2011 10:44:52 +0000

Veteran anchor-reporter Jackie Hyland has been cut by WPIX. The New York CW-affiliate decided not to renew her contract at the end of March.

Hyland had been hired in 2009 as a weekend anchor but got lost in an on-air shuffle made by news director Bill Carey, who brought in Jodi Applegate to be the station’s marquee anchor and bumped previous weeknight anchor Jim Watkins to weekends.

“Right now, I’m spending time with my girls, and pursuing other opportunities,” Hyland told TVSpy sister site FishbowlNY recently.

Hyland is a veteran of the New York market, having made stops at Cablevision’s News 12 and ABC News NOW before recently joining WPIX. It was her second stint with the station. Read more at FishbowlNY

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Tribune’s WPIX Skips Over Breaking News in Assembly Line Newscast

Andrew Gauthier — Wed, 13 Apr 2011 11:52:42 +0000

New York’s WPIX was constrained by its newscast’s slick format on Monday night when breaking news hit.

Just after 8 p.m. on Monday, two planes collided while taxiing at JFK airport. And while WPIX’s rival WNYW began its 10 p.m. newscast with prolonged coverage of the accident, the Tribune-owned CW-affiliate launched into its regular “11 in 11″ segment, giving just a few seconds to the breaking news before darting to another story in the fast-paced rundown of news that begins every WPIX nighttime newscast.

As FishbowlNY points out, anchor Jodi Applegate (above, right) mentioned the JFK accident as the #1 story of “11 in 11″ as the station showed still photos from a website. Meanwhile, WNYW, which has lately been expanding its 10 p.m. ratings lead, devoted several minutes of “Breaking News” coverage to the story with live video and reporting from its chopper.

For its part, WPIX eventually returned to the JFK story later in the newscast (around 10:20) with Marvin Scott reporting live from the airport. Read more at FishbowlNY

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WPIX News Director Plans for More Commentary, Viewer Interaction

Andrew Gauthier — Wed, 06 Apr 2011 15:32:58 +0000

“We are very encouraged that New York is open to a different news presentation and we’re feeling good about the overall reception that we’ve gotten,” WPIX news director Bill Carey said recently about the CW-affiliate’s 10 p.m. newscast, which underwent a major overhaul last October.

In an interview with TVSpy sister site FishbowlNY, Carey said that the revamped 10 p.m. newscast, which features Jodi Applegate (right) anchoring solo without a desk, is part of a broader goal to establish the Tribune-owned station as a place where viewers can find a fresh take on news stories while also interacting with the news team.

Carey says that WPIX plans to offer more commentary/opinion in the coming months and open things up to viewers.

“We’re really going our own way. People may like it, they may not like,” Carey told FishbowlNY, but “they’re all talking about it.” Read more at FishbowlNY

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WPIX Anchor Jodi Applegate Marries Yankees Broadcaster

Andrew Gauthier — Mon, 14 Feb 2011 16:03:40 +0000

Jodi Applegate, a veteran anchor who currently helms WPIX‘s 10 p.m. newscast, married Yankees broadcaster Michael Kay over the weekend.

The ceremony, which took place at Manhattan’s swanky Plaza hotel, was presided over by former mayor, and lifelong Yankees fan, Rudy Giuliani.

According to the New York Post:

Applegate donned a white empire lace dress designed by Suzanne Neville from the Wedding Atelier bridal boutique. She changed her dress three more times throughout the night, a guest said.

Applegate joined CW-affiliate WPIX last year. She is a familiar presence in the New York area, having served as a morning anchor for Fox-affiliate WNYW from 2004-08.

Applegate, 46, met Kay, 50, at a local Emmy awards ceremony a few years ago. continued…

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Reports of Cratering Morale at New York’s WPIX Amid Cost-Cutting Moves

Andrew Gauthier — Tue, 18 Jan 2011 13:50:49 +0000

“There’s no line that can’t be crossed,” a WPIX employee told the New York Post in describing the environment at the Tribune-owned CW-affiliate, which has been rattled by aggressive cost-cutting.

WPIX staffers are now dealing with the news that the station is closing down its sports department. According to the Post, WPIX has eliminated the sports director position and reassigned the current sports director, Lolita Lopez.

A source also tells the Post that WPIX is looking into changing union rules so that a photographer won’t be required for on-location shoots, opening up the station’s news reporting to one-man-band reporters.

WPIX appointed Bill Carey to news director in late 2009 and the market veteran has since spearheaded a major renovation of the station’s operations, including the recent launch of an unconventional, desk-less 10 p.m. newscast anchored by Jodi Applegate (right).

Upon joining the station, Carey said, “It’s necessary to make a big change at Channel 11.”

“I don’t think it’s any secret that we’ve never been one, two, three or four in the ratings.”

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