More cuts
December 18, 2013Rich Walsh will leave WPXI’s (11) sports department and the station come the end of December. The station did not renew Walsh’s contract. The decision was deemed a budget cut and says it is not a performance issue. Meanwhile Walsh is pursuing anything he can. But with a baby on the way for he and his wife, the Pittsburgh natives are not eager to relocate. Walsh has been with WPXI since 2005.
Good luck to Richie Walsh. He’s always a class act anytime I see him out and about.
I agree with Thomas. Richie Walsh IS a class act and as a regular Channel 11 viewer, I will miss his upbeat delivery and on camera presence. In another perhaps related matter, it appears that Kevin Benson was replaced with a new morning weather presenter Valerie Smock. Channel 11 has redone the morning group news promos showing Valerie as part of the group. Was just curious as to the budget with regards to bringing on-board a fourth weather presenter and not renewing Richie Walsh’s contract. I sincerely hope that Kevin Benson will still be around perhaps doing fill-ins or sharing the weekend weather duties with Scott Harbaugh.
It does look as though Valerie Smock is the new person in the morning weather seat. Hmmmm….
The reasons I’ve avoided channel 11 have been so well-documented it’s a small wonder NBC has never done a White Paper on them (just joking on the White Paper part). But on the few occasions I have watched WPXI, I have found Rich Walsh more enjoyable than I have any of the station’s other sports anchors. I find it especially detestable that, in typical corporate fashion, the bean-counters at channel 11’s corporate palace let go someone whose wife has a baby on the way. But, as Earth Wind and Fire once sang, “That’s the way of the word.” Wish you all the best, Rich.