Jodi Applegate

Life and career

Applegate was raised in Moon Township, Pennsylvania, a suburb of Pittsburgh, in an Irish American Catholic family. In 1982, Applegate graduated from Moon Area High School. She spent her freshman year at Temple University in Philadelphia. She transferred as a sophomore to New York University, where she received a degree in television and film.

Before turning to newscasting, Jodi briefly worked as an actress. In 1986, she appeared in a television version of the classic children's book A Pocket for Corduroy as the mother. In 1987, Applegate appeared in a television version of the Mercer Mayer children's book There's a Nightmare in My Closet, also as the main character's mother.

In the early 1990s, Jodi was a host of Close Up on C-SPAN, a weekly public affairs program that featured a high school student audience. She later worked as a radio and television traffic reporter for Metro Traffic in San Francisco. From 1993 to 1996, Applegate hosted Good Morning Arizona on KTVK in Phoenix. Applegate was also an anchor at KTVN in Reno0, NV. That is where she met Rob Nikoleski, who was sports director at the competing KOLO. They eventually married and are now divorced..

In 1996, Applegate was the first face seen on MSNBC at its launch. She anchored MSNBC Live and Weekend Today on the main NBC network. She also filled in as a substitute host on the Today show. In late 1999, she hosted Later Today with Florence Henderson and Asha Blake. The show was canceled in 2000.

In mid-2001, Applegate joined WFXT in Boston. She anchored the short-lived Fox 25 News at 4:30 newscast then moved to 5:00 by early 2002. She anchored the Fox 25 Morning News for about a year from September 2003, then moved to New York sister station WNYW in October 2004.

Career in New York City

Applegate joined WNYW as co-anchor of the station's morning program, Good Day New York, in 2005. She remained there for three years and was replaced in the role by Rosanna Scotto in 2008. Applegate left the station shortly thereafter. On May 28, 2008, Applegate made a one time only appearance in the Broadway musical Chicago.

In 2009, Applegate began work as a fill-in anchor on all-news WCBS radio. She also guest-hosted Living Today on Sirius XM Radio's Martha Stewart Living Radio channel, filling in for another former Good Day New York anchor, Mario Bosquez. Applegate also guest-hosted radio talk shows hosted by Joan Hamburg on WOR in New York, and Howie Carr on WRKO in Boston.

Applegate made a return to television news in September 2009 when she joined News 12 Long Island as an evening co-anchor. With three months remaining in her one-year contract, she was allowed to leave News 12 in order to join WPIX. The Tribune Company-owned station named her as sole anchor of its revamped 10:00 PM newscasts on weeknights; she started in that capacity on October 11, 2010. Applegate also anchored the station's hour-long 5:00 PM newscast, which was launched in the fall of 2011.

Personal life

Applegate married New York Yankees television broadcaster Michael Kay on February 12, 2011, in New York City. The ceremony took place at the Plaza Hotel and was officiated by former New York mayor, Rudolph Giuliani.

On November 21, 2012, it was announced that Applegate was expecting a baby, which was conceived by way of a gestational surrogate. She subsequently announced her departure from WPIX after the station refused to allow her to reduce her schedule. Applegate left WPIX on December 19, 2012. On January 5, 2013 her daughter, Caledonia Rose, was born. On November 12, 2014 her son, Charles Applegate Kay, was born.