Jennifer Antkowiak, who left a plum gig as co-anchor of the 5 p.m. news on KDKA in 2006 to work as a corporate spokeswoman and later to launch a self-titled, self-produced show on WTAE, will return as Channel 2's morning anchor beginning Sept. 21. She replaces Sonni Abatta, who left KDKA to take a job in Orlando.
For both KDKA and Antkowiak it's a pretty smart, savvy move, so much so that when I first got the news I exclaimed something in shock and then chuckled. It's a potentially brilliant move but one I never considered because 1) Antkowiak had completely fallen off my radar; 2) I wasn't sure KDKA would welcome her back after what could have been perceived as disloyalty after her departure. I forgot the cardinal rule of TV: All's fair in competition and ratings and any perceived slights will be forgiven if it means a chance to boost station ratings; and, 3) It's so totally Pittsburgh to bring the past into the present. We're obsessed with things that aren't here anymore, to borrow a Rick Sebak title, whether it's giving directions ("turn left where the Sunoco used to be") or recycling a familiar face.
In the end, the move seems like a probable win-win.
KDKA desperately needs to get some ratings traction in the morning, the only time slot where the station is an also-ran. Antkowiak is a household name and a much-loved one at that, especially among female viewers who long saw her as the daughter/granddaughter they wish they had.
One possible downside: As the Julie Bologna experiment at WPXI has shown, you can't always go home again. Bologna failed to raise ratings at Channel 11 and viewer resentment began to crop up when she was perceived by some viewers as pushing out Mike LaPoint, who got moved to mornings.
KDKA can avoid such perceptions because Antkowiak isn't pushing anyone well-established out (some may argue that Stephanie Watson, who has been filling in mornings and will now return to weekends, gets the short end of the stick, but she was a fill-in and never guaranteed to get the job).
For Antkowiak, the move restores her to a more prominent position. Her "Jennifer" show on WTAE, which will now disappear, never made her into a local "Oprah." A morning news anchor slot is a better position from which to launch her second book on care-giving, due out in October. (Her Web site will depart its current home and move to a new address.)
Time will tell if hiring Antkowiak will help improve KDKA's ratings in the mornings, but it's hard to imagine that it could hurt.
A morning co-anchor for Antkowiak has not yet been named -- this would be the replacement for Keith Jones, whose departure preceded Abatta's -- and probably will not be until after Antkowiak's late-September debut. Antkowiak will not anchor at noon but she may fill in on evening newscasts and do some reporting for those broadcasts. In addition to KDKA's 5-7 a.m. report, Antkowiak will also anchor the 7 a.m. hour on WPCW.
Read about why Antkowiak chose to return in the Post-Gazette.
Posted
Sep 08 2009, 03:04 PM
by
Rob Owen