Toni Yates (born November 1962) is an American news reporter and anchorwoman who currently works for WABC-TV as their New Jersey reporter.

Career

Yates—a graduate of Bishop Kenny High School in Jacksonville, and Florida State University—started her career in news in Savannah, Georgia, first at WTOC-TV and then at WSAV-TV.[1] In 1986,[2] she joined the staff of WTLV in Jacksonville as weekend anchor; she departed WTLV in 1987 when she got married and moved to Virginia Beach, Virginia.[3] While in Virginia, she was the communications director for the local chapter of the March of Dimes. After three years in Virginia, she returned to Jacksonville in 1990 to be a weekend anchor at WJXT.[2] She departed a year later in order to be closer to her husband, Arthur Fennell, then an anchor at WCAU-TV in Philadelphia.[4]

After a year as a night news reporter for WGAL-TV in nearby Lancaster,[5] she was hired as reporter for the startup Inquirer News Tonight newscast aired by WPHL-TV in Philadelphia.[6] Yates also served as weekend anchor until 1995, when she was promoted to the weeknight newscasts.[7] When WPHL-TV assumed control of the newscast at the end of 1996, it went to a single-anchor format and moved Yates back to weekends.[8]

Yates and Fennell amicably divorced in 1998 after having two daughters.[9] Yates later had a third child[1] after marrying Philadelphia firefighter Chuck Harvey.[10]

Yates worked for WPHL-TV until December 31, 2004, after which she exited when contract renewal talks failed.[10] In July 2006, she was hired as New Jersey reporter for WABC-TV;[11] she had been living in New Jersey since her time at WGAL.[12]

References

  1. ^ "Toni Yates". WABC. Archived 2011-06-04 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 2023-05-22.
  2. ^ "TV-4 names new weekend co-anchors". Florida Times-Union. 1990-05-15. p. E-2. Retrieved 2025-02-09. – via GenealogyBank.com
  3. ^ McAlister, Nancy (1987-12-02). "New TV channel to start mid-December". The Florida Times-Union. p. D-3. Retrieved 2025-02-09. – via GenealogyBank.com
  4. ^ McAlister, Nancy (1991-06-29). "Godbold, Hazouri and Austin all on tube this week". Florida Times-Union. p. D-6. Retrieved 2025-02-09. – via GenealogyBank.com
  5. ^ Fox, Barry (April 23, 1993). "Floridian to join WGAL-TV team". The Patriot-News. p. C11. Retrieved February 9, 2025. – via Newspapers.com.
  6. ^ Mendoza, Manuel (August 13, 1994). "Kitsch nostalgia spreads with Snyder's return". The Philadelphia Inquirer. p. D12. Retrieved February 9, 2025. – via Newspapers.com.
  7. ^ de la Viña, Mark (October 26, 1995). "'Inquirer News' weighs new anchors". Philadelphia Daily News. p. 39. Retrieved January 21, 2025. – via Newspapers.com.
  8. ^ Shister, Gail (December 28, 1996). "'Inquirer News' will end sooner than expected". The Philadelphia Inquirer. p. D8. Retrieved January 21, 2025. – via Newspapers.com.
  9. ^ Shister, Gail (April 3, 2000). "For ex-spouses on anchor desk, the only battle is for ratings". The Philadelphia Inquirer. p. C8. Retrieved February 9, 2025. – via Newspapers.com.
  10. ^ Shister, Gail (January 6, 2005). "Jon Stewart's right: Cool-off at 'Crossfire'". The Philadelphia Inquirer. pp. D1, D8. Retrieved February 9, 2025. – via Newspapers.com.
  11. ^ Huff, Richard (July 21, 2006). "Brush with death shows the danger of a risky business". Daily News. pp. 114, 115. Retrieved February 9, 2025. – via Newspapers.com.
  12. ^ Snyder, Beth (May 25, 1993). "Local bands don't automatically make local airwaves". York Daily Record. p. 1D. Retrieved February 9, 2025. – via Newspapers.com.