Category Archives: WESH-2

WESH scores rare win over WFTV in ratings

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WFTV-Channel 9′s Eyewitness News has been so dominate for so long, it’s news whenever it doesn’t finish No. 1 in a time period.

And that happened, sorta. During October, WESH 2′s Sunrise morning news — which is simulcast on sister station WKCF-CW18 — had more combined viewers in the 25-54 demo than WFTV’s Eyewitness News Daybreak. According to the Orlando Sentinel, the WESH-WKCF combo had 32,100 households from 6 to 7 a.m. while WFTV had 31,800.

If you break it down, WESH had 26,700 homes and WKCF had 5,400 — so head-to-head, WFTV still comes out on top. But that may be it when it comes to good news for WFTV.

Almost all of the  area newscasts lost viewers in the demo year-over-year, but Channel 9  saw the most significant drop.

At 6 p.m., WFTV lost 13,400 viewers from 2009. At 5 p.m., it lost 14,900 from last year — while WESH actually grew by 5,000.

WFTV still dominates in all news periods when counting total viewers. Still, the question has to be asked:  Could the October numbers  protend a change in the longtime viewing patterns of Central Florida news watchers? Perhaps we’ll see when all the numbers are counted after  the November sweep, which began last week.

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Ex-WESH anchor Chioji: ‘Life’s never been so good’

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Former WESH 2 anchor Wendy Chioji

Former WESH anchor Wendy Chioji in Utah. Courtesy of EuporiaFitness.com

As part of its continuing coverage for Breast Cancer Awareness month, the Orlando Sentinel decided to check up on former WESH 2 News anchor — and breast cancer survivor — Wendy Chioji. It’s a story with a happy ending.

After Chioji announced her breast cancer diagnosis on air 10  years ago and successfully staged a very public battle against the disease, she decided there was more to life than TV news. The very athletic anchor left Orlando behind to pursue a career in fitness and health.

“Cancer makes you reprioritize things…I decided I wasn’t going to stay in a job that wasn’t fulfilling any more.,” Chioji told the Sentinel. “It was time to do things that you thought about, that you dream about. It was time for me to go.”

So, how’s her new life in Utah? The Sentinel reports that she’s working part-time and freelance jobs that include being a a personal trainer, leading cycling tours here and abroad,  and also working as a reporter at the nearby Sundance Film Festival.

“Life’s never been so good,” Chioji said.

Read the full story here.

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Summer break over: Catching up on Orlando TV

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After a nice summer break away from TV news, it’s time to catch up. And, wow, there has been a lot going on ….

WFTV-Channel 9: Some of the most newsworthy changes have come from an unexpected place: the usually rock-steady Eyewitness News juggernaut. The big shocker: longtime anchor Barbara West is being taken off the 5:30 p.m. news, making way for rising star Vanessa Welch. GM  Shawn Bartelt told Sentinel TV Guy Hal Boedeker the station is making the 5:30 change to provide some flow its new  6:30 p.m. news on WRDQ-TV 27. “I have the utmost respect for Barbara West,” Bartelt said. “This is no reflection on Barbara. I have to get more faces into those 90 minutes” from 5 to 6:30 p.m. West has been at WFTV since 1986 and will continue to anchor at noon and report on the health beat. … Another longtime WFTV anchor is also getting her air time scaled back, too. Daybreak anchor Vanessa Echols will be replaced by newcomer Bianca Castro from 7-9 a.m. on the Eyewitness News This Morning show on WRDQ. “We felt she needed a break,” Bartelt said of Echols. … And even more changes at WFTV: Main sports anchor Phil Burton is being shuffled out the door to make way for Christian Bruey, 26, who does play by play for the Daytona Cubs. Bruey starts in September. Burton will hang around through football season. … Morning meteorologist Matt Makens is departing WFTV to accept a weather position at Denver’s KMGH-ABC 7. … Speaking of Channel 9′s new  6:30 p.m. news, with Welch and newcomer Josh Benson, it will debut on Labor Day. … Finally (whew!), WFTV announced it will replace Oprah at 4 p.m. with Dr. Oz, starting in 2011. So much for theories that WFTV was going to launch a 4 p.m. newscast.

WOFL-Fox 35: After eight years, General Manager Stan Knott announced plans to leave the Fox O&O. While he’s been on board, the station has greatly expanded its news footprint in the mornings, evenings and weekends. No word on a replacement yet. More here.  … Dr. Phil will be joining the Fox 35 family in 2011.

WKMG-Local 6: Well, when we last checked, WKMG was in the process of a major house cleaning. Gone were anchor Jacqueline London, reporter Donald Forbes and morning weather guy Eric Wilson. The changes kept on coming. Reporter Jessica D’Onofrio has left, stepping up to ABC O&O WLS-7 in her hometown of Chicago. The Chicago Sun-Times says she starts Aug. 30 will be covering breaking news in the mornings. So, what about all those openings at WKMG? Julie Broughton, formerly of Central Florida News 13, has been brought in temporarily to help anchor on the weekends. More new faces at the station: Shaun Chaiyabhat, from Memphis, is a GA; Quinn Schuler, from Tuscon, Ariz.,  is a GA; and Cortney Hall, from Champaign, Ill. is a morning reporter. … We mentioned earlier, WKMG is going to let Dr. Phil — which replaced its 5 p.m. news — go to WOFL in 2011. Will WKMG get back into the early evening news game? GM SkipValet isn’t saying.

WESH 2 News: Sunrise anchor Jason Guy became a daddy earlier this month. He and his wife welcome daughter Quinn Katherine Guy. … And congrats to Todd Grasley, who had been heading up WESH’s High School Playbook website. He’s off to Panama City for a new weekend sports anchor gig.

Central Florida News 13: Well, I was surprised. Hal Boedeker reported on News 13′s ratings and how they fare against the other stations in town. I didn’t think 13 was much of a player, but the local cable news station regularly beats some of its broadcast competitors in several news time slots. Who knew “Weather on the 1′s” could be so popular? … Anchor Jackie Brockington, missing for three months, returned to the air. Where was she? On medical leave. “Nothing serious — reconstructive foot surgery,” Brockington told Boedeker.

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Former WESH anchor Walker stands up to BP

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You may remember Scott Walker, the former WESH 2 Sunrise anchor who left O-Town to anchor at Hearst sister station WDSU-NBC 6 in New Orleans. He’s been out on the front lines of the oil spill — and he’s been trying to do his job reporting from the beaches where BP workers are cleaning up oil. Only problem is BP doesn’t want Walker there. This video clip of Walker’s attempt to talk to BP workers has made the rounds, even earning him a mention on Huffington Post.

Walker, an avid Tweeter, posted earlier on Twitter, “I’m getting e-mails and tweets from all over the U.S. after this video. Thanks to everyone sending kind words.”

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Birthday time for WESH, WRBW

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Some quick notes from the news that is television …

Happy birthday, WESH. Channel 2 turned 54 years old on Friday. The station went on the air June 11, 1956, from Daytona Beach. Some fun facts about WESH: It was the 19th television station in Florida. … It wasn’t the only NBC affiliate in Central Florida when it went on the air. It shared NBC with WDBO-Channel 6 because most folks outside of Volusia County could not receive WESH, which was broadcasting on a 300-foot tower in Daytona at the time. On November 5, 1957 — the day WESH  activated a new 1,000-foot tower in Orange City — it got the NBC affiliation all to itself. … Of the Big 4 network affiliates in Orlando, WESH is the only station with its original call letters. Check out our WESH history page for more information. …

Fox-owned WRBW-My 65 celebrated its sweet 16  birthday on June 4. It went on the air as independent Rainbow 65 in 1994.  …

I’ve been traveling a lot lately and came across some familiar faces on TV. In Chicago, former WKMG sports anchor Ryan Baker is now at WBBM-CBS 2 as the main sports guy at the CBS O&O. In Norfolk/Virginia Beach, former WESH morning anchor Tom Schaad is the main anchor at WAVY-NBC 10. …

Eboni Deon has joined WFTV as Channel 9′s new weekend meteorologist. She previously worked at CNN International and The Weather Channel — which could explain why she has admirers from across the globe on her Facebook Fan Page. She replaces Ben Smith, who moved from Channel 9 to WHNT-CBS 19 in Huntsville, Ala. (And WHNT is also the home of former WESH meteorologist Dan Sattefield.) …

I don’t write much about Central Florida News 13 — since I can’t get it on my home TV — but the cable station says it will launch a new website soon. “More video. Easier to Use. More of What YOU Want,” is how News 13 is describing its new cfnews13.com page. Stay turned.

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May sweeps: WFTV, CBS big winners in Orlando

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Just as predictable as afternoon thunderstorms in the summer: WFTV and CBS were the big winners in Orlando in the just-completed May sweeps.

The juggernaut that is Channel 9′s Eyewitness News showed no signs of weakness. WFTV’s newscasts won in all time periods — morning, noon, evening and night.

According to results in the Orlando Sentinel, WFTV’s 6 p.m. newscast had more viewers (128,500 homes) than the combined audiences of WESH 2 News (68,300), WKMG’s Local 6 News (27,400) and WOFL’s Fox 35 News (23,900).  The results were the same in the 25-to-54 demo: WFTV (40,100), WESH (15,700), WKMG (11,300) and WOFL (10,800).

Despite CBS’ popular prime-time lineup on WKMG finishing No. 1. locally, WFTV’s 11 p.m. news was tops — pulling 42,200 homes in the demo compared with 27,900 for WKMG, 21,200 for WESH and 15,500 for WOFL.

The only dent in WFTV’s armor? It’s 10 p.m. newscast on sister station WRDQ-TV 27 finished behind WOFL’s Fox 35 News at 10. Those 10 p.m. demo numbers: Fox 35 (27,000), WRDQ (16,500) and WESH’s news on WKCF (8,700).

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