Stories
from Winter 2004
 |
 Leaving
WESH:
Kendrick
gone after 32 years
March
17 -- Ron Kendrick, a reporter
with one of the longest tenures in
Central Florida, "resigned" on
Friday from Channel 2, according to WESH
insiders. Back in December we noted the
discussion in our Orlando TV Times Forum
that Kendrick's contract was not being
renewed. Born in Daytona Beach, Kendrick
had been with WESH for 32 years,
beginning work there shortly after
graduating from Mainland High School. In
recent years he covered the territory he
knew best, focusing on stories in Volusia
and Flagler counties. Some WESH folks are
not happy to see Kendrick go. Noted one
person: "The trend sure seems to be
toward moving out older on-air
people." Also in that December
discussion, longtime education reporter
Kathy Marsh's future with WESH was
questioned. So far, she's still listed on
WESH's website -- unlike Kendrick. |
 Getting
Political:
Harris
heads up new franchise
March
17 -- There's a change on the
CFN anchor desk, and it's all about
politics. Market veteran Scott Harris is
leaving his midday anchor post to head a
new daily political segment called
"Florida Decides." The
franchise series will air weeknights at
7, 8 and 9 and is part of News 13's
yearlong commitment to the 2004 election.
Harris will also be responsible for the
daily "Capitol Update" Florida
Legislature segments on the channel.
Harris is no stranger to politics, once
helping run the congressional campaign of
former WESH anchor Carol Granstrom (now
Carol Stanton). Replacing Harris on the
midday shift is Ybeth Bruzual, who will
assume those anchor duties as well as
continue her work for News 13's Spanish
-language TV partner, Telemundo. |
 Photo
focus:
Caudle
now chief photojournalist at 6
March
10 -- Darran Caudle, the
longtime photographer who is probably
best known for teaming with Problem
Solver Tony Pipitone, has been named the
chief photojournalist at WKMG, according
to TV Spy's Watercooler. Caudle has been
at Local 6 since 1992 and is well
regarded in the industry. Working with
Pipitone and others, he has won Suncoast
Emmy awards, regional Edward R. Murrow
awards, NABJ awards, Florida AP awards
and SPJ awards. Caudle will reportedly
continue his role with the Problem
Solvers. |
 Eyewitness
the Sweeps:
9
dominates most newscasts
March
5 -- The reports of Eyewitness
News' demise have been greatly
exaggerated. The once-sagging WFTV news
is back and dominant as ever. WFTV says
ina news release that it won five of
seven daily newscasts. But it really
showed its strength in early evening.
From 5-6:30 p.m., WFTV's audience grew by
29 percent and now has 45 percent of all
news watchers during the time period. |
 Echols
has cancer:
Outlook
reportedly is good
Feb.
26 -- NewsBlues.com is reporting that
WFTV morning anchor Vanessa Echols was
diagnosed with breast cancer on Monday.
In an email to friends, she wrote,
"The good news is, in the words of
my oncologist, 'I don't see anything here
that tells me you can't be cured.' "
Channel 9 news director Bob Jordan says
the station supports Echols and
"whether she works on any particular
day will be dependant upon how she's
feeling. It'll be up to her." Echols
has been with WFTV since August 1992 and
was a reporter and weekend anchor before
moving to Eyewitness News Daybreak.
WESH-Channel 2 evening anchor Wendy
Chioji had a very public -- and
successful -- battle against breast
cancer in 2001. |
 Morning
Routine:
Johnson
gets A.M. post
Feb.
26 -- Tom Johnson, who has been
filling in on Fox 35's three-hour morning
news block since Michael Brooks left, has
officially been given the a.m. anchor
job, according to WOFL insiders. Johnson
joined Fox 35 as a reporter and fill-in
achor in September after two years in
Cleveland at WOIO. Before Cleveland, Tom
anchored the morning news at WSPA-TV in
the Upstate of South Carolina. Meanwhile
all is not settled at the station yet.
Fox 35 continues its posting for a
weather anchor. Meteorologist Jim Van
Fleet has been filling since last summer
when Doug Kammerer left to go to WCAU
Philly. And there are so-far unconfirmed
reports that Margaret Carlo has been
replaced as weekend anchor. |
 Digital
Competition:
WKMG,
WFTV try out new looks
Feb.
26 -- In January, USA Today
reported that WKMG was going to try out a
web-style news and weather screen on one
of its digital channels. We're told that
sure enough, WKMG temporarily put up the
page up as a test on Wednesday on DT
Channel 6-2. Not to be outdone, WFTV
began -- and still is -- airing a similar
page on its DT Channel 9-2. The WFTV page
scrolls headlines, shows a one-hour radar
loop and directs views to its wftv.com
website. The days of analog competition
is soooo old-school. |
 Digital
Cooperation:
UCF gets
TV channel from BCC
Feb.
26 -- UCF's school of radio and
TV has had one big disadvantage -- no TV
outlet. That's about to change. The
school has reached a deal with Brevard
Community College to program one of
WBCC-Channel 68's digital channels.
WBCC-DT Channel 30-2 will be turned over
to UCF to air campus events, news and
even Golden Knights sports. WBCC airs PBS
programming on its main digital channel,
30-1, the Florida Knowledge Network on
30-3 and the Florida Channel on 30-4.
Interesting sidenote: This isn't the
first time WBCC has made a deal
concerning its channel. WBCC was
originally assigned Channel 18, but WKCF
made a deal years ago to switch its
channel 68 for WBCC's more desirable
channel slot. |
 News
Nuggets:
Comings, goings and Traffic on the 2s
Feb.
15 -- Ever been late to work?
Sure, but what about missing the start of
your show? That's what happened to
WESH-Channel 2 morning anchor Claire Metz
last week when she -- along with hundred
of others -- found herself stuck in an
early I-4 jam when a crane blocked the
road in Volusia County. We didn't see it,
but we're told the show went on ... with
Metz doing phoners from her car to give
updates on the situation. Now that's
instant traffic!
>> Former Channel 6 weather
guy Pat Michaels has had it with
the cold weather and is heading back to
Central Florida from his chief met gig in
Lansing, Michigan. His last day in the
wolverine state will be sometime in late
March. Michaels told us that while he was
up there, his family was still here --
another major factor in the decision. As
for his immediate future, he plans to
write a children's book about -- what
else? -- weather. The book is due to be
published this year and sold in national
stores like Barnes & Noble and
Borders
>> If you're a Dish Network
subscriber, you received a
little present recently -- WKCF-Channel
18. Since Dish began offering local
channels several years back, WB 18 had
been left out of the Orlando package
because of contract differences between
Dish and Emmis.
>> I had to laugh a bit
last week when all the stations
were offering up their sweeps specials.
Sure, you want to do something different,
but while WFTV's Todd Ulrich was doing a
great story about the finances of a
children's charity and WESH was sending
Stephen Stock undercover for an
interesting look at truckers' driving
habits, WKMG went looking for split ends.
It offered a report on counterfeit Paul
Mitchell hair products. It's tough to
catch local politicos partying it up in
Vegas every sweeps, I guess. |
 Web
TV:
WKMG has
big plans for HD channel
Jan.
30 -- You may recall that I
mentioned a week or so ago that I
recently received an HDTV. I complained
about how little programming there really
is in HD and wondered why local stations
weren't using the multicasting
opportunities of HD better. Well, first,
I take back what I said about the deficit
of HD programming (after being hit with
emails and posts on other message boards
from loyal HD viewers). But I am happy to
report that one local station has some
interesting plans for its HD channels.
According to a story in Thursday's USA Today, WKMG plans to
soon offer a web page-like screen on one
of its digital channels, complete with
news headlines, weather maps and views
from the more than 100 Department of
Transportation traffic cameras to which
it has exclusive access. Currently Local
6 (and WFTV-Channel 9) show their Doppler
radar feeds on secondary digital
channels. The USA Today story
is full of information on what some local
stations across America are doing with
their multicasting abilities. WESH
doesn't multicast currently (which I
think means their HD picture is the
supposed to be the best), but might one
day become part of a NBC plan to have its
affiliates multicast a local news/weather
service and features from shows such as
"Access Hollywood."
 For
more about HDTV, visit the very
informative Central Florida HD Society
website |
 Shafer's
Spotlight:
Positively Central Florida
Jan.
30 -- When Bill Shafer was taken
out of the sports anchor seat at WESH
last fall, we were told to expect to see
more of his standout features when he
returned to reporting. Now Shafter has a
franchise name for his reports:
Positively Central Florida. NewsChannel 2
will showcase the stories of its longtime
reporter on Mondays, Wednesdays and
Fridays. An initial story this week dealt
with a Central Florida woman who helped
connect local families and a Korean
orphanage. It was the kind of story
Shafer used to report under the banner
"Shafer's Spotlight" before he
was moved to sports anchor. It's
absolutely positive that his new reports
are a welcome addition to the evening
news. |
 First
News:
WKMG
waking up morning show
Jan.
30 -- WKMG's First News has been
the leading morning newscast in Central
Florida -- when it comes to having fewest
people on air. For several months, it's
just been Shawn Killinger and Reynolds
Wolf handling the news, the weather, the
traffic and the banter. But starting
Monday, they'll finally get some company.
Weekend anchor Gerald Reznick is being
added as Killinger's co-anchor, and
Secily Wilson will take over the traffic
reports from weatherman Wolf. Of course,
starting this all the morning after the
Super Bowl is on Local 6 will give the
station a prime opportunity to promote
the changes. In a memo to the Local 6
staff, news director Skip Valet praised
Reznick for his weekend work and said he
would bring enthusiasm and energy to the
morning show. Local 6 insiders tell us no
replacement for Reznick has been named,
and main anchors Bob Frier and Lauren
Perkins will likely be filling in on the
weekends during the February sweeps. |
 The
Cat's Out of the Bag:
More
info on 9's first logo
Jan.
28 -- While checking out the
website, you may have seen the old
Channel 9 cat logo on our WFTV page. Back
in 1958 when WFTV signed on the air as
WLOF (We Love Orlando Florida), the
station had a distinctive logo. I
received an email the other day from Donn
Colee Jr., whose father helped start up
Channel 9, and he had some info about the
station and the cool cat. "My
father, Donn Colee, was the general
manager of WLOF radio in the late 1950's
who built WLOF TV (now WFTV) Channel 9 in
Orlando. He served as General Manager of
WLOF TV for a year or so after it
signed-on, then joined John Kluge as a
senior VP of Metropolitan Broadcasting
Company (nee Metromedia) in New York and
Washington," Colee said. He added
that he was especially pleased to see the
original 'cat' logo for Channel 9.
"Dad created that concept when the
station signed on -- it's first on-air
contest was a 'count the cats'
deal. The cat's tail formed the
channel 9, of course." We're not sure when
exactly the cat was retired, but we don't
think it lasted too long. WFTV celebrated
its 45th anniversary last year, but the
cat stayed out of sight. Maybe it will
show up again for the 50th anniversary in
2008? It has nine lives, you know.
See
newspaper ads with the 9 Cat Logo from
1958 |
 Lone
Star Anchor:
Brooks
moves on to Texas
Jan.
26 -- Former Fox 35 morning
anchor Michael Brooks will get to sleep
in more from now on, and not just because
he gained an hour by moving to the
Central Time Zone. Brooks will debut as
the new main evening anchor on KGBT-CBS 4
in Texas' Rio Grande Valley. Sure, it's
market 97 (Brownsville/ McAllen/
Harlingen), but he doesn't have to get up
at 2 a.m. anymore. Despite being in the
running for jobs in markets larger than
Orlando, moving to the evening slot from
mornings was important for Brooks. He
said he was "tired of being tired
all day long" from the early morning
hours. As for his new job: "My first
day 'on air' is Super Bowl Sunday after
the big game," Brooks told us.
"The station is making a pretty big
deal of it." |
 Live
at 5:
Next
ratings battle may come early
Jan.
26 -- Already king of the 11 p.m
newscasts, it sure looks like WKMG is now
targeting 5 p.m. as the next area where
it will try to move up. Local 6's
numerous promos trumpeting its 11 p.m.
news as "Central Florida's No. 1
Newscast" have been replaced lately
by ones trying to build an audience for
its early news. WFTV's Eyewitness News
has been untouchable for 25 years as the
early evening news leader, so -- at least
for now -- this ratings battle looks to
be between No. 2 WESH and WKMG. Expect to
see a lot more of the 5 p.m. promos in
Sunday's Super Bowl coverage. Also, in
probably a related move, WKMG changed its
opening newscast music at 5 on Monday.
See one of
the WKMG promos for Local 6 News at 5 |
 All
Local, All the Time:
Miami
station copies WKMG
Jan.
26 -- WKMG's Post-Newsweek
sister station in Miami, WPLG-Channel 10,
renamed itself Local 10 on Monday. The
move is part of a plan to try to give
South Florida's one-time news king a new
image. The station, which in recent years
has faced increased competition from
Miami's other English-language stations,
is hoping to duplicate some of ratings
success WKMG has had since renaming
itself Local 6. WPLG becomes the third
Post-Newsweek station to adopt the
"Local" moniker in its
identification. WKMG copied it initially
from WDIV-Local 4 in Detroit. |
 Living
the High Life:
27
starts digital broadcasts
Jan.
26 -- After being admonished and
fined by the FCC, WRDQ is finally
broadcasting in digital on channel 14.
Back in October, the FCC slapped WRDQ
with a $10,000 penalty, saying WRDQ was
told that its digital channel, WRDQ-DT
Channel 14, could interfere with mobile
radio communications. WRDQ was told to
make arrangements to limit interference
before the digital channel started
broadcasting. WRDQ-DT started its test
broadcasts anyway -- creating some
interference with nearby frequencies.
Apparently the issue has been resolved.
But I just wonder, with a schedule filled
largely with old reruns, what is there to
broadcast in HDTV on WRDQ? |
 Team
D'Oh! Coverage:
Simpsons
take on the late news
Jan.
19 -- The 11 p.m. newscasts are
a big deal in Central Florida, with lots
of bragging rights and money at stake.
But now at 11, in addition to Bob, the
other Bob, Lauren, Jim, Wendy and Martie,
you can watch Bart and Lisa. In what may
be a first in the country, Fox O&O
WOFL is now showing The Simpsons at least
THREE times a day -- including its new
slot at 11 p.m. against other stations'
late news. It's definitely a step up from
Fox 35's previous 11 p.m. counter
programming of 30-something-year-old
M*A*S*H reruns. In some cities --
Cleveland, for example -- The Simpsons
often beat at least one of the late
newscasts. Still to be seen is whether
the cartoon clan can have the same impact
here. But you know Bart (not to mention
Fox execs) would love surpass at least
one station in town and be able to taunt,
"Eat my shorts!" |
 Digital
Deficit:
What's on (or not on) HDTV
Jan.
19 -- Thanks to an unexpected
Christmas present from the best wife in
the world, I've been checking out the
HDTV offerings on the Central Florida
airways. For those who don't have HDTV or
don't know much about it (like me),
stations can split their digital signals
to broadcast multiple channels. Most of
the area PBS stations -- WMFE, WCEU and
WBCC -- have three or four digital
channels showing different programming
(even Pax's WOPX does it!). WKMG and WFTV
have two channels -- with one showing
local and network programming and the
other showing live shots of their doppler
radars. Besides being surprised at how
little HDTV programming there is, I'm
also amazed area stations aren't taking
more advantange of their signal
splitting. For example, why wouldn't
WESH, WKMG or WFTV rerun their last
newscast multiple times on their digital
channel for folks who miss the news at
its traditional time? Why not rerun a
public affairs show like Flashpoint
throughout the day or week? I know the HD
audience is small, but is showing a radar
picture the best the stations can do? |
 Breaking
Noticias:
GM
Santos leaving WTMO
Jan.
13 -- Laura Santos, the general
manager who vitrually built Telemundo
affiliate WTMO-Channel 40 in Orlando, is
leaving the station to become vice
president of news for the Telemundo
station group. During her eight years at
WTMO, she hired each of the 22 employees
now at the station and negotiated the
contacts to get the low-power UHF station
on local cable systems to extend its
reach. According to the Orlando Sentinel, before she joined
WTMO, she spent four years at Univision
creating the news department there. She
will relocating to Telemundo's HQ in
South Florida. |
 The
Incredible Shrinking Newscast:
It's
weekend lite on 6
Jan.
12 -- It hasn't even been a year
since WKMG brought back weekend morning
news, but it sure looks like the station
is throwing in the towel. The two-hour
block of news on Saturdays and Sundays
that began in April was first cut to 90
minutes and, now, it's just an hour each
day. Local 6's weekend news runs from
6:30-7:30 a.m. on Saturdays and 8-9 a.m.
on Sundays. WESH airs 2-1/2 hours of news
on Saturdays and Sundays, and WFTV offers
a marathon 4-1/2-hour newscast on
Saturdays and 3-1/2-hour show on Sundays.
Perhaps more disturbing than slashing its
weekend newscasts was Channel 6's
decision to move Flashpoint, its
well-done public affairs show, from
Sundays at 11 a.m. following CBS' Face
the Nation to Saturdays at 7:30 a.m. That
puts it between the little-watched First
News Saturday and seldom-seen Saturday
Early Show. |
Canceled
Subscriptions:
13 replaces Sentinel content
Jan.
12 -- Last month the Orlando
Sentinel decided to sell its 50 percent
stake in Central Florida News 13 to
Bright House Networks. The deal also
signaled an end to some of the
newspaper's content appearing on the
channel. Some daily features have been
eliminanted. Others have been replaced,
such as the afternoon business report,
which is now produced with the Orlando
Business Journal (related to Bright House
through corporate ownership). We're told
Bright House is still looking for a place
to build new studios and offices for the
news channel, but it will likley stay put
in its Sentinel-owned building for
perhaps two years. |
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