Lou Castriota, Veteran WPMT Broadcaster And Children’s Show Host, Retires

Lou Castriota

Standard General-owned Fox affiliate WPMT Harrisburg, Pa., said today that longtime professional broadcaster — and occasional clown — Lou Castriota retired on March 31 after 53 years in the television industry.

Castriota is known for creating and producing WPMT’s Pete McTee’s ClubHouse. He portrayed the clown character Pete McTee for 14 years on the children’s show and at local meet-and-greet events. ClubHouse aired for an additional 10 seasons in reruns. The show was nominated for an Emmy and won 11 Pennsylvania Association of Broadcasters awards for Best Series Designed for Children. The group also honored Castriota as Television Broadcaster of the Year in 2001.

Castriota began his broadcasting career in 1969 at WSBA-AM York, Pa. He has worked for WGAL Lancaster, Pa., and WHP Harrisburg, Pa. He also held the position of VP-general manager at both WGCB Red Lion, Pa., and WJAL Hagerstown, Md.

He was nominated for five Emmys, winning two for News/Sports programming at WPMT. During his career he also hosted local television shows and events such as Bowling for Dollars, York Magazine and the first Children’s Miracle Network Telethon.

“I am honored to have worked with so many great broadcasters in my career and will be forever grateful to FOX43 for giving me an opportunity to develop and create programming,” Castriota said.

“Lou Castriota has not only entertained a generation of children in Central PA while hosting Pete McTee’s ClubHouse, but he has also helped mentor hundreds of York College communications students as they launch their careers in broadcasting,” said Travis Miller, WPMT director of sales. “Personally, I would not be where I am today were it not for Lou’s encouragement to pursue a career in media sales. Lou’s passion and mentorship will be missed by many, and I wish him the best in his retirement.”

Chris Topf, WPMT VP-general manager, said: “There are few people in this industry that are as widely admired as Lou. He has developed himself into an icon in this area through his years in every aspect of broadcasting. Lou has been an asset to FOX43 for a long time, and we will not even pretend to be able to replace everything that he represents. I wish him a fantastic retirement and hope that he enjoys his time away from FOX43 at least as much as we all have enjoyed having Lou at FOX43.”

Castriota plans to continue teaching at York College of Pennsylvania in retirement. He has been an adjunct professor of communications there for the last 26 years.