Gianola grew up in
San Diego, California, and came to Portland's
KATU, the city's
ABC affiliate, in 1983 from a stint at a
Santa Barbara, California, station where he was the general-assignment reporter. After doing the weather and morning anchoring at KATU for a few years, he was moved to evening anchor in 1985. He was teamed with Julie Emry, and the pair co-anchored KATU's evening newscasts for several years in the late 1980s and 1990s. Gianola left KATU for
CBS affiliate
KOIN, in August 1998. In September 1999, Gianola wrote, produced and starred in "Quick Tips for Easy Living", a lifestyle program that aired Saturday afternoons on KOIN. The program was cancelled in October 1999. Gianola's news partner was
Anne State until she left broadcast news to care for her parents in April 2015. In 1996, Gianola produced the documentary "No Perfect Answers: The Life and Architecture of
Pietro Belluschi". He also had a cameo in the 1999
Kelley Baker film
Birddog. Gianola anchored the
CBS Weekend News on the weekend of May 16–17, 2020, during a period when the network's broadcast center in
New York City was closed because of the
COVID-19 pandemic and its affiliate stations performed substitute anchor duties, from their own studios, on weekends for a time. In July 2025, Gianola announced that he plans to retire in October 2025. ==Personal==