WPXI Pittsburgh

In newsrooms across the country, Facebook’s instant video option might be changing the way we consume social media. Reporters need only a smartphone camera and Facebook account to capture live, unedited video that can be viewed on their personal or station’s pages and websites. Consider it the visual equivalent of listening to the police scanner. Above, Kristine Sorensen, host of KDKA’s Pittsburgh Today Live, points out items for the upcoming show as she does a Facebook Live intro before broadcasting starts. (Darrell Sapp photo)

Cox Media Group-owned WPXI holds a commanding lead among Pittsburgh local media outlets’ performance on social media, according to Shareablee data. Over the past six months, it claims the bounty of the market’s total social actions, dominating both Facebook and Twitter, and it has the city’s highest number of fans/followers.

Monday morning’s implosion of a Pittsburgh area 94-year-old bridge was the perfect TV news storm. The logistics of covering this blink-or-you’ll-miss-it event involved reporters and cameras from three stations in pretty much the same locations, but what viewers saw on TV and on the stations’ websites was surprisingly varied.

Just in time for the latest sweeps period, Pittsburgh’s WPXI (NBC) and KDKA (CBS) unveiled state-of-the-art sets on Monday. And what will the well-dressed newscasts be wearing this fall? In a word, screens. KDKA used Devlin Design for its new look, while WPXI turned to tech company Orad.

Atlanta, Boston, Seattle, Orlando, Pittsburgh, Charlotte and Dayton are the latest additions to the Katz Broadcasting network that debuts on April 15.

Longevity is a hallmark of many successful marriages, but increasingly rare in news anchor pairings. At Cox Media’s Pittsburgh NBC affiliate WPXI however, David Johnson and Peggy Finnegan have been a team for 25 years. Today, with one day to go in the current sweeps period, they are second in the market with the coveted 25-54 demo for the late-afternoon time period.

Some say the Steel City is the most competitive news market in the country. Three stations — WTAE, KDKA and WPXI — are serious competitors that fight hard for stories and viewers. WPXI’s Ray Carter: “It’s a roller coaster ride here,” he says. “You can be No. 1 at 5 p.m. in November and No. 3 by February. Every daypart is close, and it’s never dull.”

Cox promotes from within to replace Mike Goldrick as head of news at its NBC affiliate in Pittsburgh.

Cox-owned NBC affiliate WPXI Pittsburgh (DMA 23) has hired Joe Arena as its new morning news co-anchor starting Monday, Oct. 22. Arena will be replacing Todd McDermott who is moving […]

The Two Pennsylvania  NBC affiliates — WPXI in Pittsburgh and WJAC in Johnstown-Altoona — worked together this Wednesday to provide what the stations are calling “unprecedented live coverage” of Paterno’s funeral procession through State College.

Digital spending is slightly behind the national average in Steeler Nation, but two newspapers and a market leading ABC affiliate WTAE are making big moves to capitalize on inevitable growth, as local online spending in the Steel City is expected to grow 74% by 2016.

Cox Media Group’s NBC affiliate WPXI Pittsburgh has hired Cedric Thomas as its new director of Sales, effective July 6. In this role, Thomas, who returns to Cox after a 10-year […]

News directors of WPXI, WTAE and KDKA are considering signing a joint agreement on coverage policies regarding Pittsburgh’s black community as part of an effort to add positive messages to the news as an offset to crime coverage.