Jason Sandford
Jason Sandford is a reporter, writer, blogger and photographer interested in all things Asheville.
Here’s an update about former WLOSer Mark Pompilio, who got canned here in Asheville about 10 years ago. There was quite a to-do about it. Pompilio wasn’t happy.
Here it is:
DAYTON— Mark Pompilio, news anchor at WKEF-TV Channel 22/WRGT-TV Fox 45 for 10 years, will air his last news broadcast with the station on New Year’s Eve.
General Manager Dean Ditmer confirmed Wednesday, Dec. 24, that the station was letting Pompilio go at the end of this year. He will be replaced “with current staff” yet to be announced, he said.
“It has nothing to do with ratings,” Ditmer said. “It has nothing to do with anything except the economic climate out there.”
Ditmer said Pompilio was the latest in a series of news staffers laid off by the station in the past few months.
Pompilio, 45, said he would like to stay in the Dayton area and is exploring the possibilities. “My daughter starts high school next year,” he said. “It’s a tough time to relocate.”
Pompilio, his wife and two children live in Beavercreek.
Pompilio grew up in Cleveland, went to college in North Carolina and worked at a TV station in the Asheville area until coming to WKEF in 1999. He has been the local host of the annual Jerry Lewis Telethon for Muscular Dystrophy the past six years.
Pompilio said he is especially proud of his part in the station’s success in the 10 p.m. news time slot, which “was very important to maintaining our news presence in this market.”
Pompilio said station managers exercised an option in his contract that allowed them to release him prior to the contract’s expiration in June 2009.
He will continue as a ski instructor at the Mad River Mountain Ski Resort in Zanesfield, where he has worked weekends the past five seasons.
Here’s a little bio info:
MARK POMPILIO came to Dayton in 1999 to anchor the 6 and 11 newscasts on NBC 22 (now ABC22)… and to become the first male co-anchor of FOX 45 News at 10.
Mark is a graduate of Wake Forest University in Winston-Salem, NC and began his journalism career as a sports editor. He became a TV news reporter and rose to primary anchor at WLOS-TV in the Asheville, NC – Greenville- Spartanburg, SC area before coming to WKEF/WRGT.
Hoyt,
My mother recently came to visit me from NC and remembers you; she said that you were one of her favorites and always wondered where you landed; I’m really glad that you left KLFY; KATC is a much better fit; I don’t like everything about KATC, but I certainly do like you, and I hope you are there to stay! I am a fan of the KATC group; so, I hope that you make an excerpt of your father’s memoir available. I have a hard time asking people to be my friend if I don’t know them personally–that’s kinda scary.
Yes, Jerry Graves is correct. I am anchoring at KATC (ABC) in Lafayette, LA. and have been since New Year’s Day 2004. (And thanks, Jerry, for your kind words.)
After more than 13 years at competing KLFY in Lafayette, I left the news business (after 24 years!) in 2000. For three-and-a-half years I taught at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette and in Paris (2003). Upon my return to the States, KATC lured me back into the business. KLFY was the decades-long leader in the market, but not anymore. At KATC, we closed the wide gap that had existed for many years and now beat KLFY as often as not. KLFY’s parent company recently filed for bankruptcy protection.
To "Been There": Yes, you are right. Cicely Hand and I anchored together. David, the sports director/anchor, has the last name "Steele." And Stan was weekend sports anchor.
Cicely DID go to California, to San Francisco, and got a job where her new husband was working, KPIX. But, for reasons I won’t go into here, she was fired. To my knowledge, she has been out of the business for more than 20 years.
In Paris, while teaching, I finally got serious about my writing. If you need inspiration to write, just go to Paris, find a favorite brasserie, get an outdoor table just feet away from the avenue, order an espresso and just watch the "Niagara" of words start pouring into your journal. I can’t explain it. There’s just something "electric" about that city. While living in Paris, it became easy to understand how Paris has inspirted artists, writers, etc., to create for hundreds of years.
I made great headway on my novel, but two years ago had to put it aside to begin editing my father’s memoir about his life and his 50 years as a practicing physician/surgeon. (I was simply unable to simultaneously write in my voice and his voice .) His memoir is to be published in 2009, though I don’t have an exact date at this point.
If anyone is interested, I am on Facebook, where I’ve posted a chapter from my father’s memoir and several pieces by me. Just send me a request and we can be "friends." (Isn’t that the dumbest-sounding thing you’ve ever heard.)
Photos, blogs, etc., can also be found on the station’s "Online Community" at <www.community.katc.com>. Search "hoyt" and you can find what seems like the entirety of my freakin’ life there! (This is part of <katc.com> so you can access the "Online Community" via that way, too.>
My wife, son and I moved to Lafayette in 1987. Despite Hurricanes Andrew (1992); Lily (2002); Katrina and Rita (2005) and Gustav and Ike (2008), Lafayette has been home for 22 years. The people made me feel "at home" from Day One. And I guess they meant it because in 1993 I was a Mardi Gras King. (Imagine coming from Tennessee and one day "reigning" over Mardi Gras!) Our son went all the way through school here, then graduated from the University of Texas in Austin in 2002. He now lives in New York City, where he works in both the motion picture and television industries.
Former Western North Carolinians who’ve moved to this market occasionally contact me to say they remember me from Asheville. We have fond memories of Asheville and the wonderful people we knew there.
Okay, I’ve got to get back to my writing. To those kind enough to wonder "Whatever Happened to Hoyt Harris?", I hope I’ve answered your questions.
Hoyt Harris
Yes, I do remember Hoyt Harris! It was him and Cecelie Hand, with David [somebody] on sports and Monty DuPuy on weather. (Stan was there then, too, but he wasn’t an anchor). Hoyt was a hoot and now anchors at KATC in Lafayette, Louisiana. I think Cecelie went to California.
Darcel became anchor and has had a series of co-anchors. Can’t remember all the guys, but one was a blonde-haired guy named Larry Wheeler. He later died of a heart attack (after he left the area) and was only in his late 30s, I believe.
She also anchored with Jon Greiner, who’s now in Pittsburgh at WTAE.
Mark Pompillio was allegedly fired from WLOS for anti-gay remarks. Don’t know the truth in that allegation, but considering that his nickname around the studio was "Pompous-pilio" it could be true.
Wow, as many people that have come and gone from WLOS in the past two decades, I can’t believe I remember some of this stuff.
Jeff, you are absolutely correct about Sinclair being evil, but there is precedent when it comes to rehiring at News 13. Sports Director Stan Pamfilis was let go by management years ago, but then brought back to the station when it became clear he was missed by viewers. Frank Kracher took a shot at a career change– parted on good terms, was not fired by WLOS– and he now lives in Asheville again. So why not bring back a talented and popular anchor who appears to be available? It would be a shot in the arm for a news department that could use a boost. As for Larry Blunt, that’s the way the business goes.
Dude, Frank will never be hired back after leaving once, Sinclair is evil like that. Although if he was willing to take a small pay cut, I’m sure Sinclair might think about it, Larry Blunt, what would happen to him!
Does anyone remember when Hoyt Harris was the anchor at WLOS, back in the late 70s-early 1980s? He was really good and I think he preceded Pompilo.
Thanks for posting this. For some reason I was just thinking about Mark the other day, wondering where he ended up after he left the area.
Mark seemed like a good guy, but Frank Kracher took his place at the anchor desk with obvious sincerity, good humor and charisma. Now we’d like to see Frank back in his previous seat next to Tammy and Darcel. That would be a great change for `09 and it is about time. Come on, WLOS, let’s get this going!