Larry Mendte

Lawrence David Mendte (born January 16, 1957) is an American news anchor, commentator and radio talk show host.

Until 2022, Mendte hosted three TV shows, Jersey Matters, The Delaware Way, and Another Thing with Larry Mendte.

Previously, Mendte hosted The Larry Mendte Show on WABC (AM) in New York.

As of August 21, 2023, Mendte was named News Director and morning news anchor at iHeart's 710 WOR Radio in New York City.

He is heard on the "Len Berman and Michael Riedel In-the-Morning Show."

Until a few years ago, Mendte wrote and delivered nightly commentaries at WPIX in New York City that were aired at TV stations across the country.

He continued writing and delivering the commentaries on "Another Thing with Larry Mendte," which airs in the New York and Philadelphia TV markets.

Mendte was the first male host of the American syndicated television show Access Hollywood.

During his time at WCAU the 11 pm newscast outrated market leader WPVI (Channel 6) for the first time since the 1970s.

From 1984 to 1988 he was a weekend anchor on WABC, as well as fill-in sports anchor.

He anchored the news and was an investigative reporter at WBBM in Chicago from 1991 to 1995.

While at WBBM, Mendte's series of reports on school bus safety resulted in a new state law.

Mendte won a record 27 Emmy Awards in Chicago and was twice named Best reporter by the Illinois Associated Press.

He anchored the news at WCMH in Columbus, Ohio, WLYH in Lebanon, Pennsylvania (where he also did the sportscast), WTAJ in Altoona and KIEM in Eureka, California.

Mendte was a weather personality at San Diego's KFMB and also performed stand-up comedy in Southern California comedy clubs.

Mendte wrote and produced a humor commentary feature called "How Come?"

for the Paramount Studios syndicated program Hard Copy.

Mendte was the first male host of Access Hollywood when the show debuted in 1996.

He co-hosted Monday through Friday with Giselle Fernández and also co-hosted the weekend edition with future weekday host Nancy O'Dell.

Mendte debuted "Access Hollywood" on September 9, 1996, with the words "Hello everyone, I'm Larry Mendte and this is Access Hollywood."

Mendte left Access Hollywood in 1997 to return to Philadelphia and become the main anchor of WCAU (Channel 10)'s newscasts, including the 4 pm, 6pm and 11 pm programs, with the 4 pm show being the first on at that time in the market.

He also created and hosted the Sunday morning news talk program Live at Issue.

From 2003 to mid-2008, he was the lead anchor of the 6pm and 11pm newscasts for KYW-TV (Channel 3), the CBS O&O in Philadelphia.

After nearly two decades in last place, Mendte led the station to compete with first place WPVI-TV (Channel 6).

KYW lured Mendte away from WCAU-TV (Channel 10), where he had anchored the 4, 6 and 11 pm newscasts and led the station to win news ratings in some time slots for the first time in 30 years.

Born and raised in Lansdowne, Pennsylvania, a suburb of Philadelphia, he attended St. Philomena Catholic School elementary school.

During this time he began delivering the Philadelphia Bulletin.

Mendte graduated from Monsignor Bonner High School in nearby Drexel Hill.

In 2003, Mendte was inducted into the high school's Hall of Fame.

He earned a B.A. in Communications from West Chester University and was named a distinguished alumnus.

Mendte joined KYW in 2003 after being wooed from WCAU.

KYW launched a massive "Make the Switch" promotional campaign when Mendte arrived.

The idea for the campaign was Mendte's. He also helped reformat the newscast and introduced the "walking anchor" to KYW that he was famous for at WCAU.

KYW's ratings immediately jumped with Mendte in the main seat with Alycia Lane co-anchoring, and within a year the station would overtake WCAU at 11 pm and 6 pm for second place.

After giving a commencement address in 2006, Mendte was awarded the President's Medal for Service in recognition of his community work.

Lane was later fired in December 2007 after being charged with a felony for assaulting a female police officer in New York.

Mendte then anchored solo for a short time before being teamed with Susan Barnett, but Mendte was fired in June 2008 after an investigation revealed he accessed Lane's email accounts.

While at KYW, Mendte also co-hosted the Eagles pre-game show from Lincoln Financial Field.

Mendte wrote and directed several documentaries while at KYW, including "Stealing Lightning From The Sky," about Ben Franklin's kite experiment, "Alex Scott: A Stand for Hope," about the little girl who started Alex's Lemonade Stand, "The Children of 9/11," about the children who lost parents in the 9/11 attacks and "The Beanie Baby Soldier," about Corporal Stephen McGowan, a soldier who died in Iraq but left a legacy of caring for the Iraqi children.

For his work, Mendte won over 50 regional Emmys at KYW.