Arena leaving WPXI for home

After a decade, WPXI anchor Joe Arena will sign off from the station on June 26. Arena told the Trib’s Rob Owen that the departure is bittersweet in that he and his family love Pittsburgh, but he’s dreamed of anchoring the news in his hometown of New York. It also means his growing children will get to see their relatives more often.

Arena was hired in 2012 as a weekday morning anchor, but was moved to weekend mornings and a weekday reporter in 2019. While he had co-anchored with Susan Koeppen during the 4:00 p.m. newscasts in November and May sweeps, no permanent position came out of it. Instead he will be at Long Island’s Channel 12 – a 24-hour cable news station where he will be a lead afternoon and evening anchor.