TV Talk: New faces to appear on Pittsburgh newscasts in July

Prepare to see several unfamiliar faces on local newscasts in the next month as stations restock their on-air ranks.

Kristen Powers

The most notable on-air addition is the arrival this week of WTAE’s new weekday anchor, who will sit alongside Mike Clark during the 11 p.m. newscast.

With or without the job at Channel 4, Kristen Powers was going to move to Pittsburgh (market No. 26) from Washington, D.C. (market No. 7) because her husband, Dr. Fady Sourial, is beginning his four-year residency in radiation oncology at Allegheny Health Network.

“Yes, D.C. is a larger market, but being able to have a full-time, good position for me that was a big move to be able to expand that aspect within my career,” Powers said in a phone interview last week.

Powers comes to Pittsburgh after three years as a morning news reporter for WJLA-TV, the ABC affiliate in Washington, D.C. She’s happy to sleep in.

“I’m naturally a night owl, so this is good for me,” said Powers, who studied broadcast and electronic communications at Marquette University in her hometown of Milwaukee, Wis., graduating in 2014. She earned a master’s in broadcast and digital journalism from Syracuse University in 2015 and broke into the business as an anchor/reporter in Bakersfield, Calif.

Powers recognizes, as a newcomer to the market, she’s got a lot to learn about local pronunciations (think: North Versailles).

“I’ve had this discussion a lot with my friends in news, because every time we move to a new city you need to get to know the area, get to know the pronunciations,” Powers said. “It’s almost easier as a reporter because we’re in all these areas. It’s actually why this specific position excites me so much because I won’t just be sitting behind the desk. Often, at the beginning of my day, I’ll be able to get out in the community and then be able to place where all these places are.”

Rich Pierce

This week, former Steubenville WTOV-TV anchor Rich Pierce makes the move to his home television market as a general assignment reporter at WPXI-TV.

A 2009 Hopewell High School graduate, Pierce studied broadcast journalism at Kent State University and went straight from there to the WTOV anchor desk in 2013, ending his time there as a 5, 6, 10 and 11 p.m. news anchor and the station’s managing editor. Pierce also reported alongside his anchor job.

While reporting full-time at Channel 11 will be a change, it’s one Pierce said he’s ready for. He declined to say which newscasts he will appear in.

“(Pittsburgh) was the only market where I’ve really ever wanted to end up eventually, and this was the station that I wanted to be at,” said Pierce, who was a summer intern in KDKA-TV’s sports department after his sophomore year of college.

Emily Giangreco

A 2015 West Virginia University grad who studied broadcast journalism and communications, Emily Giangreco got her professional start at KLFY in Lafayette, La., as a multimedia journalist before making the transition to sports a year into her job. She arrives at WTAE-TV next week after a stint as a weekend sports anchor at KVUE-TV in Austin, Texas.

Giangreco said she’s been interested in sports since she was a child. Her grandfather was a Baltimore Orioles season ticket holder who took her to games regularly. Baseball remains her favorite sport.

While a senior at WVU, the Fairfax, Va., native drove up to Pittsburgh and decided she’d move to the city and “hopefully get a television job, unaware of actually how markets work and that I probably would not get hired (in Pittsburgh) right out of school.

“It’s kind of a full-circle moment now, working in Pittsburgh knowing that back then I originally wanted to work here,” said Giangreco, who will anchor sports segments during weekend evening newscasts beginning July 9, replacing Guy Junker, who retired this year. Giangreco also will be involved in sports coverage on three weekdays that have yet to be determined.

Shawn Hoder

While new faces on-screen impact the viewing experience most directly, new leaders behind the scenes also influence what (and who) is on screen.

Shawn Hoder joins KDKA-TV next week as news director, replacing Kathy Hostetter, who left the station this year to become general manager at the CBS-owned station in Baltimore.

A New Cumberland, W.Va., native who has worked since 2019 as a senior executive producer (and later assistant news director) at WTSP-TV in Tampa, Fla., Hoder’s hiring was greeted warmly by many KDKA employees who soured on an interim news director who reportedly (and inconceivably) declared in a meeting, “Pittsburgh is not a sports town,” which also runs counter to KDKA’s programming (“Nightly Sports Call,” “FAN N’ATION”).

“Pittsburgh is definitely a sports town, a proud sports town,” Hoder said. “If the Steelers lose on Sunday, that town is depressed. And I get it. I’m there with them.”

After studying communications at what was then West Liberty State College, Hoder wanted to go into local TV sports coverage. But, after working as a photographer at WPXI-TV in the mid-to-late ’90s, including covering the Steelers in Super Bowl XXX, Hoder realized working in sports meant enjoying sports less.

“I didn’t get to be a fan,” Hoder recalled. “I had to go get ready for the post-game and leave the field and miss the rest of the game.”

For a first-time news director, Hoder has an unusual career path. Yes, he’s crisscrossed the country, moving from market to market, but he’s done it in multiple positions, from photographer/editor/producer in Daytona, Orlando and Seattle to an on-air investigative reporter in Washington, D.C., and Atlanta to an executive producer in Columbus, Ohio.

“I’ve been able to have my hand in every part of the newsroom and understand what it’s like out in the field, what it’s like in the edit bay, what it’s like in the studio,” which Hoder said will help him promote unity, cohesion and a team mentality in the KDKA newsroom. “I’m a high-fiver by nature.”

Hoder said his knowledge of all aspects of a newsroom helps him understand “the value of what everyone brings” and what they need.

“It’s election night, and they’re having pizza in the newsroom. What’s the first thing I think of? What about the people in the field? I was in the field. No one ever sent me food. Little things like that, I think, matter,” Hoder said.

And while he’s not coming into KDKA looking to make changes immediately, he does believe in evolving the news product.

“My position is always listen first,” Hoder said. “But I’m also going to look at what can we do better? What do we need to change? What do we need to keep? If we aren’t evolving in this business, we’re not winning. We’re falling back.”