Dimitri adds a station; Oxenreiter not returning to TV

Over in the Ohio Valley region Dimitri Vassilaros, the man who is “Live and Dangerously Local,” has another outlet for his brand of muse. Ohio Midland Newsgroup is simulcasting the program originating on WLYV (1290 Bellaire) and WEIR (1430 Weirton) on 105.5 WBGI-FM Bethlehem-Wheeling.

Vassilaros has been on stations in Florida, California, and in North Carolina, but he has been on the air in Pittsburgh as well. First WTAE-AM (1250) as well as KDKA (1020).

Meanwhile, as of this writing, Alby Oxenreiter’s bio and picture are on the WPXI website, but Oxenreiter hasn’t appeared on Channel 11 in about 2 years. After undergoing heart valve replacement surgery caused by a blood infection, Oxenreiter knew he had a tough road ahead. He tells Rob Owen that his surgery was a success and he is getting better all the time. But he can’t go back to the rigorous schedule and the demands of the job. However, he did say that in his nearly 40 years of time on the air in his hometown he was able to achieve his dream of anchoring evening sports segment on WPXI.

WTAE (4) was the first to bring him on full-time in the mid-late 1980s. In 1996 he moved over to WPGH (53) where he was “The Ox on Fox” which is what the newscast there was built around. When Sinclair signed a news share with WPXI in 2006, Oxenreiter naturally moved over to the station and eventually became sports director there.