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Aug
20

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Demos leaving WFTV/WRDQ for Miami

Category: Orlando TV, WFTV-9, WKMG-6, WRDQ-27 Tags: , , , , , Leave a Comment

Some news nuggets for you, even if you aren’t headed back to school today…

 

WFTV/WRDQ anchor Cynthia Demos is heading to Miami after five years in O-Town, NewsBlues.com reports. Where’s she headed in Miami? The station that seems to be filling up former O-Town folks — CBS O&O WFOR. …

 

We all know how competitive weather is around here — i.e. my Doppler is bigger than your Doppler. So, I thought it was interesting that WFTV brought in chief met Tom Terry and WKMG brought in chief met Tom Sorrells on Sunday to cover Hurricane Dean. WESH and WOFL stayed with their regular weekend forecasters. ….

 

Also, WFTV has sent morning meteorologist Brian Shields to Cancun to cover the approach of Hurricane Dean. …

 

Now confirmed … features reporter Candice Coleman is indeed leaving Local 6. That’s too bad. As our local newscasts continue to focus on crime, cars running into houses and dogs biting people, the type of feature stories Coleman reported certainly helped the story mix and gave a nice respite from the relentless pounding drumbeat of “breaking news.” …

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Aug
19

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Special Monday focuses on Mark McEwen

Category: Orlando TV, WKMG-6 Tags: , Leave a Comment

WKMG will air "Miracle of Love," a special focusing on the recovery of Local 6 anchor Mark McEwen, Monday at 8 p.m. The show looks at McEwen’s battle after suffering a stroke in November 2005. Also taking a big role in the special — as she also has during the recovery process — is McEwen’s wife, Denise.

"I believe Denise saved his life and will save his life in the future," WKMG GM Henry Maldonado told the Orlando Sentinel in a story previewing the special. "Guys don’t take care of themselves. We are terrified to go to the doctor."

WKMG anchor Jacqueline London hosts the special. "I believe their story is one that can really change lives," London said. "Everywhere I go, people naturally are concerned about Mark and his progress."

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Aug
17

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O-Town TV women are on the move

Category: CF News 13, Orlando TV, WESH-2 Tags: , Leave a Comment

Some O-Town folks are on the move in this TGIF report:

Denise Cullen, former sports director at Central Florida News 13, has joined the Orlando Predators as their new director of communications. “Working for Orlando’s only professional football team is another step up in my career. I can’t imagine a better job,” Cullen said in a news release. Cullen made her mark in Orlando TV, working her way up from sports intern at WFTV-Channel 9 to being the first female to head a sports department at an Orlando station. Cullen has been an avid football fan ever since she can remember and at one point had dreams of playing in the NFL. She said, “I told my parents I wanted to play for the Pittsburgh Steelers and wear #88 just like Lyn Swann. If only I were taller!”

Meanwhile, Danielle Bellini, longtime traffic reporter at Channel 2, signed off at the end of the WESH’s 6 a.m. broadcast. Her replacement, Kimberly Williams, started with the 7 a.m. WESH 2 News on CW18.

And, from a tipster but not confirmed, longtime feature reporter Candice Coleman will be leaving Local 6. She’s been with the station since 2001, and I’ve always found her “Out There” reports to be a hoot.

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Aug
15

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Fox 35 launches 6 p.m. show on Monday

Category: Orlando TV, WOFL-35 Tags: , , Leave a Comment

 WOFL will start a 6 p.m. newscast beginning Monday. The Fox 35 10 p.m. anchors — Cale Ramaker, Corrina Sullivan and Glenn Richards — will be at the helm of the new newscast.

The station launched its hourlong 5 p.m. newscast, Fox at 5 , in March 2006. It added weekend editions of Fox at 5 last fall.

Back in January, the station announced plans for an 11 p.m. newscast, which was supposed to start in April. That show never materialized. No word of if those plans are scrapped, if they’re still being considered or if perhaps if the 11 p.m. show might appear on sister station WRBW-My 65.

With Fox 35′s new show, there will now be seven — seven! — 6 p.m. newscasts in the Orlando market. The others: WKMG-Channel 6, WESH-Channel 2, WFTV-Channel 9, WTMO-Telemundo, WVEN-Univision, Central Florida News 13.

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Aug
12

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Veteran WESH reporter heads to Miami

Category: Orlando TV, WESH-2 Tags: Leave a Comment

Rumors that veteran reporter Stephen Stock was leaving WESH were true. WFOR, the CBS O&O in Miami, has hired Stock to join its I-Team investigations unit.

 

“Stephen is a strong investigative reporter with an amazing work ethic. He brings unique investigative skills to an already strong I-Team. We are very excited about him joining us here at CBS4,” said WFOR News Director Adrienne Roark in a news release.

 

While at WESH, Stock’s investigations included uncovering tax fraud by Florida prison inmates, digging up the exact cause of hundreds of fires in Ford trucks and exposing problems with Florida’s day-care system. He also was the lead investigative reporter on WESH’s 20-part series, “Building Homes: Building Problems,” which examined the home building industry in Central Florida in partnership with the Orlando Sentinel. He and WESH won at George Foster Peabody Award for the series.

 

Stock has been at WESH since 1991. He did a lot of work out of WESH’s Marion County bureau — which, perhaps not-so-coincidentally, one tipsers says the station may be preparing to shutter.
When he arrives at WFOR-CBS 4, he’ll find some familar O-Town faces — former WESH anchor Shannon Hori, former WFTV anchor Jorge Estevez and former WFTV reporter Ted Scouten.

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Aug
8

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Poor sports and hunkiest hunks

Category: Orlando TV, WKMG-6 Tags: , , , , , Leave a Comment

Orlando Sentinel sports columnist Jerry Greene reports that new WKMG sports anchor David Pingalore has been “delayed” in leaving Cleveland for his new O-Town gig. That has led to a further diminishing of the declining sports product on Local 6. For example, at 11 p.m. Tuesday night there was no sports anchor again — news anchor Bob Frier did a brief sports recap. And on the night the first major-league baseball game was played in Central Florida between the Tampa Bay Devil Rays and the Texas Rangers, WKMG showed highlights of a Devil Rays-Blue Jays game while Frier did the voice over. (Wow.) By contrast, WESH had sports guy Guy Rawlings anchoring from Disney’s Wide World of Sports stadium — with actual highlights of the Rays and Rangers. …

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