Applegate made a return to television news in September 2009 when she joined News 12 Long Island as an evening co-anchor. With three months remaining in her one-year contract, she was allowed to leave News 12 in order to join WPIX. The Tribune Company-owned station named her as sole anchor of its revamped 10:00 PM newscasts on weeknights; she started in that capacity on October 11, 2010. Applegate also anchored the station's hour-long 5:00 PM newscast, which was launched in the fall of 2011.