Kevin Benson

Last updated
Kevin Benson
Born1959 (age 62–63) [1]
Brockway, Pennsylvania
Alma mater Gannon University
OccupationTelevision meteorologist

Kevin Benson is an American meteorologist. He is best known for his tenure with WPXI in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. He is a member of the National Weather Association and the American Meteorological Society, which has given him the AMS seal of approval. [2]

Benson was born in Brockway, Pennsylvania and graduated from Gannon University in Erie, Pennsylvania. [3]

He held early radio jobs in Erie and DuBois, Pennsylvania, subsequently becoming a weather forecaster on Erie's WJET-TV. [3] He then became a weekend-afternoon DJ at Pittsburgh's WTAE-AM. He joined WPXI, Pittsburgh's NBC affiliate, in September 1987 as part-time weatherman. In June 1990, he became a WPXI co-anchor on the Pittsburgh television market's first Saturday morning news program. The experiment was a success and the format was expanded to include Sunday mornings. [1]

While working part-time at WPXI, Benson pursued a second career in beer sales. During the early 1980s, he worked for Stroh Brewery Company's Erie offices; he was a brand manager for Iron City Beer from 1984 to 1987; and from the late 1980s to the early 1990s, he helped rescue a struggling Anheuser-Busch wholesale distributor in Canonsburg, Pennsylvania. [1] These jobs took him throughout every small town in Western Pennsylvania, allowing him to become intimately familiar with the geography of the region, a skill that aided him as a weatherman. [1]

Benson was described to have had his TV career's "defining moment" during the Blizzard of 1993, in which he and a co-anchor were on the air for most of an entire weekend. [1] Co-workers were unable to get to the station to relieve them because of the snow-covered roads. Benson said the incident "really put me on the map".

In 1998, WPXI hired Benson full-time. [4]

He graduated in 2003 from the meteorology training program at Mississippi State University, receiving a certificate in broadcast meteorology.

A Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reporter criticized a 2006 WPXI gasoline giveaway presented by Benson because it allowed "commercialism to invade the bounds of the newscast". [5]

After reporting the weather on weekends for almost all of his years at WPXI, the station moved Benson to weekday mornings in April 2012. [6] Benson returned to weekends in December 2013.

Benson was charged with DUI as a result of a traffic stop by a PA State trooper in October 2019. The stop occurred on Interstate 70, south of Pittsburgh, as a result of a call to 911 of an erratic driver on the highway. Benson's Blood Alcohol was reported to be 0.311, almost 4 times Pennsylvania's legal limit of 0.08. Traces of benzoylecgonine, a metabolite of cocaine, was also found in his system. [7]

Scott Trabandt, WPXI News director, confirmed on November 19, 2019 that Benson was no longer with the station. Trabandt declined to elaborate on the circumstances. When reached by phone by the Tribune-Review, Benson declined to comment. There have been no reports as to whether Mr. Benson was dismissed by the station, or if he resigned. [8]

Related Research Articles

Gannon University Private university in Erie, Pennsylvania, U.S.

Gannon University is a private Catholic university in Erie, Pennsylvania. Gannon University has approximately 4,500 students and 46,000 alumni. Its intercollegiate athletics include 18 athletic programs for men and women competing at the NCAA Division II level.

WTAE-TV ABC affiliate in Pittsburgh

WTAE-TV is a television station in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States, affiliated with ABC. It has been owned by Hearst Television since the station's inception, making this one of two stations that have been built and signed on by Hearst. WTAE's studios are located on Ardmore Boulevard in the suburb of Wilkinsburg, and its transmitter is located in Buena Vista, Pennsylvania.

WPXI NBC affiliate in Pittsburgh

WPXI is a television station in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States, affiliated with NBC and owned by Cox Media Group. The station's offices and studios are located on Evergreen Road in the Summer Hill neighborhood of Pittsburgh. Its transmitter is on Television Hill in the Fineview section of the city, at the site of the station's original studio location.

WPGH-TV Fox affiliate in Pittsburgh

WPGH-TV is a television station in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States, affiliated with the Fox network. It is owned by Sinclair Broadcast Group alongside MyNetworkTV affiliate WPNT. Both stations share studios on Ivory Avenue in the city's Summer Hill neighborhood, where WPGH-TV's transmitter is also located.

Paul Douglas is the stage name of Douglas Paul Kruhoeffer, a meteorologist, author, entrepreneur, and software expert in Minneapolis-St.Paul, Minnesota. He has over 30 years of broadcast television and radio experience.

Fritz Coleman American journalist

Fritz Coleman is a retired weathercaster, who worked for NBC Channel 4 (KNBC) in Los Angeles, California from 1982 to 2020.

WJET-TV is a television station in Erie, Pennsylvania, United States, affiliated with ABC. It is owned by Nexstar Media Group, which provides certain services to Fox affiliate WFXP under a local marketing agreement (LMA) with Mission Broadcasting. Both stations share studios on US 19/Peach Street in Summit Township, where WJET-TV's transmitter is also located.

WJAC-TV NBC/CW+ affiliate in Johnstown, Pennsylvania

WJAC-TV is a television station licensed to Johnstown, Pennsylvania, United States, serving the Johnstown–Altoona–State College market as an affiliate of NBC and The CW Plus. It is owned by Sinclair Broadcast Group, which provides certain services to Johnstown-licensed Fox affiliate WWCP-TV, channel 8 and Altoona-licensed ABC affiliate WATM-TV, channel 23 under a shared services agreement (SSA).

Kevin O'Connell is an American broadcast personality.

Maria LaRosa is an American meteorologist who worked for The Weather Channel in Atlanta, Georgia. She now works for NBC News.

Joseph William DeNardo was an American meteorologist best known for his work at WTAE-TV in Pittsburgh. He was known for his 1994 campaign, "Joe Said It Would." DeNardo resided in Moon Township, Pennsylvania, with his wife of almost 60 years. When he retired in 2005, after 45 years on the air, he enjoyed "iconic" status among Pittsburghers.

John Coleman (meteorologist) American television weatherman and co-founder of The Weather Channel (1934-2018)

John Stewart Coleman was an American television weatherman. Along with Frank Batten, he co-founded The Weather Channel and briefly served as its Chief Executive Officer and President. He retired from broadcasting in 2014 after nearly 61 years, having worked the last 20 years at KUSI-TV in San Diego.

John Fedko is a semi-retired American television sportscaster. He is the former sports director and anchor for Channel 11 Pittsburgh (WPXI). Fedko also reported for Channel 11 News at 6 and 11 pm, and hosted the Fedko Fone Zone, a local sports call-in show on Pittsburgh Cable News Channel (PCNC).

James Max Spann Jr. is a television meteorologist and podcast host based in Birmingham, Alabama. He currently works for WBMA-LD, Birmingham's ABC affiliate. Spann has worked in the field since 1978. He is also the host of the weekly podcast WeatherBrains which he started in 2006.

Keenan Smith is an American television broadcaster who is a reporter/anchor for the morning and noon newscasts at WXYZ-TV in Detroit, Michigan. Smith joined the network around September 2010 and served as the morning and noon meteorologist up until March 2018. WXYZ-TV meteorologist Kevin Jeanes succeeded him with this role in the same time frame. Prior to his employment at WXYZ-TV, he was at WPTV in West Palm Beach, Florida, from 2008 to 2010 and WGN-TV and CLTV in Chicago, Illinois, before that.

Jodine M. Costanzo is an American television news reporter in Pittsburgh and a former television news anchor in Cleveland, Chicago and Pittsburgh.

Julie Bologna is an American television meteorologist. Bologna was with WFAA in Dallas, Texas from April 7, 2012, to April 12, 2015, prior to which she was the chief meteorologist for WPXI in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania until 2011.

Wes Hohenstein American television meteorologist

Wes Hohenstein is an American on-camera meteorologist for WNCN in Raleigh, North Carolina who holds the American Meteorological Society Seal of Approval. Hohenstein brings viewers the weather on CBS 17 at 5, 6 and 11 p.m. and has worked for WNCN since 2006. He has also worked in Louisiana, Utah, Texas and Arizona. While in Houston, he was known for the Sunshine Award, where he visited schools across southeast Texas in the station's helicopter nearly every day. He also had the misfortune of swallowing a bug live on TV one day during his weather broadcast and, thanks to the Internet, made news all around the world.

Erica Grow American meteorologist and television reporter

Erica Alicia Grow-Cei is an American meteorologist and television reporter for WPIX Channel 11 in New York City.

Jennifer "Jen" Carfagno is an American television meteorologist, currently working for The Weather Channel (TWC), co-hosting AMHQ from 6 to 9 am weekdays with Stephanie Abrams and Jim Cantore.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 Rutkoski, Rex (August 24, 2012). "Weatherman Kevin Benson to mark 25 years at WPXI-TV". Pittsburgh Tribune-Review . Retrieved August 26, 2012.
  2. ↑ "Kevin Benson". Biography. WPXI. Retrieved August 27, 2012.
  3. 1 2 "Kevin Benson: WPXI, weekend morning co-anchor, weekend evening weathercaster". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette . February 9, 2003. Archived from the original on July 8, 2019. Retrieved August 25, 2012.
  4. ↑ Vancheri, Barbara (Apr 18, 1998). "Della Crews rejects job switch, leaves WPXI". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette .
  5. ↑ Owen, Rob (May 12, 2006). "WPXI contests again". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette .
  6. ↑ Sciullo, Maria (2012-04-25). "TV/Radio Notes: Mike LaPoint, Kevin Benson switch at WPXI; Burton leaving The Fan for TV". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette . Retrieved August 26, 2012.
  7. ↑ Bradbury, Shelly (November 6, 2019). "WPXI weatherman Kevin Benson charged with DUI". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette .
  8. ↑ Lee, Madasyn (November 19, 2019). "Meteorologist Kevin Benson no longer with WPXI". Pittsburgh Tribune-Review .
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.