Denise Nakano

Denise Nakano is the midday anchor for KYW Newsradio.

Her career has spanned the country, taking her to newsrooms in Sacramento and Chico, California; Syracuse, New York; and Seattle. 

She joined KYW Newsradio in the summer of 2020 from NBC10, where she anchored and reported for 17 years. Nakano has covered some of the region’s biggest stories, including the deadly Market Street collapse, the Amtrak train derailment, and Superstorm Sandy.

As a broadcast journalist, Nakano tells people she has the best job in the world. “It's the one job where I get to meet new people and learn something new every day,” she said.

Nakano has been recognized with a national Edward R. Murrow Award for best documentary and with seven national and regional Emmy Awards for breaking news, investigative reporting and for her coverage of the local heroin epidemic. She has also been honored by the City of Philadelphia with a proclamation recognizing her reporting on the heroin crisis in Philadelphia.

Nakano is an active member of and previous national board representative of the Asian American Journalists Association.

Nakano worked in radio prior to her 24 years in television news, getting her start in college at the NPR station located on the campus of her alma mater, the University of the Pacific. She also served as the morning drive anchor for an AM news-talk station in Stockton, California. She first entered television news as a desk assistant and writer in Sacramento while still in college.

When she is not on the air, Nakano enjoys many creative outlets, including charcoal drawing, stained glass and baking. She is always up for an adventure — she’s dived in tropical waters as a certified scuba diver and has finished the Seattle Marathon.

Nakano, her husband and their four children spend their time between Philadelphia, Delaware County, and the Jersey Shore.