PITTSBURGH,None — Channel 11 News anchors Peggy Finnegan and David Johnson are the longest paired Pittsburgh TV news team in local TV history after just celebrating 20 years together behind the news desk.
David and Peggy first started as an anchor team at WPXI in January 1990, although David had been at the station for 5 years before Peggy's arrival.
"You can run into a lot of big egos in broadcasting; Dave is nothing like that. He is smart, a great presence on the news desk, cares about his colleagues in the newsroom and, viewers may not realize, he is very funny. David has been making me laugh out loud for 20 years! Maybe we work so well together because I laugh at all his silly jokes," Peggy said.
"I think we're very similar in many ways. I may be Jewish and she's Catholic, and I'm from Florida and she's from Chicago, but we grew up with classic middle-class backgrounds with a strong sense of family. We genuinely like each other - that never hurts," David said.
Through The Years; TV Promos Featuring David & Peggy
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Pittsburghers have come to know and trust David and Peggy as a team and many times they're even mistaken for being husband and wife.
"It happens a couple of times every year and always makes me laugh. But, if people believe we are a pair, it's a compliment, because it means we have a natural chemistry and that only helps us on the anchor desk," Peggy said.
One of seven children, Peggy grew up in suburban Chicago, and is now married with four children of her own.
She graduated from Marquette University with a Bachelor of Arts in Broadcast Communications, and her notable career started in Vero Beach, Florida at WTTB Radio. She then reported and anchored at WREX-TV in Rockford, Illinois, and at WIXT-TV in Syracuse, New York, which led her to Pittsburgh.
"I came to Pittsburgh with the intention of spending a few years at Channel 11 and then moving to a bigger market," Peggy said. But I met my husband, Mike Donnelly, a Pittsburgh native, eight months after I arrived in the 'burgh and that was that! I love my adopted city."
"I think we both never thought we'd be here this long," David said. "We both fell in love with this great city. It definitely grows on you. It's an undiscovered treasure among U.S. cities."
David was born in Jacksonville, Florida, and grew up near Daytona Beach. While earning a Bachelor of Science in Broadcasting at the University of Florida, David began his career in television. He worked on the air in Gainesville, Jacksonville, Chattanooga, Orlando and Atlanta.
It was in Atlanta at WSB-TV that David met his wife, Nancy. The couple has two sons, Michael and Eric, who were both born and raised in Pittsburgh.
"Pittsburgh is special, and it's now my home," David said.
David and Peggy say the 20-year milestone means so much to them both.
"It means everything. What a blessing to have been paired with such a wonderful person for so long! I'm very lucky, not only to have had this great job at this great station for so long, but to have Peggy as my partner all this time. Couldn't ask for more," David said.
"To spend 20 years at the same station, with the same co-anchor, is rare in broadcasting and I feel very blessed to work beside a man for whom I have such affection and respect," Peggy said.
Congratulations to Peggy and David!
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