Looking back as Pittsburgh Today Live celebrates 20 years on air
PITTSBURGH (KDKA) -- On Friday, May 10, 2024, Pittsburgh Today Live is celebrating 20 years on the air. From humble beginnings to a morning staple, we're on a journey to revisit the laughter and the unforgettable moments that have shaped two decades of a community and family.
PTL's story begins with a woman in New York who had three names and big glasses: Sally Jesse Raphael.
"KDKA was losing her talk show and thought 'why not do it with a locally-produced program?'" said longtime KDKA employee Jill Neely, who was tasked with being the new show's sole producer.
KDKA's then-news director was imagining it would be a morning news program, but Jill said she and host Jennifer Antkowiak had different ideas.
"Jennifer and I veered off that original course from straight news into more lifestyle features and really found that that was the sweet spot for us," Jill said.
Longtime crew members Marie, Becky and Patty started working at KDKA in the early 1980s. They said they remember how great Jennifer was to work with.
"She was great and fearless, I think, in coming on and being by yourself without a guest and doing craft segments or cooking segments," Jill said.
Rebecca Hower was a KDKA meteorologist in the early 2000s and she'd occasionally get pulled in to co-host the show with Jennifer.
"I did love that whole spontaneity of that show and you could be a little lighter and have a little more fun," Rebecca said. "Really got to meet a lot of amazing people too." One time, Pauly Shore even came in to do the weather with her.
Two years after PTL premiered, there were some changes brewing. That's where Kristine Sorensen came in.
"When Jennifer left the show in 2006, this was a dream come true for me to be able to host this show," Kristine said. "It's something I've always wanted to do -- to be able to do a show where I could learn the things I wanted to learn, share it with the audience at the same time. I needed to learn how to cook, I needed to learn how to garden, how to be a better parent."
"One of the main things I learned about doing television and cooking in particular is to take the absolute smallest bite possible because you will have to talk soon," she added.
Jill said it was great to see another side to Kristine, especially paired with Jon Burnett.
"He's the yin to my yang. We are opposites but complement each other," Kristine said.
And throughout Kristine's time as host, Jill Neely was the one and only producer of PTL.
"I have no idea how one person could do that entire show," Kristine said. The crew remembered that she had a big book and she used a pencil to move things around.
Jill and Kristine both had a love for the local arts, and they infused that into PTL.
"We both saw the show as a great opportunity to support the arts in Pittsburgh, and my gosh, there are so many wonderful organizations here," Jill said.
A decade into PTL's run, the show was attracting some big names.
"Our most famous guest was by far Stevie Wonder. To have such a legend in the studio was really an honor," Kristine said. And when it was over, he invited the whole crew to his concert.
After more than a decade on the show, Kristine stepped away. That's when Heather Abraham came in.
"I know they looked outside for the next host and Heather was in-house and was the perfect fit for the job," Jill said.
Then Pittsburgh Today Live became known as PTL.
"I think it was sort of a trend nationwide for a lot of shows to start going by their initials. So the creative service director said 'I want you to go as PTL.' She came up with our logo, we got merchandise, and we started working it into the copy and it confused a lot of people because of course, they heard 'PTL' and thought 'praise the Lord,'" Jill said. She said one time, someone even came to the door and reported he was there for the "Praise the Lord" show.
In 2019, Heather got a new co-host, and a new best friend when David Highfield came along. Jill called them the "dream team," and Kristine said they had "great chemistry together." There was Ron too, who the crew called "very entertaining."
The town of PTL became a lot more populated with a few more additions. Mikey joined the show. Celina came on board. Then Daisy and finally, Katie and Boaz.
Jill said one of her favorite PTL memories is when they had the Harlem Globetrotters on the same day as Smokey Robinson. While waiting to go on TV, she said the Harlem Globetrotters and Smokey Robinson formed "an immediate friendship." "And then the Globetrotters had him in the studio doing tricks with them," Jill said.
Everything changed again in March of 2020 when a global pandemic hit Pittsburgh.
"It was a challenge for us because we couldn't have guests in the studio. We had to do a lot of stuff with Zoom or we had to get creative," Jill said.
A lot of people had questions about COVID, and Jill said they wanted to share the answers. "And people told us they appreciated it and our ratings grew even more during that time," she said.
In 2021, Jill retired.
"When it was time for me to go, it was hard to walk away after 18 years," she said.
But Jill found the perfect replacement in Krista Kelly, who had been Jill's assistant producer. Then came Teddy, and "the two of them just make the show sing," Jill said.
Jill said she still DVRs the show every day, and she never misses the opening chat.
"I love to see that they're carrying on the legacy and building on it," Jill said.
So what will the next 20 years of PTL look like? Who knows, but as David Highfield would say, "Let's make it a great next two decades, Pittsburgh!" See you in 2044!
PTL Retrospective by Boaz Frankel and videographer Jeff Roupe