 Corning was raised in Calais, Maine, and graduated from Wheaton College in Massachusetts.He began his broadcasting career as a general assignment reporter for WDTV, the CBS affiliate in Bridgeport, West Virginia, and then as weekend anchor and reporter at one of WDTV's rivals, WBOY, the NBC affiliate in Clarksburg, West Virginia.He next spent some time performing the same duties at WTOV in Steubenville, Ohio, before moving on to his first major market job at KTVI, the Fox station in St. Louis, Missouri.