Channel Surfing
by Laura Nachman
Bucks County Courier Times
1/28/01
KYW-3 sports director Beasley Reece will be covering his old team, the New York Giants, for Super Bowl XXXV Sunday in Tampa Bay. Reece played defensive back for the Giants from 1977-1983. Reece also played for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers from 1983-1985 before starting his television career in St. Petersburg, FL. FYI: Allyce Beasley, best known as the ditzy “Ms. Dipesto” on the ‘80’s series “Moonlighting,” took her stage name from Reece as her boyfriend at the time was a big Giants fan. Besides working for KYW-3, Reece will be moonlighting as the pre-game host for CBS radio for the New York/Baltimore game.
After spending most of the ‘90’s moving up and down the east coast, Lisa Mishler, class of ’85 from Pennsbury High is glad to be back home as weekend morning anchor and weekday reporter at NBC-10. After graduating with a broadcast journalism degree from Boston University, Mishler worked in Wildwood, Lancaster, Orlando, and Boston before landing at NBC-10 in 1999.
Mishler who grew up in Yardley, said she always knew she wanted to be a journalist as she watched anchors Diane Allen and Larry Kane and current colleague Sheila Allen-Stephens on Channel 10 in the 80’s. The former Pennsbury cheerleader recently returned to her alma mater to speak to a visual media class that she once took there as a student. Her family owns the Village Market restaurant in Newtown, which came in handy when Lisa got her start in TV down the shore. “When you first start out in television, the money isn’t great, so on the weekends I’d return home and make hoagies at my family’s restaurant,” she laughed. After Wildwood, Mishler worked in Lancaster, Orlando, and Boston.
While working in Boston, Lisa called NBC-10 news director Steve Schwaid to see if there were any openings at NBC-10. “I was from Bucks County, and had experience in the South Jersey and Lancaster markets.” She was hired on a freelance basis, then six months later, promoted to a full-time position.
Lisa lives in Yardley with her husband Kevin, who she met at Boston University, and is expecting her first child in May. She gets many emails from her old high school classmates and teachers. And since she’s on the air on Saturdays and Sundays, she doesn’t have time to make hoagies on the weekends anymore.
There won’t be “film at 11,” or at any time for Philly TV News, renamed Philadelphia Television Network, whose final broadcast was Thursday, January 18, and fired General Manager Jim Sweeney the following day. Philly TV News, which began in January 2000 struggled through most of its existence, and let go about half of its staff in mid-December. PTN will air “national urban entertainment,” and produce entertainment and business programming. The only on-air survivors are entertainment reporter Cathie Mae who hosts “Street Sounds,” business reporter Mary Fay, and anchor Maurice Browne, who hosts the talk show “Philly Feedback.” Also, around a half dozen behind-the-scenes people will remain to produce programs such as “Adopt a Pet,” and an upcoming gay and lesbian oriented talk show. Former Philly TV News staffers site lack of funds and publicity as the main reasons for the newscast’s downfall. Sweeney added that the station was losing too much money to continue producing a daily newscast. Philly TV News also suffered from a bad signal and a December fire that destroyed its transmitter.
On the other end of the spectrum, “Fresh Air at 25 with Terry Gross,” airs on WHYY-TV, February 14 at 9:30. “Fresh Air,” which is produced locally at WHYY radio is heard on over 300 National Public Radio stations.
And see the coolest cars of the season, when 6ABC airs “Philly on Wheels: The 2001 Philadelphia International Auto Show Preview,” live Saturday, February 3rd at 7PM hosted by “Philly After Midnight’s” Wally Kennedy and Karen Rogers. No word if “that” Action News van will be on display.