KDKA newscaster Patrice King Brown to retire
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Patrice King Brown to retire.
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Patrice King Brown, a friendly, familiar face to Pittsburgh viewers for more than three decades, announced her retirement to her KDKA-TV co-workers Tuesday, capping a career that began in a beauty pageant and took her to the top of Pittsburgh TV news as co-anchor of the station's most-viewed evening newscasts.
Her last day on the air will be Jan. 28.
Ms. Brown, 56, a former Miss Teenage America runner-up, has been in front of the cameras all of her adult life. She grew up in the Sheraden section of Pittsburgh and attended Langley High School.
After graduating from West Virginia University, she worked briefly as an account executive for a Pittsburgh radio station and joined KDKA-TV in October 1978 as co-host of the talk variety show "Pittsburgh 2 Day."
Twelve years later, Ms. Brown became an Eyewitness News Team member, serving as talk show host, reporter and, finally, anchor. She was among the first African-American women in the country to hold 6 and 11 p.m. anchor slots.
It was in 1994, in covering the crash of USAirways Flight 427, that Ms. Brown and longtime co-anchor Stacy Smith earned an Emmy award for their coverage of the Beaver County tragedy.
Other honors include the Bill Burns Award for outstanding journalistic achievement (2007) from the Rooney Foundation; the Richard Caliguiri Award for Best Ambassador for Pittsburgh (1999); and Vector's Women of the Year in Communications (2006).
Ms. Brown did not return calls requesting comment.
Mr. Smith said he couldn't remember exactly when he and Ms. Brown first shared the desk: "It was so long ago, I want to say 1991 or '92."
"This is going to be extremely difficult for me. She's been my partner on the 11 o'clock news, and of course, for the 5, we premiered that together, and 4 and 6 ... through all the years, I don't know how to put this any better, we were yin and yang together.
"Whether it was working on breaking news like Flight 427 or the Quecreek mine disaster, early on we developed this rapport where one talks and the other one knows when to take over.
"There was never a battle over who gets to say what."
KDKA-TV general manager Chris Pike said Ms. Brown's decision was not entirely unexpected.
"I knew this day would come, but I wish it was later rather than sooner," he said. "She has been the face of the station for a long time. We've been delighted to have her as our anchor for years. ... She's a great person and a great representative of the station both on the air and in the community."
First Published January 19, 2011 12:00 am
