Peggy Finnegan back on WPXI-TV for Winter Olympics
There’s a solid argument to be made that Peggy Finnegan has the cushiest gig of any broadcast journalist in Pittsburgh right now.
The longtime WPXI-TV anchor officially retired from Channel 11 in November 2020 with the understanding that she would make occasional returns for special events. Finnegan made good on that promise last summer when she briefly came back to WPXI to help out with its Tokyo Summer Olympics coverage.
Local news viewers can catch Finnegan again on Channel 11 as she returned Friday to the anchor desk as part of the station’s coverage of the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing, China. She will be on the anchor desk of WPXI’s 5 and 6 p.m. newscasts through Feb. 18. She says she’s a diehard Olympics enthusiast who is excited to cover one of her favorite pastimes.
“With COVID and all these simmering tensions around the world, I think it’s the perfect timing,” Finnegan told the Post-Gazette. “Just sit back and enjoy the amazing feats that humans are capable of.”
She believes the Olympics “really has the power to unite all the world” for a few weeks at least. Watching world-class athletes compete against each other while coexisting peacefully in close proximity is “good medicine right now” for Finnegan.
She said she is most looking forward to the “art and beauty” of the various skating competitions and the “death-defying” tricks that the snowboarders pull off. She’s particularly rooting for American snowboarder Shaun White in what might be the 35-year-old’s last Olympics.
As a news anchor, one of Finnegan’s jobs is to localize an event taking place halfway across the world. It was a slightly easier task during the Summer Olympics when there were more athletes with Western Pennsylvania ties, but she has no trouble getting pumped for the Winter Olympics.
“It’s all local when it’s on a world stage,” she said. “Anyone on the U.S. team is on my team. ... Rooting for those athletes that have spent their lives getting to this moment is a level of excitement that’s incomparable, I think.”
Coming off the bench at WPXI for two Olympics in a row is an ideal work- life balance for
Finnegan. “We have a really nice shop” at Channel 11, she said, and she misses being around her colleagues.
Getting to see them all again during the Summer Olympics was a thrill matched only by being back in the studio again for the Winter Olympics.
“It’s great to be retired, but you always miss your work family, especially after working somewhere for three decades-plus,” Finnegan said. “It really is nice to occasionally be able to go back and see the people you care about.”