Revered Former KDKA-TV Personality Jon Burnett Dies

PITTSBURGH, PA — Jon Burnett, whose remarkable run at KDKA-TV in various roles lasted nearly four decades, has died. He was 71.

KDKA announced Thursday his death from complications of presumed chronic traumatic encephalopathy, a condition that cannot be confirmed until brain samples are taken after death. Burnett disclosed last year that he was suffering from suspected CTE.

According to the Boston University CTE Center, CTE is a progressive degenerative disease of the brain found in people with a history of repetitive head impacts often incurred during contact sport play. Burnett played football from his childhood through his collegiate days at the University of Tennessee.

Burnett was hired at KDKA in Septbember 1982 to co-host the long-gone "Evening Magazine" with Liz Miles. He also co-hosted "Pittsburgh 2 Day" with Patrice King Brown. When he retired in 2019 after 37 years at the station, he was a weekend and afternoon weather forecaster.

Burnett in 1990 was nominated for Pittsburgh's Man of the Year In Communications. He also was nominated three times for Mid-Atlantic Emmy awards for his work as a features reporter and forecaster.

In 1984, Burnett won a Golden Quill Award and a National PM Magazine Award for outstanding feature. In 1996, he won an Emmy for Individual Achievement in Weathercasting.

The Knoxville native received a bachelor's degree in theater from the University of Tennessee. He worked at stations in Knoxville, Nashville and Louisville before coming to Pittsburgh.