KPIX news anchor Ken Bastida, a Bay Area television and radio fixture for 43 years, has announced his retirement.
Bastida informed viewers of his plans during Tuesday night’s 11 p.m. newscast. His last broadcast on Channel 5 is set for Oct. 29.
“It’s a little weird to walk away. I’ve been working since I was 15,” Bastida said Wednesday. “But the timing is perfect for where my wife and I are in our lives.”
A native of San Francisco and seven-time Emmy Award-winner, Bastida, 64, arrived at KPIX in the summer of 1990 and rose to the station’s weeknight co-anchor position 20 years ago in the wake of the 9/11 terrorist attacks. He has held that post ever since.
Along the way, Bastida covered some of the Bay Area’s biggest news stories, including the1991 Oakland Hills Fire, the crash of Asiana Airlines Flight 214, the San Bruno gas explosion, the Oakland Ghost Ship fire and this year’s deadly VTA maintenance yard shooting in San Jose.
Bastida also gave Bay Area viewers an eyewitness look at the major stories from around the country and world. He reported live from the Pentagon in the wake of the 9/11 attacks and traveled to the Middle East twice to cover the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
As the Giants prepared this week for another post-season run, Bastida fondly recalled covering the team’s 2010, 2012 and 2014 championship seasons.
“The Giants winning the World Series in 2010, being in Texas when the final pitch was thrown, it was crazy,” he said. “And covering the victory parades live in 2010, 2012, 2014. So happy for the city and the Giants fans.”
Born in the Mission District, Bastida attended El Camino High School in South San Francisco where he was bitten by the broadcast bug while taking a telecommunications class. He went on to earn a bachelor’s degree in broadcast communications from San Francisco State; in 2007, he was inducted into the university’s Alumni Hall of Fame.
Before transitioning to TV, Bastida got his start in local radio as an intern at KFRC, where he worked his way up from the mailroom to the news room. His resume includes stints at KGO, KMEL, K101 and KCBS. While at the latter station, he earned a George Foster Peabody award for his work during the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake.
“Forty-three years in radio and TV in your hometown. Who gets to do that?” Bastida said. “I’m a very lucky guy. It has been a great run.”
Bastida shared that he has been contemplating retirement since signing a two-year deal with KPIX in 2019.
“I pretty much knew that it would probably be my last (contract),” he said. “Management knew and it works for me. … They don’t give these jobs away. They’re very coveted, so it is hard to walk away. But I’m looking forward to spending time with my grandkids and having regular dinners with my wife for the first time in decades.”
Join the Conversation
We invite you to use our commenting platform to engage in insightful conversations about issues in our community. We reserve the right at all times to remove any information or materials that are unlawful, threatening, abusive, libelous, defamatory, obscene, vulgar, pornographic, profane, indecent or otherwise objectionable to us, and to disclose any information necessary to satisfy the law, regulation, or government request. We might permanently block any user who abuses these conditions.