When I first moved to New York in 1979 I watched the CBS affiliate's local news and was drawn to Rolland Smith (right) and John Stossel (long before he went over to the dark side at Fox News). Nowadays, my exposure to news broadcasts comes from the eight TV monitors I see at the gym while I do cardio, providing me the opportunity to take in many hunky talking heads at once. For this post I've narrowed it down to nineteen who turn my head (five of them are openly gay, another is questionable).
Steve Lacy (Fox 5/early-to-mid-40's?) - Right out of central casting, Steve looks like the straight twin of MSNBC's Thomas Roberts (see below). He took over evening anchoring duties at the beginning of 2013.
Rob Schmitt (WNBC 4/mid-30s?). The new guy in town, Schmitt was hired away from LA's CBS affiliate in the summer of 2013 and anchors Channel 4's 12 noon newscast. A little more dashing than Steve Lacy, he has Thomas Roberts good looks (see below).
Phil Lipof (WABC 7/ 40 years old) Sadly, Phil was hired away by the ABC affiliate in Boston (WCVB) in the fall of 2013. Still, I'd like to keep him on this list, at least for a while, as an honorary member. Although he wasn't a weatherman, he seemed to be the guy WABC liked to send out into bad weather.
Mike Woods (Fox 5/45 years old) - What makes him stand out is the fact that he enjoys flaunting his body and has done a number of on-location weather reports shirtless. (Something fans of The Weather Channel's Jim Cantore have always hoped for.)
Raphael Miranda (WNBC 4/early 30s?) - Another gay weatherman, Raphael's profile on WNBC's website mentions that he's gay and has a partner. However, I rarely see him on the air. When he first joined the station a few years ago I'd chuckle because his presence seemed to unnerve the sports anchor, Bruce Beck, as they sat next to each other at the anchor desk.
Maurice Dubois (WCBS 2/47 years old) - He has the sexiest name of any on this list.
Rob Powers (WABC 7/46 years old) - Bright eyes and a great smile. I like this photo because it looks like someone poked a finger up Rob's ass just as the photo was snapped.
MORE CUTE THAN SEXY
Tom Llamas (WNBC 4/mid-30s?) - Very boyish, with a little bit of peach fuzz above his lip and somewhat imperfect teeth. He's been in NYC since 2008. Of Cuban heritage.
Chris Glorioso (WNBC 4). Probably the same age as Tom Llamas, he looks like Llamas' fair-skinned twin. Both also have a serious demeanor and are somewhat stiff on camera. But while Llamas is now an anchor, Chris is an investigative reporter.
Pat Kiernan (NY1/44 years old) - He's been with cable new station NY1 since its inception in 1992 and still exudes the same boyish charm. He's the person I wake up to in the morning.
John Schiumo (NY1/approaching 40?). He's also been on NY1 for a long time, but not as long as Pat Kiernan.
Joe Torres (WABC 7/42 years old) - As he's gotten oldler, his face has gotten puffier and more wrinkled, like a shar pei dog, but he still retains his boyish charm.
THE STUDS OF NETWORK NEWS
Since the TV networks are headquartered in New York, I've stretched the boundaries of this post and included some of the "big guns".
David Muir - (ABC/39 years old) - He's the weekend anchorman for ABC World New Tonight. He might do ratings wonders for the weekday broadcast, rather than the unwatchable Diane Sawyer.
Richard Engl - (NBC/39 years old) - NBC's dashing Middle East correspondent. There's speculation about his sexual orientation, so he's probably gay.
Martin Bashir (ABC/ 51 years old). Of Iranian heritage, Bashir is the oldest of the bunch here. His most recent reporting job was with MSNBC, which he resigned from late in 2013 after making an unfortunate comment about Sarah Palin. Before MSNBC he was an anchor for NBC News Dateline and ABC News.
Thomas Roberts (MSNBC/40 years old) - Openly gay, there are also photos of Roberts shirtless on the internet, but unlike Fox 5 weatherman Mike Woods, he's never gone barechested on-camera.
Don Lemon (CNN/a very youthful 47) - He's the shortest of this group, only 5'6". He became a news story for a while in 2011 when he revealed he was gay.
Rick Folbaum (Fox News/43 years old) - Folbaum used to be an anchor on the Fox affiliate in New York. He's sexy, in that uptight, married, right wing, I'll-meet-you-at-the-rest-stop, kind of way.
Anderson Cooper (CNN/46 years old) - Then, of course, there's golden boy, Anderson. Another newsman I'd categorize as being more cute than sexy, Cooper is known for his cute smile, beautiful blue eyes and disarming giggle.
Two other posts you may like are "A Salute to Major League Baseball's Sexiest Players" and "The Aphrodisiac of Power: Sexiest World Leaders".
So much eye candy in one post! I agree with so many of them. I had no idea Thomas Roberts was gay... openly or not! Never got that vibe from watching him and I have had a huge crush on him for a few years now. btw... Raphael Miranda is on NBC a lot on the weekends.
OK... I'm off to Google Thomas Roberts now. :)
Posted by: Tom Grasso | 06/03/2013 at 09:41 AM
i LOVE TO WATCH RAPHAEL MIRANDA. HE IS PLEASANT, ELOQUENT AND EXTREMELY PLEASING TO THE EYES. HE IS DEFINITELY AN ASSET TO NBC. GET EXCITED WHEN HE DOES THE WEATHER. WILL ALWAYS BE A FAN. SHARON
Posted by: SHARON WEINTRAUB | 01/19/2014 at 10:19 AM
Thomas Roberts is so sexy...
Posted by: Kris | 01/24/2014 at 02:22 PM
It's frustrating that he rarely seems to get much airtime.
Posted by: Rob | 01/24/2014 at 03:07 PM