As vice president and general manager of Fox 5 and My9 television stations for the last year-and-a-half, Scarsdale resident Lew Leone has many responsibilities, but in the interest of cutting to the chase, he tells his kids “I put out fires.� But in an effort to further promote “Fox 5 News at 10� celebrating its 40th anniversary this week, he also tried to fire up this reporter. His pitch? He joked that in exchange for additional coverage, he would reveal to Remote Access’ sister blog, Suburbarazzi, where anchor and northern Westchester County resident Ernie Anastos gets his nails done. I might regret this, but I passed on the quid pro quo offer.

As vice chairman of the New York State Broadcasters Association, the 47-year-old Princeton University alumnus spent previous years working in executive, managerial and/or sales roles at regional CBS, NBC and ABC affiliates. The husband and father of two parked the metaphorical fire engine for 15 minutes Tuesday to speak with Remote Access.

Remote Access: How long have you lived in Scarsdale?

Lew Leone: On and off since 1969.

Remote Access: Did you attend Scarsdale High School?

Lew Leone: Yes, (Class of) ’77.

Remote Access: Were you at Scarsdale High when you realized you wanted to pursue a career in media?

Lew Leone: I’ll go back even further. When I was 5, my dad was on a game show called “Say When,� and he was the big winner. … (Our family didn’t have a) video tape back then, but we had an audio tape that says, “Hi, my name is Lewis, and I’m 5.� And we were on national television when I was 5 years old. So that was pretty cool. So I got exposed to a TV studio – lights and all that stuff – and it was done live I believe at the time, so that was pretty cool. And then my mom was on “The Match Game� like a year later. She won like 300 bucks. So, it was a big deal to us. …

Remote Access: So at age 5, you’re not necessarily thinking of being a vice president or general manager at that point.

Lew Leone: No, I didn’t know (that then), but I did know that I used to get teased a lot in college because I watched a lot of television. … Princeton was good because you could pull in both the Philly stations and the New York stations with the antenna. Because of course we didn’t have cable in college back then. You know, we had the bad hanger attached to our antenna on the TV, so we pulled in stations from both cities, which was kind of cool.

Remote Access: What’s the appeal of Westchester County?

Lew Leone: Well, I grew up there; I’m comfortable with it. My whole family’s there for the most part. Mom and Dad were born and raised in Westchester. So, we’re just comfortable – comfortable with the school systems and the people and the proximity to New York (City). And I was in the Midwest for eight years; I came back in ’93 and settled in Scarsdale. …

Remote Access: When it’s Fox 5 versus My9 at 10 o’clock, do you consider that competition?

Lew Leone: Absolutely. Different staffs, different news directors: they definitely compete. Fox has been more advantaged with the prime-time lead-in than Channel 9 has, but it’s definitely competition. We share some resources – you know, if the mayor’s speaking somewhere, we don’t need to send two crews – but on enterprise stories, there are two different investigative units, two different consumer units, that whole thing. (They are) different newsrooms.

Remote Access: How do you handle that if they’re clearly competition, but you’re responsible for both?

Lew Leone: You only have to make the hard decision (if) it’s a question of resources. … (For example), we were still looking for an across-the-board sports anchor on Channel 5, so we sent Russ Salzberg from Channel 9. He covered the Mets and the Yankees at spring training for both stations. We tell people it’s our sister station so they don’t get too confused. You try to be fair and balanced in making hard decisions and making sure you try to treat each station equally.

Remote Access: Well done incorporating the phrase “fair and balanced� into your response. Speaking of that, how much synergy is there between Fox News Channel and Fox 5?

Lew Leone: I think since (Fox News Channel Chairman) Roger Ailes took over (as chairman of Fox Television Stations), you’ve seen a lot more cooperation. For instance, Neil Cavuto’s on our 10 o’clock news every night with a business segment. In the morning, we use contributors from Fox News in business. Dr. Manny (Alvarez) appears on our air a lot. So there’s definitely some cross-pollenization going on. And Fox News Channel uses some of our people. …

Remote Access: What are the advantages of starting a newscast at 10 p.m., versus 11 p.m.?

Lew Leone: There are advantages and disadvantages. The advantage for the newscast launched 40 years ago is that no one was doing it; there wasn’t tremendous competition. Now, there are so many different choices, and at 10 o’clock, ABC, NBC and CBS – you know, big guns – (are) putting up their best dramas at 10 o’clock. But it also plays into our hands as an advantage because of lifestyle: People are going to bed earlier; people are working harder; they’re getting up earlier. So it’s a lifestyle choice as much as it is a content choice. … For Channel 5, we’re taking advantage of the tremendous lead-ins that Fox has given us.

Remote Access: What’s been the memorable story you’ve seen Fox 5 cover since you joined the network a year-and-a-half ago?

Lew Leone: I think Rosanna Scotto’s interview with (Diana Bianchi, the alleged mistress of Peter Cook, Christie Brinkley’s fourth husband). That was unbelievable, the response to that story and the national news media that wanted it. … We did a good job of making sure that everyone knew where it came from. In other words, we slapped our logo up over the top of it pretty good. … Your goal is to have stuff for the 10 o’clock news that the newspapers write about the next day.

Remote Access: What does the 40th anniversary mean to you?

Lew Leone: I love being part of the tremendous history and tradition. And it’s a huge responsibility to carry it forward, especially in the environment that we’re in with the electronic media and the Internet. But we’ve been very successful. …

Remote Access: It’s 2:45 p.m. Do you know where your children are?

Lew Leone: Yes. I know where they are. (Laughs.)

Remote Access: In keeping with the Fox theme, “Are You Smarter Than a Fifth-Grader?�

Lew Leone: No, because I don’t know the equation for the area of a triangle. I thought it was base times height, and my kids said, “No, Dad, it’s one-half base times height.� I said, “Well, yeah, I haven’t used that equasion in 35 years. Cut me some slack.�

Remote Access: What’s your favorite Fox show, other than the “Fox 5 News at 10�?

Lew Leone: My favorite Fox show is “(American) Idol.�

Remote Access: Who is your favorite “American Idol� judge and why?

Lew Leone: I love Simon Cowell. I think he’s honest.

(Photo by Jeff Neira.)