Category Archives: Orlando TV

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Jim Van Fleet: I wasn’t dissing Fox 35 or Orlando in interview

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from MyFoxOrlando.com

Former WOFL-Fox 35 morning meteorologist Jim Van Fleet is settling into his new role as chief met at Tampa’s WTSP-CBS 10. However, he’s still a bit unsettled by reaction to an interview he gave — and he wants to set the record straight.

This all began with an early December blog post by St. Petersburg Times TV writer Eric Deggans, who talked to Van Fleet about his new job at WTSP. Here’s what Deggans wrote:  “I’m actually here … and allowed to be on air,” joked Van Fleet, referring to the contract issues which kept him from appearing on WTSP until his agreement with Orlando Fox station WOFL-TV fully expired. “That was Triple A, and now I’m ready for the majors.”

It was that last statement that some inferred as a possible dig at his old station and/or Orlando. Van Fleet says that’s not the case.

In an email to us, Van Fleet wrote: “Yes, I was joking about actually being allowed to go on air finally. That was a little frustrating that Fox 35 would not let me just move on and go to the next chapter, but in a way the fact that they held on for as long as they could, and as tightly as they could, I do take that as a compliment.”

What about the minor-league comment?

“NO – I did not mean Orlando was Triple A and Tampa was the majors,” Van Fleet explained. “What I meant was I felt like since I was going from morning meteorologist back into the chief meteorologist role, well, that was like being ‘called up’ into the majors. So any misunderstanding … misquote … if I didn’t speak it clearly … whatever it is, if anyone took the way I did NOT mean it I just wanted to apologize as that is not what I said … or meant!!”

Van Fleet also said once he heard how his remarks were being interpreted by some, he was upset.

“My heart sank when I read this online because I think anyone who has taken the time to get to know me knows that I don’t put people down or make remarks like that,” Van Fleet wrote in his email. “So I hope this helps you understand where my intentions where and how I truly feel about Central Florida, and those feelings will never change.”

Read our original post about the interview here. (Note: Jim’s email arrived on Dec. 29, but I’ve been swamped and was not able to post until today.)

Bob Baxa, Greg Warmoth involved in changes at WFTV-Channel 9

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There are some changes in roles taking place at market-leader WFTV-Channel 9.

First, longtime morning traffic guy Bob Baxa is no longer reporting for the station. He’s been replaced by Racquel Asa. “He did a good job for us. I was very happy with Bob’s performance,” WFTV news director Bob Jordan told Sentinel TV Guy Hal Boedeker. “He had been here the better part of 10 years. We wanted to do something different.” Baxa wasn’t actually a WFTV employee; he worked for traffic-data provider Metro Networks. Asa, who comes to Orlando from WSYR-ABC 9 in Syracuse, N.Y., is a WFTV employee and will also report for later newscasts, too.

Meanwhile, Eyewitness News Daybreak anchor Greg Warmoth is getting some additional duties at WFTV. He’s been tapped as the interim moderator of Channel 9′s public affairs show, Central Florida Spotlight. He replaces Craig Patrick. “Craig has family in Tampa. His old station, WTVT, offered him a job to come back. It was a family motivated decision,”  WFTV General Manager Shawn Bartelt told the Orlando Sentinel. “He’s a great guy, and we were lucky to have him when we did.”

Reporter Patrick Pegues no longer with Fox 35 following arrest

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Patrick Pegues' mugshot (courtesy MyFoxOrlando.com)

Patrick Pegues and WOFL-Fox 35 have parted ways following the reporter’s arrest Monday night for allegedly firing a gun while walking a dog in Orlando.

MyFoxOrlando.com reported:

According to the incident report, witnesses observed the suspect walking a dog along East Michigan Street. Witnesses told deputies they saw another dog in a yard outside a fence. They say the dog did not seem aggressive. Moments later, witnesses heard a gunshot. Deputies confronted Pegues and found a gun on him. According to the report, Pegues indicated he was defending himself. Deputies did find damage to a car in the area where witnesses say they heard the gunshot. No injuries were reported. Pegues is charged with unlawful discharge of a firearm and discharging a destructive device with property damage. Pegues is no longer employed with FOX 35.

The Orlando Sentinel reported that a Beretta 9mm semi-automatic gun was found on  Pegues’ right hip. Pegues said he had a concealed weapons permit.

Initially, WOFL said Pegues had been suspended, but later reported that he was no longer with the station. This was not Pegues’ first run-in with police during his time at WOFL.

Pegues got into a scuffle with a Seminole County deputy in April while covering a story. Watch the video of that incident here. Pegues was not arrested.

He was arrested in October 2007 on charges of disorderly conduct and resisting an officer without violence while on assignment to cover an accident on Lake Margaret Road.

His bio page has been removed from the MyFoxOrlando.com website, but you can see a cached version here.

Area TV station asks if its anchor smokes pot

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Is your anchorman high while giving you the latest news at 6 and 11? No. Well, probably no.

But back in the ’70s …

In compiling our ever growing collection of Florida TV newspaper ads, we came across this, uh, unusual one for Tampa station WLCY-Channel 10 (now WTSP-CBS 10). It’s from 1971 and asks the question about anchorman Marshall Cleaver … and then anwers “No!”

The ad probably grabbed more attention than Cleaver’s newscast grabbed viewers on ratings-challenged WLCY. A quick Internet search found that before moving over to TV, Cleaver was the father of talk radio in Tampa Bay, and hosted a late night show that focused “on flying saucers & other phenomena.” So, perhaps that’s why the station felt the need to ask and answer the question.

You can see this ad and many other new ones that have been added to our Tampa TV station collection. Also, we’ve added a West Palm Beach station collection too.

Former WKMG anchor now working for QVC

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Former Local 6 anchor Shawn Killinger on QVC on Sunday night.

You never know what — or who — you may find when channel surfing on a Sunday evening.

Switching between the NFL Sunday night game and the 10 p.m. news, I came across shopping channel QVC — and former WKMG-Local 6 anchor Shawn Killinger.

The former morning show host, who was in Orlando from 2002-05, was hawking a GPS. A quick check on the web found that she’s been with QVC since June 2007. The last I heard of Shawn was during her appearance on the Martha Stewart version of The Apprentice on NBC in 2005.

You can check out her personal website here.

WFTV’s Daralene Jones grills Magic’s Bob Vander Weide over fake report

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Bob Vander Weide and Daralene JonesIt was a bit bizarre and a little awkward during the Orlando Magic’s news conference on Wednesday as Bob Vander Weide announced his retirement as the team’s CEO. His sudden departure has rumors flying on the Internet — but it’s facts we’re after.

Unfortunately, WFTV-Channel 9 news reporter Daralene Jones aggressively questioned Vander Weide about his decision — and quoted a made-up conversation between the Magic exec and Dwight Howard, created by writer Barry Petchesky at Deadspin.com.

“Did you drunk-dial Dwight Howard?” Jones asked. She then interrupted Vander Weide during his answer to ask again, “You called him, but you weren’t drunk?” Vander Weide said he had two or three glasses of wine over a three-hour period but wasn’t drunk.

Jones then quoted from the Deadspin.com post, asking, “Do you recall saying ‘Me and Otis and Stan [Van Gundy], we don’t want you to go anywhere. We suck without you. Everyone knows. We’ve got nothing else. Orlando is a terrible place, and we’ve got the Amway thing, but who the ["f"] cares?’ Do you recall saying any of that?”

Vander Weide said he wouldn’t discuss any conversation he had with Howard.

Jones persisted. “The people of Orlando spent a lot of money on this venue and they would probably want to know if you are out there trashing the city.” Vander Weide said he’s not doing that, he loves Orlando and he will keep a home here.

(Watch raw video of the the exchange for yourself — it starts around the 22:05 mark)

After the odd episode was chronicled by George Diaz of the Orlando Sentinel and blogger Evan Dunlap on Orlando Pinstriped Post, Petchesky responded on Deadspin.com …

So I wrote an imaginary voicemail message from Vander Weide to Howard. I filled it with the “I love you man’s” and exaggerated emotions common to every late-night drunk call ever, and threw in some shots at Orlando and the Magic. … At no point did I write that this was fake, but I also never claimed it was an actual conversation. If you have to make clear that something [is] satire, you’ve failed. Conversely, if people are fooled into thinking it’s real, it doesn’t necessarily mean you’ve succeeded. Plenty of people were fooled, both on Twitter and in the comments of my post. And apparently Daralene Jones and Alyssa Newcomb of ABC News, who also ran with the “report” that Vander Weide told Howard the Magic would “suck” without him.

There are so many “major fails” involved in this episode, it’s hard to keep track of all of them. But I think you can figure that out on your own.