Nothing is more competitive in New York than morning news where all the programs compete for viewers and the advertising dollars that follow. In this battle, a powerful weapon is needed. WNYW/FOX 5 now has that ingredient with Rosanna Scotto co-anchoring its Good Day New York broadcast. Early morning personalities have a challenging job. They must be authoritative, yet not too serious, cheerful without being saccharine. (After all, most of us watching have not had our morning coffee). Scotto manages this balance skillfully, shifting from a news interview with Senator Charles Schumer to a cooking segment with her co-host Greg Kelly. She’s the neighbor and good friend we all wish we had, and we can enjoy her company for three hours each day.
FOX 5′s broadcast distinguishes itself from the national morning shows like Good Morning America, and the Today Show by focusing on local news. “We want to be a good local station,” Scotto explains over lunch at her family’s restaurant, Fresco by Scotto. (Read our review under Dining Around). “What gets people angry?” When the MTA closed the 168th Street subway station turning a 30-minute commute into a three-hour one, people were plenty angry. And Good Day New York was there to cover the story. Scotto’s program also was out in front covering the debacle in the State Legislature. “We did a lot of stories about Albany when those clowns weren’t working,” she said.
Scotto made the switch to morning news nearly a year ago, after three years heading up FOX 5′s two nightly newscasts with anchor Ernie Anastos. “I love the format of the morning,” she says. “I love the people I work with, but I miss Ernie and Nick (Gregory, the evening weather anchor).” She confesses that she is still “not in synch” with her new schedule. Most nights she is in bed between nine and ten after laying out her clothes for the next day. In the morning, she gets up at four thirty, jumps in the shower, dresses without bothering about hair and makeup, and is in the studio by five. By the time she goes on the air at 7 a.m., Scotto has made her way through numerous papers, including the New York Times, New York Daily News, and New York Post. “When you go online, you don’t see those little sidebar stories,” she says, explaining why her early morning routine does not always include the Internet. “I read everything and then forget about it, but it’s in the back of my mind. It’s like homework.”
Being an anchor on Good Day New York is demanding. “If you want to succeed in this business, you’d better be flexible,” she says. Scotto does most of her own research and writes a lot of her own copy. (The third hour of the program, from 9 a.m. to 10 a.m. is totally unscripted, something unheard of in television news). She’s always looking for that extra something, a tidbit other reporters may have overlooked. “If Education Chancellor Joel Klein is on tomorrow, what else can I ask him about?” she says. While her mind may be swimming with research, Scotto says she focuses on the answers in order to ask important follow-up questions.
When not on camera, she’s making calls to line up that next all-important interview. Her recent interviews on Good Day have included Alana Stewart, who spoke about her friend, Farrah Fawcett, Tilda Swinton, and Liza Minelli. (Her guest wish list includes Bill Clinton, Brad Pitt, and George Clooney). She says that 9/11 remains the event that had the greatest impact on her. “The day it happened, we were in the studio for hours,” she recalls. “The day after, we went down there. We were so emotional with what we saw. People helping, people looking for loved ones. It’s etched in my memory.”
Scotto was born and raised in Brooklyn, graduated from Packer Collegiate, and earned her Bachelor of Arts degree in 1977 from Catholic University in Washington, DC. “I studied theater, but I was always interested in TV,” she says. “Our family always watched TV news.”
In the 1970s, Rose Ann Scamardella, was anchoring WABC-TV’s Eyewitness News along with Anastos. (Scarmardella was the inspiration for Gilda Radner’s Rosanne Roseannadanna on Saturday Night Live). The two women grew up in the same Brooklyn neighborhood and Scotto considers Scarmardella one of her mentors. “I talked to her when I was in college and she introduced me to Ernie,” says Scotto. They went out to dinner and mapped out a strategy for Scotto’s future. “Once Rose Ann came on board I said, `this is something I want to do,’” she said. “I don’t like to wait; I like to get things done.”
After a stint at Ted Turner’s WTBS station in Atlanta, Scotto returned to New York in the 1980s, working as a segment producer for Regis Philbin’s Good Morning New York, which he then co-hosted with Cyndy Garvey. (The program later became the nationally syndicated Live with Regis and Kathie Lee). The producers allowed Scotto to do on air features recommending family getaways. In her off hours, she would venture over to Eyewitness News and “beg them to use me.” She was soon brought onboard as a reporter at Eyewitness News and remained there until she moved to FOX 5 in 1986.
A three-time Emmy Award winner, Scotto devotes time to many community events. It’s not unusual to find her dashing from the studio after what most people would consider a full day, to give the keynote address at a charity luncheon. In the New York circuit, getting Rosanna is a good “get.” And she is very generous with her time. A recent Sunday found her walking to raise money for lung cancer research. “My mother’s best friend died of lung cancer and so did my father-in-law,” she explains.
Scotto says her husband, Louis Ruggiero, an attorney, her daughter, Jenna, a college student, and her son, LJ, a high school student, are delighted with her new schedule. “My family likes my being home at night,” she says. When she did the 5 p.m. and 10 p.m. broadcasts, Scotto says, “I would cook at 11 a.m., go to work, come home and do dinner, then go back to work.” While she always prepared meals, knowing she had to return to the station for another news hour meant she always felt rushed. Now she can relax when she dines with her family. “My kids love to come home and smell food cooking,” she says.
Rosanna says she would love to do a cooking show with her family, but nothing has proved to be the right fit so far. The Scotto family continues to do cooking segments on the rival Today Show, and Rosanna does cooking segments on Good Day New York. In the beginning, she says, her co-anchor, Greg Kelly was skeptical that she really cooked. “He came to my house and watched me and my sister in action,” she says with a laugh. “We did pizza on the grill, pasta and pesto, salmon in an Asian marinade, steak with olive oil and garlic, baked and broiled fruit, and lemon pound cake with gelato.” Needless to say, he’s now a believer.
There is a special camaraderie among early morning TV people. “One night in the Hamptons we had a casual barbeque,” says Scotto. “I saw people on the street and invited them—Howard Stern, Matt Lauer, and Katie Couric. We had alarm clock placemats and told war stories.” For the present, at least, Scotto is a member of this very elite club and will continue to do what she does best: wake up New Yorkers with the news.
Woman Around Town’s Six Questions
Favorite Place to Eat: Fresco by Scotto…my Mom is the best cook!
Favorite Place to Shop: Anywhere that is having a sale.
Favorite New York Sight: The sun rising over the east river is breathtaking!
Favorite New York Moment: My two children being born at New York Hospital!
What You Love About New York: The people are the most interesting because they are so diverse!
What You Hate About New York: The traffic!
