Austin Reed is the Director of Television Services for ZBS, and Station Manager of Me TV Monterey Bay.
From the time Austin could literally walk and talk, his fascination with Television, whether it be the nightly news, sitcom or reality show, began. His parents, whom reside in Portland, Oregon even have VHS recordings of their son, Austin sitting behind a cardboard box, with a pen and scratch paper in hand, acting as the late Peter Jennings, of ABC News. Austin was maybe 3 years old at the time.
Austin first appeared on real Television, by the time he was just 9 years old. His parents allowed him to take control of their basement and turn it into a pseudo newsroom/TV studio. The local ABC News affiliate could not pass up the story when they heard about it, and interviewed Austin all about it. Shortly after, Austin was asked to serve as “junior reporter”, for the same station.
By the time Austin was 13 years old, he already had his own LIVE weekly 1-hour long news program, on the local Public Access TV station, titled “Rose City News”. With help from his parents, Chris and Monica, and school friends, the show grew, more shows were produced and eventually, Comcast Cable Network syndicated some of the programs all over the Pacific Northwest.
When Austin was a senior in high school, he served as Student Body Vice President, and was hired by the local Fox affiliate, KPTV Channel 12, becoming the youngest ever paid news reporter, for the station and company, Meredith Communications. Austin was 17 years old at the time and stayed in that role for three very successful years. He was also a radio DJ, for KVMX-FM 107.5, on weekends. When Austin was 20 years old, he moved all the way to New York City, to try out acting. He was back in the TV news world just three months later, reporting for KOB-TV NBC News, in New Mexico. Over the years, Austin anchored, executive produced and managed newsrooms in Medford, Oregon, Fayetteville, Arkansas, Charleston, West Virginia and Fresno, California. Now, he’s helping get Me TV off the ground here in the gorgeous Central Coast.
Cystic Fibrosis is close to Austins heart, he was diagnosed with the disease at only 3 years old. Now, Austin serves as the Northern/Central California CF chapter spokesperson. Austin is also excited to announce that he and his beautiful wife, Amanda are expecting twin girls, in July 2016.
If you have a question or comment for Austin, email him!
AReed@KSCO.com
Or follow him in Twitter: @TVNewsAustin
