Muller back in picture at ’PIX
JOHN Muller loved ABC News, but the lure of WPIX and eight hours of sleep was in the end just too strong.
Muller, a popular anchor on the morning and evening news at Ch. 11/WPIX from 2000 to 2011, will return starting June 23. He will reunite with Tamsen Fadal to coanchor the 5 and 10 o’clock weeknight newscasts.
Scott Stanford, who had taken over the coanchor spot with Fadal in 2011 when Muller moved to ABC News, will become the lead WPIX sports anchor.
WPIX has been working to rebuild its evening newscast for several years, and Muller says the station’s commitment to that goal is one reason he returned.
“Working at ABC News was invaluable,” says Muller, whose roles there included filling in on “Good Morning America” and anchoring “World News Now” and “ABC This Morning.” “Not a day will go by when I won’t daydream about ABC.
“But this was just too great an opportunity. WPIX and I run deep. I spent half my career here.”
Working with Fadal again was also a big lure.
“You couldn’t ask for a better co-anchor,” he says. “We’ve known each other for years.” There’s a bonus. “Tamsen is a master of social media,” says Muller. “I had to be dragged kicking and screaming into it, but she’s my guru, and we know that has to be part of anything you do in news these days.”
Muller will also do some reporting, he says, and in between he hopes to get a good night’s sleep.
“I’ve done mornings for 15 of the past 17 years,” he says. “So I’m looking forward to a schedule where I can actually get eight hours of sleep a night and maybe play an occasional round of golf.”