Sunday, February 16, 2025, 5:17PM |  41°
MENU
Advertisement
Former TV and radio personality Wendy Bell, shown in February 2017, will soon be on the air again, with WJAS Pittsburgh.
1
MORE

Wendy Bell returning to radio soon with WJAS

Andrew Rush/Post-Gazette

Wendy Bell returning to radio soon with WJAS

Conservative media personality Wendy Bell appears to be getting another shot on the air, this time at WJAS Pittsburgh.

Ms. Bell made the announcement in a Wednesday Facebook post in which she also wrote, “America needs common sense conservatism!! Let’s roll!!!”

It’s OFFICIAL!! Woo hoo!!!!

Posted by Wendy Bell Radio on Wednesday, January 20, 2021

“We were able to have the have a conversation with Wendy, and we feel it’s mutually beneficial to put her on,” said J.D. Turco, senior vice president of St. Barnabas Health System, which owns WJAS. “We have high hopes for Wendy and for WJAS.”

Advertisement

She will be on the air five days a week starting Monday, with shows at 11 a.m.-noon Monday through Thursday and a 9 a.m.-noon slot on Fridays, according to the Facebook post. Those shows will be accessible through Talk Radio 1320 WJAS AM and 99.1 FM, as well as the iHeartRadio app.

Former WTAE-TV anchor Wendy Bell talks about her website at her Point Breeze home on Feb. 10, 2017.
Joshua Axelrod
Wendy Bell taken off the air at WJAS radio

WJAS Pittsburgh was acquired by St. Barnabas in November 2020 for $2.05 million and features conservative radio shows hosted by big names like Glenn Beck, Rush Limbaugh, Mark Levin and Sean Hannity.

Mr. Turco, who is also the chief financial officer of St. Barnabas Broadcasting, said Ms. Bell will fit in well with the station’s conservative talk-show format and that she was hired after “considerable thought” regarding her past behavior.

“We can’t predict the future, but we do think we’ve done ample due diligence, and hopefully it’ll all work out,” he said.

Advertisement

Ms. Bell spent 18 years as a journalist with WTAE-TV, winning 21 regional Emmy Awards and becoming an anchor. She drew controversy in 2016 from race-related comments she made on Facebook after a mass shooting in Wilkinsburg in which five adults and an unborn child were killed.

WTAE-TV fired her shortly after the comments were posted on social media. Ms. Bell said at the time that she believed the station didn’t give her a “fair shake.” In 2018, she made waves again with more Facebook comments, this time regarding the #MeToo Movement.

In 2019, Ms. Bell became a KDKA Radio host. She garnered backlash again in April 2020 after an on-air diatribe regarding COVID-19-induced shutdowns, prompting KDKA-TV, which has different ownership than KDKA Radio, to distance itself from the radio station.

She was taken off the air in September last year after suggesting that park rangers should “shoot on sight” anyone caught vandalizing public monuments. Ms. Bell and Entercom, the company that owns KDKA Radio, mutually agreed to part ways a little more than a month later.

The St. Barnabas Nursing Home in Richland is one of 24 entities owned by St. Barnabas Health System.
Joshua Axelrod
St. Barnabas Broadcasting acquiring two Beaver County radio stations

The WJAS gig will be Ms. Bell’s first full-time radio position since her departure from KDKA Radio.

“We spoke about issues that we would not like to resurface, things that happened that caused her demise at WTAE and KDKA [Radio],” Mr. Turco said. “We know where she stands, and she knows where we stand. We’ll see how it unfolds.”

Joshua Axelrod: jaxelrod@post-gazette.com and Twitter @jaxel222.

First Published: January 21, 2021, 10:48 p.m.

RELATED
Wendy Bell, third from left, poses with supporters at Point State Park, Downtown, in March 2021 during the "Americans for Freedom Rally" to protest mask mandates and other restrictions on businesses.
Joshua Axelrod
Wendy Bell premiering new show Saturday on Newsmax
In this file photo, Wendy Bell talks about her new website
Nick Trombola and Bob Batz Jr.
Wendy Bell is off the air for now at KDKA Radio
Wendy Bell, 2018 file image, is officially no longer with KDKA-Radio.
Lauren Lee
Wendy Bell officially no longer with KDKA-Radio
Former WTAE-TV anchor Wendy Bell wondered aloud on her radio show if an economic shutdown is worth the lives saved as a result of COVID-19.
Alexis Johnson
Wendy Bell criticized again for insensitive comments — this time about COVID-19
Former WTAE-TV anchor Wendy Bell talks about her new website
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
Wendy Bell hits online nerve regarding #MeToo movement
SHOW COMMENTS (56)  
Join the Conversation
Commenting policy | How to Report Abuse
If you would like your comment to be considered for a published letter to the editor, please send it to letters@post-gazette.com. Letters must be under 250 words and may be edited for length and clarity.
Partners
Advertisement
Citing the substance's risks, the FDA in late 2023 issued a public safety alert warning that consumers "should not purchase or use any Neptune’s Fix products, or any other product with tianeptine."
1
news
'Gas station heroin' arises as a new threat
2
news
Medicaid on the chopping block: Proposed cuts threaten coverage of vulnerable Pennsylvanians
Novo Asian Food Hall on Thursday May 23, 2024, Strip District.  (John Colombo/For the Post-Gazette)
3
news
Legal battle stirs the pot at Novo Asian Food Hall
Bryan Rust #17 of the Pittsburgh Penguins celebrates with Rickard Rakell #67 and Sidney Crosby #87 after scoring a goal in the first period during the game against the Edmonton Oilers at PPG PAINTS Arena on January 9, 2025 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
4
sports
From The Point: Putting every Penguins player into trade buckets ahead of NHL trade deadline
Students walk outside of the UPMC Cooper Fieldhouse on the Duquesne University campus Uptown on Friday, Feb. 14, 2025.
5
news
Duquesne U raises more than $333M in ‘monumental’ fundraising campaign
Former TV and radio personality Wendy Bell, shown in February 2017, will soon be on the air again, with WJAS Pittsburgh.  (Andrew Rush/Post-Gazette)
Andrew Rush/Post-Gazette
Advertisement
LATEST ae
Advertisement
TOP
Email a Story