Meet Team PTL
Pittsburgh Today Live brings the best of Pittsburgh to you! Food, entertainment, travel, health and people you should know.
Meet Team PTL here!
Heather Abraham
Heather Abraham and David Highfield co-host Pittsburgh Today Live weekday mornings.
It was an exciting homecoming for Heather when she joined KDKA in 2010. She grew up in Shaler Township and graduated from Shaler Area High School. Her desire to get into news started there with the morning announcements. She continued her education at West Virginia University where she studied Broadcast News.
Before moving back home, she reported at News 12 Brooklyn, a 24-hour cable news station in New York City. Heather spent four years covering everything Brooklyn as a reporter, photographer, and editor. She says it was her time in Brooklyn that prepared her the most for the next step in her career.
Heather is an award winning journalist. She has been nominated for several Emmys. She also won a Golden Quill award for her reporting on a 7-alarm fire in Homestead. Growing in her on-air role on PTL, she was also nominated for an Emmy for hosting the show.
Being an active part of the community is very important to Heather. She's been involved with the Special Olympics of Pennsylvania, even taking part in their annual polar plunge fundraiser, as well as Hair Peace Charities, Animal Friends, and the KDKA-TV Turkey Fund. Her community involvement, though, includes being a good neighbor! She established an annual block party and helped to create a safe Light Up Night on her street during the 2020 COVID pandemic.
When she's not anchoring or hosting, Heather loves spending time with her family. Her husband Frank is a City of Pittsburgh firefighter. They have two girls and welcomed a baby boy to their family in 2019. They also have two dogs and decided to add to the chaos by adding two pet fish to the mix!
David Highfield
David and Heather Abraham co-host Pittsburgh Today Live weekday mornings. He also anchors the KDKA-TV Morning News with Lindsay Ward.
He's won 12 Mid-Atlantic Emmy Awards, for both hosting and reporting. He's also won two regional Edward R. Murrow Awards: One for his report on a possible connection between Marcellus Shale drilling and earthquakes, and one for an examination of how smoke detectors often don't wake up children.
In addition, he's won Golden Quills for feature reporting, awards from the Pennsylvania Associated Press Broadcasters Association, and a Matrix award for flood coverage.
David created, hosted and executive produced the Emmy award-winning "Your Pittsburgh," an evening newsmagazine that ran for seven years on KDKA.
He got his start at KDKA as a writer in 1991 before being promoted to a newscast producer. Then he went in front of the camera, first as the Westmoreland County Bureau Chief and later as the Beaver/Butler Bureau Chief. He also spent years as an 11 p.m. reporter and fill-in anchor, and in 2020 became the anchor of KDKA News at Noon.
His hometown inducted him into the Ford City Hall of Fame in 2008, and in 2013, he was inducted into the Armstrong County Sports Hall of Fame for numerous sports-related stories he's covered over the years.
He has donated his time to local charities including The KDKA-TV Turkey Fund, Animal Friends, Persad Center, Hair Peace, American Red Cross, Muscular Dystrophy Association, Cystic Fibrosis Foundation and Progressive Workshop of Armstrong County.
David played a news reporter in the 2009 short film "Tommy and Me." It was produced by Fleadh Films and benefited Operation Safety Net, which helps people who are homeless.
David attended Ford City High School and graduated from the S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications at Syracuse University with high honors.
He lives in Lawrenceville with his husband Gary.
Ron Smiley
Ron is the meteorologist and contributor on Pittsburgh Today Live weekday mornings.
For nearly a decade, Meteorologist Ron Smiley has been helping get the people of Western Pennsylvania get their mornings started off right with an upbeat and accurate weather report on KDKA.
Before landing in Pittsburgh, Ron forecasted in parts of Tornado Alley in Arkansas, tracked hurricanes in New Orleans, and dealt with his first real winter weather forecast in Indianapolis. There's not a lot in the way of weather that Ron hasn't seen. Even with 25 years in the business now, Ron still tries to treat every forecast with the respect it deserves.
"With all the microclimates in Western Pennsylvania, this is by far the hardest place I have ever forecast. There are no easy days when it comes to forecasting here in Western Pennsylvania. The weather here will humble you quickly."
In Ron's free time, you'll find him out at local festivals and markets with his two daughters, Haley and Chloe. You also may see him out with his fiancée, Bethany. Bethany also has two kids.
Mikey Hood
Pittsburgh native Mikey Hood joined KDKA in March 2019. She appears on PTL and Talk Pittsburgh
Mikey has had a public presence in Pittsburgh for quite some time through her on-line show PghSpot, a platform she created to highlight the movers and shakers in the 'Burgh!
Mikey grew up in the East End of Pittsburgh and graduated from Taylor Allderdice High School. Her desire to get into TV started as a kid, when she would interview and produce pretend commercials for all of her friends. She is a graduate of the University of Pittsburgh where she studied Writing and Communications.
When Mikey is not on Pittsburgh Today Live and Talk Pittsburgh, she loves spending time with her husband, young son, dog Wilson, close friends and on long hikes.
Daisy Jade
Pittsburgh native Daisy Jade is a Film/TV Actress, TV Host, and Producer. She is a lifestyles' reporter for Pittsburgh Today Live, co-hosts Fan N'ation and is on-air talent for Pittsburgh's CW.
In 2021, Daisy's show Fan N'ation won second place for a Keystone Media Award and was nominated for a Mid-Atlantic Emmy. In 2022, Fan N'ation won a Keystone Media Award for Best Regularly Scheduled News or Sports Talk Program.
Before joining KDKA-TV / Pittsburgh's CW Green Team in March 2016, Daisy's acting career began in 1999 when she was cast in her first national commercial spot. She found a love for hosting, including a national show for NASA and Fil-AM TV highlighting the Filipino community in Hampton Roads, Virginia. She is a proud member of SAG-AFTRA, appearing in numerous national and regional shows, commercials, and industrials.
She is also involved with various film organizations in Pittsburgh, including Women in Film and Media Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh Film Industry Association (PAFIA), and volunteers for Steeltown's Elly Awards as well as the Pittsburgh Film Office's Lights! Glamour! Action! events every year.
Daisy graduated from the University of Pittsburgh with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Theater Arts and a Film Studies Certificate in December of 2002.
Outside of work, Daisy loves trying any form of dancing (hip hop, ballroom, salsa), visiting new restaurants/bars or hot spots in Pittsburgh, attending sporting events, and checking out new movies or live plays/musicals around town. She also loves traveling and runs a short-term vacation rental in Virginia Beach - Creekside Getaway.
Daisy was recently nominated and selected by the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation as a member of the 2022 Pittsburgh's 50 Finest Class, to bring awareness and raise funds for the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation.
Katie O'Malley
Katie O'Malley is an Emmy Award-winning broadcast professional, TV personality and Pittsburgh native with a passion for sports, storytelling and connecting with people. Katie joined Team PTL in June of 2023. She is a Yinzer through and through and cherishes the opportunity to showcase our beautiful city and the extraordinary people throughout the region as a reporter for Pittsburgh Today Live.
Katie has a degree in Journalism & Mass Communication from the University of Colorado, Boulder. Katie's inherent curiosity and passion for sports and television production led her to a 12-year career in sports in entertainment, including six seasons as a radio and TV host for the Pittsburgh Penguins, stints covering the Pittsburgh Pirates and Colorado Rockies, the Denver Broncos, various NCAA events, high school football broadcasts in Denver and Pittsburgh, and working for two different regional sports networks in Denver and Pittsburgh.
Most recently, Katie served the City of Pittsburgh as the Deputy Press Secretary in the Office of Mayor William Peduto for five years where she had her finger on the pulse of daily communications coming in and out of City Hall, produced special events on behalf of the Mayor's Office and started the Canine Ambassador Program in 2016 with her beloved Golden Retriever, River (2014-2024.) City Hall is also where she met and fell in love with her husband, Kevin.
Outside of work, Katie is the proud stepmom to three beautiful, amazing kids - George, Teddy and Caroline. Katie and her husband Kevin have been married since 2021 and reside in North Point Breeze with their family. When not working or at a hockey rink, Katie enjoys spending time with her family and friends, going to sporting events and concerts and dining at the amazing restaurants throughout Pittsburgh.
Celina Pompeani Mathison
An Emmy Award-winning TV personality and Pittsburgh native, Celina Pompeani Mathison is a Pittsburgh Today Live lifestyles' reporter.
Before joining the KDKA-TV Morning News Team in October 2017, Celina's career in local news began in January 2013, when she was hired at WTOV-9 in Steubenville, Ohio, during her senior year of college at Point Park University.
After graduating Magna Cum Laude from Point Park University with a Bachelor of Arts degree in broadcasting in December 2013, a semester ahead of her scheduled graduation, Celina continued to work as the weekend news anchor and general assignment reporter at WTOV-9, up until September 2014, when she accepted a job at the Pittsburgh Penguins as in-arena host and PensTV Host. Celina continued to work at the Penguins up through the end of the 2022-23 hockey season, before having her son, Sonny!
In 2015, Celina won her first Mid-Atlantic Emmy Award, for her weekly entertainment segment on PensTV, Pens Trends! Celina was then hired as KDKA's Morning Traffic Anchor in 2017, before transitioning to Pittsburgh Today Live. She loves telling the good stories of our Pittsburghers, and loves meeting new people on the job.
Celina was nominated and selected by the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation as a member of the 2015 Pittsburgh's 50 Finest Class. She raised $8,000 for the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation.
Celina is also very involved with the Mario Lemieux Foundation, serving as a member of their millennial committee.
Outside of work, Celina loves spending time with her husband, Mac, and their son, Sonny!
Krista Kelley
From a small town in Iowa to sports' biggest stage, Krista Kelley has covered everything from the Olympics to the Daytona 500 … from the NCAA tournament to the NFL. She has worked alongside and shared the microphone with some of the greatest names in sports broadcasting, including Pat Summerall, Mike Tirico, and Bob Costas.
A journalism professional with 20+ years experience at the network level of sports and entertainment broadcasting, Krista spent the better part of two decades in front of the camera. Now she serves as the executive producer of Pittsburgh Today Live and Talk Pittsburgh.
Prior to joining KDKA, Krista was the host of NBC's NASCAR coverage.
Each week, she kicked off the network's broadcast and stood on the title stage crowning the season champion. While with NBC, Krista was also one of the first females in a play-by-play role in the sport, calling practice sessions at NASCAR's highest level. She hosted Olympics and Triple Crown programming, including The Kentucky Derby.
Before joining NBC, Krista worked for Fox Sports where she covered NASCAR, the NFL, and The Cotton Bowl.
Her television work, prior to the network level, included regional sports affiliates, Speed Channel, and WLEX in Lexington, Kentucky.
- Follow Krista Kelley: Instagram
Krista grew up in Clinton, Iowa, and graduated from The University of Northern Iowa with a Broadcast Journalism degree, majoring in Electronic Media and minoring in Business Communications.
Krista lives with her husband and daughter (& dog) in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
In their free time, they can be found working on the family farm … tending to cows, goats, and chickens.
Krista doesn't herd cats on the farm … she saves that for her day job!
Seriously, she loves sharing Pittsburgh stories and bringing joy and levity into Western Pennsylvania homes.
Teddy Stevenson
Teddy Stevenson is thrilled to be back in Pittsburgh after several years spent in Los Angeles helping to create film, TV, and streaming magic.
After graduating from the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, he's made his way through a handful of levels of production and post-production, working as an editor, production coordinator, and producer. He spent several years after working for the Executive Producer of reality hits SELLING SUNSET (Netflix), THE HILLS (MTV), and THE CITY (MTV) helping developing shows and getting multiple pilots off the ground.
In total, the content he has produced has garnered a few billion views on streaming platforms and online.
Follow Teddy Stevenson: X | Instagram
In 2018 and 2019, he coordinated the music videos and docuseries surrounding Justin Bieber's "comeback album" (he didn't really go anywhere though, did he?) titled "Changes." Teddy is most proud of the fact that he was able to get a grand piano airlifted onto a mountain in Malibu with less than 24 hours notice, but doesn't recommend anyone else try it!!!
In his down time, you're most likely to find Teddy at the movies, a live show, or reading entertainment news ... or playing his Nintendo Switch and Minecraft when he's especially okay with wasting time.
Maria DeBone
Maria is thrilled to return to her hometown and be back at KDKA! Maria interned in the summer of 2019 and mainly worked with Pittsburgh Today Live, so she could not be more excited to now be the Associate Producer for PTL and continue her career where it began almost five years ago.
Maria is a Pittsburgh native who grew up in Murrysville and graduated from Franklin Regional High School. Her passion for news started there when she became involved with their morning announcement show. She continued her education at Kent State University where she studied Broadcast Journalism. She wanted to learn as much as she could about this business so she never sat still during college, being heavily involved in Kent's college TV station and completing several internships; WBTV in Charlotte, North Carolina, ABC News in Washington D.C., and KDKA! Maria feels her current job was meant to be and that it's really a full circle moment!
Before coming back to KDKA, she worked as a reporter at WBTW in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, and then as a reporter at WXII in Winston-Salem, North Carolina.
Some fun facts about her ... she has a cat named Phoebe (yes, it is a reference to the TV show, "Friends"), is a huge Taylor Swift fan, and has seen her every time she's performed in Pittsburgh and even met her once! When she's not working, you can find Maria listening to Taylor's music while riding her bike or wearing her black and gold, rooting on the Steelers, Pirates, and Penguins!
Jeff Roupe
Pittsburgh Today Live Videographer Jeff Roupe marked 20 years with KDKA in 2022. He joined the news team in 2002 and has covered both the heartfelt and the heartbreaking stories of Pittsburgh. From the crash of Flight 93 in Somerset County on 9/11 to Super Bowl and Stanley Cup victories for the Steelers and Penguins.
Jeff hails from Bridgeport, West Virginia. He's a huge WVU fan! Go Mountaineers!! He attended West Virginia University and Fairmont State College.
He started his news career in 1988 at WDTV in his hometown, and made stops in 1994 at WSAZ in Charleston, West Virginia, and in 1995 at WXII in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, where he was a sports photographer covering the 1996 Olympic Games in Atlanta, ACC Basketball and the Carolina Panthers.
In 2000, Jeff's career brought him to Pittsburgh where he worked for two years at WPGH-Fox 53 before joining KDKA.
One of his highlights was traveling to Hawaii to cover the Pro Bowl with KDKA-TV Sports Director Bob Pompeani. Now, Jeff spends most of his days covering Pittsburgh's good news with Bob's daughter, Celina Pompeani-Mathison, on Pittsburgh Today Live. Jeff joined the PTL team in 2019 and loves telling the fun and quirky stories of Pittsburghers.
- Follow Jeff Roupe: X
Jeff has brought home several awards in his time as a videographer. He's an Emmy Award winner, AP Award winner, Golden Quill winner, and has an Ed Romero Memorial Award for Videography.
When he's not behind the camera for PTL, he's spending time with his family. He and his wife, Jen, have two daughters. Julia is away in college in Boston and Jordan plays for the high school lacrosse and basketball teams. They love their 9-year-old beagle, Riley. But, just to warn you, he's a howler!