March 29 -- In an e-mail being passed among Gators boosters, one local radio station is begging for help. Chris Visser, program director of WHOO-1080 AM (aka ESPN Florida), is asking UF faithful to back his new morning guy, former Gator running back Brady Ackerman. "Unfortunately I have met a great deal of resistance from fans of other schools (and teams) who have been peppering the owner of our radio group insisting that we should consider dropping Brady because we talk 'too much Gator sports,' " Visser wrote to the boosters. He then asks the Florida boosters to support Ackerman: "You know how the squeaky wheel seems to always get massaged first and these anti-Gator, anti-Brady letters are starting to pile up and I would like to at least give him a chance. Your letter -- and some of your fellow Orlando Gator fans' letters -- sent to me might make a difference. I could use your help to keep our/your favorite topic (the Gators) on the air." Uh, maybe the folks complaining about a Gator bias have a point? ...

||| Back to Monday's TPC fiasco .. You'll recall that WESH was among a "handful" of NBC affiliates that bailed out of final round coverage of The Players Championship to air local programming instead. So far, from what I've seen online, the stations that ditched the golf include WXII in Greensboro-Winston Salem, WBAL in Baltimore and WYFF in Greenville. Besides the golf decision, what do those stations and WESH have in common? They're all owned by Hearst-Argyle. Makes you go, hmmmmm, doesn't it?

March 28 -- WESH scored a triple-bogey with golf fans Monday. Channel 2 bailed on NBC's final-round coverage of the weather-delayed TPC in Ponte Vedra Beach at 4 p.m., switching to "Ellen" and then local news. To say local golf fans were irate is as much an understatement as saying Tiger Woods is an OK golfer. They called WESH, they called the Orlando Sentinel -- they even called NBC in New York to complain. One disgruntled viewer said he told WESH that in addition to never watching NewsChannel 2 again, he would boycott any event the station sponsors. A bit extreme? Yes, but in the town where Woods and other golf notables live, it's understandable. Insiders tell us NBC wasn't too happy with WESH's decision either, considering Orlando's golf ties. We're told only a handful of NBC stations chose not to air the conclusion of The Players Championship, golf's so-called "fifth major." (UPDATE: Orlando Sentinel story about WESH's decision) ...

||| Not to keep picking on WESH, but I have to say I was a bit wary about one report on its early evening news Monday. In a story detailing results of a WESH/Orlando Sentinel poll on indicted mayor Buddy Dyer, it was pointed out that former mayor Bill Frederick is considered the favorite for the upcoming special mayoral election. He had a 20-point lead on Tico Perez, a local lawyer and WESH political commentator who has been considering a run at the office. But before WESH's report aired Monday, Perez decided he will not run. Was that before or after Perez saw the WESH/Sentinel results? Just wondering ...

||| From the Orlando TV Forum message board -- WOFL weekend anchor Glenn Pearson is heading to NBC flagship WNBC in New York as a G.A. starting April 11. When he arrives in the Big Apple, he could attend a reunion of former Fox 35 employees now working in the nation's No. 1 market. Among them, Milissa Rehberger (at MSNBC), Bill Karins (as NBC WeatherPlus), Anne Craig (at WNYW-Fox 5) and Penn Holderness (at HGTV). Wow, that's quite a group! ...

||| The family and I spent Easter weekend in South Florida, and we saw some familiar faces on Miami TV. Former WFTV reporter Ted Scouten, now with WFOR-4, was on the never-ending Schiavo watch for the CBS O&O. Over on Fox affiliate WSVN-7, former Channel 9 meteorologist Tom Johnston was filling in as the primary met on the early evening and 10 o'clock shows (a role he's apparently been filling since former 7 chief met Bill Kamal was arrested). Johnston will keep filling in, presumably, until next month when Fidel ''Felipe'' Ferro arrives from WSCV-Telemundo 50 to become WSVN's new chief met.

||| Never thought I would be one of those guys who forgets anniversaries, but ... I forgot one. Last week marked 5 years since I started RogerSimmons.com. Woo-who!

March 23 -- When it comes to hurricane coverage, WFTV may have the viewers but WKMG has the awards. WKMG picked up a regional Edward R. Murrow award for its coverage of hurricanes Charley, Frances and Jeanne. Winning in the "continuous coverage" category for large market stations, Local 6's submission included clips from all three storms plus the forecasting of chief met Tom Sorrells, stories by Erik Von Ancken and Tarik Minor and reporter Donald Forbes' live shot from inside Charley in southwest Florida. (It was Forbes and his photog, you may remember, who narrowly missed being seriously injured when the roof flew off the structure they were taking shelter by during Charley's arrival in Port Charlotte. Forbes did sustain minor injuries.) WKMG's entry was considered the best in its region, which includes stations in Florida, Georgia, Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands. It is Local 6's sixth regional Murrow award since 1998 -- an impressive accomplishment.

Kudos also to WOFL-Fox 35. The station also won a regional Murrow award in the large market Feature Reporting category for a report titled "Truckzilla." On the radio side, Orlando's WDBO-580 AM picked up three regional Murrow awards -- for overall excellence, for newscast ("Shootout in Pine Hills) and for feature reporting (Winning Presidential Do.")

The Murrow awards are presented annually by the Radio-Television News Directors Association. Orlando's regional winners automatically become eligible for the national awards competition, which will be judged in early June. The national Edward R. Murrow Awards will be presented on October 17 In New York.

||| Full list of Murrow regional winners

March 17 -- In yet another blow to WESH's weather coverage, the Orlando Sentinel announced today it was discontinuing its weather partnership with Channel 2 and instead will be working with -- guess who? -- WFTV and its chief meteorologist, Tom Terry. Starting June 1, Terry will take over the back page of the Sentinel's Local & State section, which had been home to WESH chief met Dave Marsh and his forecasts. The Sentinel and WFTV will also team up on other weather projects, including production of the newspaper's annual hurricane guide and other web-based ventures.

The announcement comes a week after news broke that Marsh was taking a less prominent role in WESH's weather coverage. After 36 years, the Central Florida TV legend is moving off the station's 5, 6 and 11 newscasts and instead will work on the noon and 5:30 p.m. shows. He will be replaced by morning meteorologist Amy Sweezey. The changes come after WESH's hurricane coverage, helmed by Marsh, was widely regarded as inferior to WFTV's. The station previously announced it was not renewing the contract of meteorologist Mike O'Lennick.

Several other notes about the new partnership ... The breakup of the weather relationship between the Sentinel and WESH will supposedly have no effect on news sharing between the paper and station, which includes appearances by Sentinel columnists on Channel 2 news shows and joint production of the Emmy-nominated Orlando Sentinel Varsity Sports high school show. ... Also, this isn't the first time the Sentinel and WFTV have partnered. Channel 9 was the first TV buddy of the Sentinel in the early '90s, when they reportedly discussed forming a local news channel. The Sentinel would eventually establish such a news channel with Time Warner Cable, creating Central Florida News 13. The Sentinel has since left that venture. ... Finally, WFTV and Terry's new partnership with the Sentinel surely signals the end to a similar relationship between the station and the Daytona Beach News-Journal. That partnership made sense on a corporate level since both outlets have ownership ties to Cox. I would suspect we'll see WESH end up as a News-Journal partner very soon.

March 17 -- WESH chief meteorologist Dave Marsh is assuming new duties, shifting off the 11 p.m. news and taking over the noon show as the station starts to groom his possible successor. Remember that from last week? Well, if you have a really, really good memory, you would know it sounds strangely familiar. It's almost word for word what the station said more than 10 years ago.

Back in July 1995, Channel 2 announced that Marsh was going scale back his duties, no longer working the 11 p.m. news. Taking his place would be the morning meteorologist (hmmmm?!), Chris Castleman. The plan was for Marsh and Castleman to share weather duties on the 5, 5:30 and 6 p.m. shows, with Castleman taking over at 11. This is what then-GM Jeff Lee told the Orlando Sentinel about the change: ''Dave is still No. 1. He's been doing this 28 years. He wants a normal life. Chris is an up-and-comer. Is it a step to get Dave's successor in line? Yes.''

Sound familiar?

But less than two years later, Castleman, who had been bounced back to the morning show, was shown the door at WESH. So even though current morning met Amy Sweezey is scheduled to take over most of the evening shows from Marsh starting April 18, don't count out ol' Dave just yet.

March 7 -- Fox 35's new anchor made his debut on Sunday night. Cale Ramaker (right), who had stops in Iowa and Minnesota before heading to WOFL, took the seat next to Shelly Ribando that previously had been held by Brad Stephens. He left the station in August 2004, and Keith Landry had been the main substitute since then. With a fast delivery, Ramaker seems to have added some energy to Fox's 10 p.m. newscast. Well, credit Ramaker's reading and perhaps the fact Fox is having its anchors walk all over the station's new set. (See video of Cale Ramaker) ...

||| Congrats to former Channel 6 anchor and weatherman Mike Burger, who is celebrating his 35th year in the business. His current station, CBS O&O KTVT in Dallas, contacted me to seek a photo of Mike for an on-air tribute they planned for this past Sunday's 10 p.m. news. In addition to his two stints at Channel 6, Burger also spent a great deal of time behind the radio microphone at WDBO.

||| Burger isn't the only Central Florida transplant at KTVT in Dallas. That's where former WESH 5:30 anchor Shannon Hori is now calling home, anchoring the station's morning news show. As you can see from the station ad below, Hori (on the left) is helping bring "new energy" and "new attitude" to the Big D. They seem to be, uh, a very close anchor team.

March 7 -- If you haven't visited the Orlando Digital TV website, you should. It's a great place where television's future in the digital age is discussed, usually from technical standpoints.

I came across this bit of news on the site's link to AVS Forums for Central Florida TV. All TV stations had to notify the FCC recently what channel number they plan to use once the switch to digital is complete (possibly at the end of 2006). Their choices: keep their analog channel number and broadcast digitally on it, keep their digital channel number or make a deal with another broadcaster to get their discarded digital or analog channel assignment.

Eleven of the 15 local stations opted to give up their familiar analog channel numbers and take on their digital assignments, mostly on UHF. (Some had no choice since the government is doing away with channels 52-69 for television.) WKMG decided to give up channel 6 and made a deal to take channel 15 from PBS station WCEU.

Now, that doesn't necessarily mean Local 6 will become Local 15. Through "remapping" stations can broadcast digitally on one channel and make your digital receiver show they're still on their original, old analog channel. Or they can start using their new channel assignment as their on-air identity. WMFE-DT is doing that now with Channel 23. WESH will be the lone VHS station in Central Florida, sticking with its digital channel 11. A look at where local stations will finally end up broadcasting in the future...

March 3 -- A couple of updates to stories delivered here on Monday ...

||| Chris Ford, assistant news director at Fox 35, has returned from his emergency trip out of town. Turns out it really was an emergency trip to deal with a death. Our condolences to Chris.. ...

||| Maggie Carlo, former Fox 35 weekend anchor/reporter, is indeed doing the news on The Daily Buzz, but it's as a substitute newsreader and not as permanent replacement for Dao Vu. She'll finish out this week, then the show will bring in Christina McLarty for a week. ...

||| O-Town old-timers may remember the name Dan Satterfield. He was a meteorologist at WESH back in the 1980s. He's now at WHNT in Huntsville, Ala., and produces a website that helps explain weather to kids. You can visit the site at WildWildWeather.com and read about what Dan has been up to lately.

March 2 -- Sweeps end today (hurray!), and that's not too soon from some stations in town.

||| Fox 35 insiders are telling us that assistant news director Chris Ford took an "emergency vacation" several days ago and hasn't been seen since. The disappearing act is a lot like what happened to former news director John Sears, who slipped out of the building on an "emergency vacation" and never returned. WOFL later announced he was no longer with the station. ...

||| Former Fox 35 weekend anchor Margaret Carlo has reappeared on national TV. She's the new newsreader on The Daily Buzz, anchoring under the name Maggie Carlo (well, it is a hip morning show). She looks to be replacing Dao Vu, who left the Orlando-based show to go to the Weather Channel. ...

||| Cale Ramaker, the apparent future lead anchor for Fox 35 News at 10, has been spotted a couple of times on the newscast reporting from the field. No info on when he will move to the big seat. ...

||| During Sunday afternoon's wicked weather, I'm watching WESH and see there is a tornado watch for several Central Florida counties. So I switch to the new WESH Weather Plus on Channel 2's digital channel, thinking I'd find more information about the severe weather. Nope -- just pre-recorded stuff. If there is rough weather, wouldn't you report it on your own 24/7 weather channel? Just askin'. ...

||| Speaking of weather channels, the folks at CFN 13 point out that they produce their own 24/7 weather channel for Bright House digital customers. ...

||| That darn DVD! Who would have thought that Channel 9's hurricane DVD would produce a six-page thread with 88 replies on the Orlando TV Talk message board? Well, it did. Unfortunately, it seemed to get a bit out of hand, so it's been locked. ... One other (and hopefully last) DVD note. Channel 9's Tom Terry points out that in my review of the DVD I said the National Weather Service blew the projected path for Charley. Nope. It was the National Hurricane Center. Sorry, NWS.

||| RogerSimmons.com set a record for page views in February, with all of you looking at nearly 120,000 pages on the site. And I'd bet that only about 75 percent of that was due to that DVD thread!