Koeppen to anchor WPXI 4 p.m. news
Susan Koeppen spent four years as WTAE-TV’s consumer reporter and nine years as a KDKA-TV anchor. Soon, she’ll complete the Pittsburgh broadcast news trifecta by anchoring WPXI-TV’s new 4 p.m. newscast launching Sept. 13.
When Koeppen becomes part of the Channel 11 news team this fall, it will be her first local reporting gig after KDKA-TV laid off her and fellow anchor Rick Dayton in May 2020.
“This is a great opportunity with a great team of people and I could not be more thrilled to help launch the new 4 p.m. newscast at WPXI,” Koeppen said in a statement. “It’s a perfect partnership and I jumped at the chance to be part of this new venture.”
WPXI made the announcement a week after WTAE started a 4 p.m. newscast anchored by Andrew Stockey, Kelly Sasso and meteorologist Jeff Verszyla.
“With ‘ Judge Judy’ ending the production of new shows, and the strong appetite for local news in Pittsburgh, it was a natural choice to launch a 4 p.m. newscast,” said Kevin Hayes, WPXI’s vice president and general manager, in a press release.
The 4 p.m. newscast will contain a mix of breaking news coverage and updates from Severe Weather Team 11. At the anchor desk will be Koeppen, a nine-time Emmy winner who in addition to her 13 years in Pittsburgh also spent seven years as a national correspondent for CBS’s “The Early Show.”
In 2011, Koeppen collapsed while running with friends and suffered a life-threatening cardiac arrest. The experience changed her, she told the Post-Gazette earlier this year.
“I have not once sat down on a couch flipping through the channels looking for something to watch,” Koeppen said. “I really tell my kids every single day, ‘We cannot waste this day! What are we going to do?’ Almost to the point of being annoying.”
Now, she’ll be channeling that energy back into journalism as she helps WPXI break into the 4 p.m. news market.
“We have a great team of experienced, dedicated journalists in our newsroom, so adding someone of Susan’s caliber will only make us better,” WPXI news director Scott Trabandt said in a press release. “Her passion for telling stories and her love for Western Pennsylvania is immediately evident.
“There’s no question why she has been so successful in this market to this point and we’re excited for her to join the Channel 11 team.”