Mendte is hired by a N.Y. station

Larry Mendte, who was ousted from his CBS3 news anchor seat for hacking into his colleague's e-mail, will become a full-time commentator for WPIX-TV in New York.

After a contract is finalized in the next week or two, commentaries by Mendte will be shown five nights a week during the station's main newscast at 10 p.m., WPIX news director Bill Carey said yesterday. Other stations owned by the Tribune Broadcasting company can pick up his commentaries.

"When it comes to television storytelling, I think Larry is top of the craft," Carey said.

He said Mendte took responsibility for the trouble he got into in Philadelphia. In 2008, a U.S. District judge sentenced Mendte to house arrest and three years of probation after he had pleaded guilty to hacking into the e-mail account of his coanchor, Alycia Lane.

"The fact that there is some controversy is less important to me," said Carey, who has known Mendte for 20 years. "I'm judged by putting together a newscast people want to watch. I think he can help."

Mendte, 53, could not be reached for comment.

His first piece is on Tiger Woods and was one of six he had prepared for WPIX. Carey said the station planned to air it last night to coincide with the golfer's televised apology. WPHL 17 in Philadelphia, part of the Tribune company, also planned to air it.

"He's a gifted writer," said Vince Giannini, WPHL's vice president and general manager, who saw the commentary before making the decision.

Mendte and his wife, former Fox29 anchor Dawn Stensland, plan to remain in Philadelphia.

Also yesterday, at the judge's request, Lane's attorneys filed a shortened version of her 2008 civil lawsuit in Philadelphia Common Pleas Court against Mendte, CBS3, and other defendants.