Jun 16, 2006 6:34 pm US/Central
Frank Vascellaro To Co-Anchor WCCO-TV 6 P.M. News
Minneapolis (WCCO) ―
Frank Vascellaro will join the WCCO-TV team to co-anchor the 6 p.m. newscast Monday through Friday with his wife, Amelia Santaniello, it was announced today by Ed Piette, WCCO-TV Vice President and General Manager. This makes them the first husband and wife anchor team in the Twin Cities market.
"The opportunity to make Frank Vascellaro a part of our WCCO-TV family was one that we could not pass up," said Piette. "He is beloved in this community. First, and foremost, Frank is a great husband and father to three wonderful children. His strong family values come through in the way he interprets, reports and delivers the news. How fitting is it that he now joins his wife, Amelia, for the first time, co-anchoring our 'CCO 6 p.m. weekday newscast."
WCCO-TV makes a power play with the addition of Frank Vascellaro as a third strong and talented weekday male anchor. WCCO-TV long-time anchor Don Shelby will continue to anchor with Amelia Santaniello and Paul Douglas and Mark Rosen "WCCO 4 News at 10 p.m." Veteran anchors Dennis Douda and Jeanette Trompeter will continue to anchor "WCCO 4 News at 5 p.m." Frank Vascellaro and Santaniello will anchor "WCCO 4 News at 6 p.m.," beginning, Thursday, June 29.
"I have long thought of having Frank come on board to work with his wife, Amelia, in this market if and when the opportunity presented itself," said Shelby. "I not only support this move, I welcome Frank whole heartily."
"Today is a great day for me," said Vascellaro. "I am now not only a part of an incredibly rich past which is WCCO-TV, but more importantly, I am part of the future of local TV news in Minnesota. This opportunity allows me the unique ability to work on-air and along side my wife, Amelia. And, it is now an honor to be able to call Don Shelby and the rest of the WCCO team co-workers and colleagues."
"I know the addition of Frank to this team will only complement and enhance the good and hard work already being done," said Jeff Kiernan, WCCO-TV News Director. "I am confident Frank will be an important part of our growing success."
Vascellaro is well known to the Minneapolis/St. Paul market for anchoring the 5 p.m., 6 p.m. and 10 p.m. newscasts at KARE 11. During his 9 years at the station, he hosted "KARE 11 Saturday" and anchored the early morning news, "KARE 11 Sunrise" for seven years. Vascellaro has received individual honors in addition to a number of awards for the various news shows with which he was involved.
Prior to his employment at KARE 11, Frank worked at WAND-TV in Decatur, Ill. as a weekend anchor/reporter. Vascellaro's broadcasting experience also includes anchoring the 5 p.m., 6 p.m., and 10 p.m. newscasts at WHOI-TV in Peoria, Ill.
A Denver native, Vascellaro spent nearly a year at the United States Air Force Academy before transferring to the University of Colorado at Boulder. He later studied broadcasting at Columbia College in Chicago, Ill.
Vascellaro is an Honorary Chair of the Greater Minneapolis Crisis Nursery. He and Santaniello are also involved with a number of charities and organizations in the Twin Cities. Minnesotans are very used to seeing them together as masters of ceremony for the annual events of the Cancer Kids Fund, Big Brothers and Big Sisters, The Children's Cancer Research Fund, the Minnesota Children's Museum, Children's Heartlink, as well as many other organizations.
Vascellaro married Amelia Santaniello in 2000 in Florence, Italy. They have three children, a son Sam and twins Joseph and Francesca. They live in Minneapolis.
WCCO-TV is part of the CBS Television Station Division, which consists of 21 CBS, 15 UPN, 1WB and 2 stations not affiliated with major networks.
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