TV Talk: Jon Burnett comforted by viewer support after former KDKA-TV host’s diagnosis revealed

For former KDKA-TV weathercaster and “Evening Magazine” and “Pittsburgh Today Live” host Jon Burnett, it wasn’t a difficult decision to share the story of his suspected CTE diagnosis.

However, answering a question about it can prove challenging due to the disease’s effects. Then Burnett’s charming, folksy personality comes through clear as day.

“Why do you think I’m talking to you?” he teased in a phone interview alongside his wife of 48 years, Debbie Burnett. “Do I sound like I’m afraid for it to get out?”

On the contrary, Jon, 70, said it was a relief when his former “Pittsburgh Today Live” co-host Kristine Sorensen approached him about telling his story on camera in reports that first aired Monday night on KDKA.

“Because my disease is so obvious, I couldn’t hide it anymore,” Jon said. “I couldn’t not broadcast it to the world that there’s something wrong with me.”

No longer having to find the words to explain his diagnosis was part of his reason for going public. That it was his friend Sorensen doing the reporting also made it a comfortable process.

“Everything I do with Kristine makes me more comfortable,” Jon said. “She’s my TV wife. That’s what I’ve always called her.”

Another reason for the disclosure was to bring awareness to suspected CTE (chronic traumatic encephalopathy).

“We did want to shine the light on the Sports Brain Bank [at the University of Pittsburgh],” Debbie said. “I think that is so, so important. They have to find out why some people get this and some people don’t, to make it not such a stigma. I don’t know if it’s really starting to cause parents to keep their kids from playing high-contact sports, but I think it probably is. More and more it’s out there, but as we know, not everybody who plays contact sports gets it. Why is that?”

As of Tuesday night and since Sorensen’s reports aired Monday, 32 new people signed up to participate in the National Sports Brain Bank study, donating their brains to science after death. Brain Bank director Dr. Julia Kofler said it’s the highest number of registrations ever received in a 24-hour period and the wave of sign-ups started right around the time Sorensen’s first story aired.

Debbie Burnett said she and Jon had noticed issues that turned out to be related to suspected CTE five years before he retired from KDKA in 2019.

“We saw a neurologist first in 2014 because he was just starting to have some short-term memory problems,” said Debbie, who turns 71 this month. “It was nothing major. He could get through what he needed to do as far as work is concerned. Things didn’t really start declining significantly until around this time in 2020 when we saw more symptoms.”

Those include motor neuron disease, symptoms of ALS (he does not have ALS but there are connections between CTE and ALS, Debbie said) and Parkinsonism, which is not Parkinson’s Disease but does impact his gait (causing shuffling when walking) and swallowing. All fall under the umbrella of neurodegenerative disorder.

“If you look at my arms, they twitch and snap and they’re moving all the time, even when I sleep,” Jon said.

The official diagnosis of suspected CTE came about a year and a half ago.

“From the very beginning, Jon has said, ‘This is because of the hits I took in football,’” Debbie said. “He knew that but the doctors weren’t saying that.”

Burnett played defensive end for the University of Tennessee football team, graduating in 1976.

Last fall after seeing a report on former Steelers running backs Jerome Bettis and Merril Hoge stepping up and agreeing to donate their brains to the National Sports Brain Bank, the Burnetts agreed to have Jon’s brain donated to the cause after his death.

Sorensen approached the Burnetts about telling Jon’s story.

“She and [husband] Marty [Griffin] had been talking about it. After the experience Marty had with throat cancer, she said they struggled with whether to go public with it and decided to and the benefits were great,” Debbie said. “She told me that story and we didn’t struggle with it much. We asked Jon and he didn’t hesitate.”

Although they’ve watched Sorensen’s reports several times, Debbie said Jon does not remember them. But they have taken comfort in the outpouring of public affection for Burnett since the reports aired.

“The KDKA Facebook page has many, many comments,” Debbie said. “Last time I looked it was over 300. People are being so very, very kind and supportive and awesome.”

Debbie said Sorensen will air a follow-up report in tonight’s newscasts.

To register for the National Sports Brain Bank study, visit https://redcap.link/nsbb, email to nsbb@pitt.edu or call 412-692-2700 (8 a.m.-4 p.m.).

PFO fundraiser

The Pittsburgh Film Office’s 24th annual fundraising gala, “Lights! Glamour! Action!,” will be held at 7:30 p.m. March 9 at The Pennsylvanian’s Grand Hall in Downtown Pittsburgh featuring musical acts, interactive experiences, dancing, food, specialty cocktails and a silent auction to benefit the PFO. Details and tickets at pghfilm.org/lights-glamour-action/.

Kept/canceled

Apple TV+ renewed “Invasion” for a third season.

TBS canceled “Tacoma F.D.” after four seasons.

Channel surfing

CBS’s “Tracker” drew more than 18 million viewers Sunday after “Super Bowl LVIII,” the best ratings for a broadcast series premiere since CBS’s “The Equalizer” debuted after the 2021 “Super Bowl.” … Stephen Amell (“Arrow”) will star in the pilot for NBC’s proposed “Suits” spin-off, “Suits: LA.” … “True Detective: Night Country” has now surpassed the show’s first season to become the most-watched season of the anthology series. … Jon Stewart’s return to the anchor chair on Comedy Central’s “The Daily Show” Monday drew 930,000 viewers, the show’s best ratings since 2018. … Paramount Global laid off around 800 workers this week but no one at Pittsburgh’s KDKA-TV or WPKD-TV was axed.