Toni Yates (born November 1962) is an American news reporter and anchorwoman who currently works for

WABC-TV WABC-TV (channel 7) is a television station in New York City, serving as the flagship of the ABC network. Owned and operated by the network's ABC Owned Television Stations division, WABC-TV maintains studios in the Hudson Square neighborhood ...

as their

New Jersey New Jersey is a U.S. state, state located in both the Mid-Atlantic States, Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern United States, Northeastern regions of the United States. Located at the geographic hub of the urban area, heavily urbanized Northeas ...

reporter.

Career

Yates—a graduate of Bishop Kenny High School in

Jacksonville Jacksonville ( ) is the most populous city proper in the U.S. state of Florida, located on the Atlantic coast of North Florida, northeastern Florida. It is the county seat of Duval County, Florida, Duval County, with which the City of Jacksonv ...

, and

Florida State University Florida State University (FSU or Florida State) is a Public university, public research university in Tallahassee, Florida, United States. It is a senior member of the State University System of Florida and a preeminent university in the s ...

—started her career in news in

Savannah, Georgia Savannah ( ) is the oldest city in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia and the county seat of Chatham County, Georgia, Chatham County. Established in 1733 on the Savannah River, the city of Savannah became the Kingdom of Great Brita ...

, first at

WTOC-TV WTOC-TV (channel 11) is a television station in Savannah, Georgia, United States, affiliated with CBS and owned by Gray Media. The station's studios are located off Chatham Center Drive in Savannah's Chatham Parkway section, and its transmitter ...

and then at

WSAV-TV WSAV-TV (channel 3) is a television station in Savannah, Georgia, United States, affiliated with NBC. Its second digital subchannel serves as an owned-and-operated station of The CW (via The CW Plus), and also airs programming from MyNetwork ...

. In 1986, she joined the staff of

WTLV WTLV (channel 12) is a television station in Jacksonville, Florida, United States, affiliated with NBC. It is owned by Tegna Inc. alongside Orange Park, Florida, Orange Park–licensed American Broadcasting Company, ABC affiliate WJXX (channel ...

in Jacksonville as weekend anchor; she departed WTLV in 1987 when she got married and moved to

Virginia Beach, Virginia Virginia Beach (colloquially VB) is the most populous city in the U.S. commonwealth of Virginia. The city is located on the Atlantic Ocean at the mouth of the Chesapeake Bay in southeastern Virginia. It is the sixth-most populous city in the ...

. While in Virginia, she was the communications director for the local chapter of the

March of Dimes March of Dimes is a United States nonprofit organization that works to improve the health of mothers and babies. The organization was founded by US President Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1938, as the National Foundation for Infantile Paralysis, to co ...

. After three years in Virginia, she returned to Jacksonville in 1990 to be a weekend anchor at

WJXT WJXT (channel 4) is an independent television station in Jacksonville, Florida, United States. It is owned by Graham Media Group alongside The CW, CW affiliate WCWJ (channel 17). The two stations share studios at 4 Broadcast Place on the south ...

. She departed a year later in order to be closer to her husband, Arthur Fennell, then an anchor at

WCAU-TV WCAU (channel 10) is a television station in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. It is owned and operated by the NBC television network through its NBC Owned Television Stations division alongside Mount Laurel, New Jersey–licensed Tel ...

in Philadelphia. After a year as a night news reporter for

WGAL-TV WGAL (channel 8) is a television station licensed to Lancaster, Pennsylvania, United States, serving the Susquehanna Valley region as an affiliate of NBC. Owned by Hearst Television, the station maintains studios on Columbia Avenue ( PA 462) in ...

in nearby

Lancaster Lancaster may refer to: Lands and titles *The County Palatine of Lancaster, a synonym for Lancashire *Duchy of Lancaster, one of only two British royal duchies *Duke of Lancaster *Earl of Lancaster *House of Lancaster, a British royal dynasty ...

, she was hired as reporter for the startup '' Inquirer News Tonight'' newscast aired by

WPHL-TV WPHL-TV (channel 17) is a television station in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States, serving as the local outlet for The CW. The station also maintains a secondary affiliation with MyNetworkTV. Owned and operated by The CW's majority owner, ...

in Philadelphia. Yates also served as weekend anchor until 1995, when she was promoted to the weeknight newscasts. 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. Yates and Fennell amicably divorced in 1998 after having two daughters. Yates later had a third child after marrying Philadelphia firefighter Chuck Harvey. Yates worked for WPHL-TV until December 31, 2004, after which she exited when contract renewal talks failed. In July 2006, she was hired as New Jersey reporter for

; she had been living in New Jersey since her time at WGAL.

References

American television news anchors New York (state) television reporters Living people 1963 births Mass media people from Jacksonville, Florida Florida State University alumni Bishop Kenny High School alumni {{US-journalist-1960s-stub