Pittsburgh GM is Stepping Down

One of the good guys in this business is going to retire. 

KDKA General Manager Chris Pike announced his intention to retire in mid-May following 39 years in the industry, including 29 years as a television stations general manager and the past 14 years as Vice President and General Manager of the CBS Television Stations group’s Pittsburgh properties, KDKA-TV, WPCW-TV and CBSPittsburgh.com.

He will continue in this role until a successor has been named by CBS Television Stations President Peter Dunn.

“Under Chris’s leadership, KDKA has consistently been the market leader in Pittsburgh and one of the truly great TV stations in the country,” Dunn said. “We are proud to have KDKA as one of the crown jewels of our station group and thankful for everything Chris has done to build on the station’s status as a legacy broadcaster while also growing our business on the digital platforms that will ensure the station’s continuing success.”

Dunn added: “While we would love to have Chris remain at the helm in Pittsburgh, we respect his decision to retire. We wish Chris and his wife Irene all the best as they transition to what we hope will be the happiest time of their lives. They deserve it!”

“It has been an honor and privilege to work for CBS and cap off my career at KDKA, a station that has such a great tradition of news leadership, local programming and outstanding community service,” Pike said. 

Prior to joining CBS in 2004, Pike served as a general manager at stations in Washington, D.C., Harrisburg, Pennsylvania and Norfolk, Virginia. Before that, he held sales management positions at stations in Washington, D.C. and Sacramento, California.