Category Archives: WESH-2

WFTV’s Eyewitness News tops April’s ratings race

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April’s ratings are over. The May sweeps have begun. And Orlando TV stations are searching (and researching) for viewers.

First, back to April. WFTV-Channel 9′s Eyewitness News was once again the king of the hill in the morning, at noon, in the evening and at night. WESH 2 News was No. 2 most of the time. WKMG-Local 6 and WOFL-Fox 35 battled it out at the bottom in most news time periods.

The Orlando Sentinel reports that in the advertiser-coveted 25-54 age group, WFTV was tops at 11 p.m.  Monday-Friday with 39,400 viewers. WKMG’s 26,000 edged out WESH with 25,500, and WOFL was the choice of 14,400. WESH and WKMG swapped positions in the Monday-Sunday tally.

For more on the April ratings, click here.

Meanwhile, a tipster reports that one O-Town station is apparently conducting telephone research, focusing a lot on their morning show competition. In addition to asking about viewer tastes when it comes to news, researchers wanted participants to rate all of the morning talent on Channels 2, 6 and 9. Interesting.

Former Orlando anchor Rondinaro: ‘I’m a budget cut’

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Steve Rondinaro

Steve Rondinaro

Former longtime Orlando anchor Steve Rondinaro has a new assignment: finding a job.

Rondinaro, the former WESH and WFTV anchor who in 2007 became the lead anchor and managing editor for WWAY-ABC 3 in Wilmington, N.C., was dropped by the station earlier this month. 

“By now you may have noticed that I’m no longer doing the evening news on WWAY. April 8 was my last night on television. I’m a budget cut,” Rondinaro wrote in an article for the Wilmington Star News. “It’s business. I’m simply another in an ongoing series of budget cuts at Channel 3. Like our local governments and about every other media business, revenue is down at WWAY, too. My contract was in the wrong place at the wrong time.

“The writing was on the wall several months ago. With the ax having officially fallen, I’m now part of a huge news story that I had been reporting on. I’ll be in the next round of unemployment numbers. I’m not happy about that, but I’m not ashamed either. I’m now in the same boat as a lot of you. It’s one scary boat.”

Read his full story here.

Check out his RondoWorks.com website here.

Not a fan of WFTV’s new weather channel

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Some quick thoughts on recent Orlando TV News:

Put me down as not a fan of  WFTV’s revamped weather channel, 9.2. Sure, Severe Weather Center 9 has forecasts, temperatures and a radar — but just give me the radar. The former 9.2 had the live WFTV radar almost 24-7 — and in HD — making it convenient to check anytime (especially during storms). It also ran the audio from whatever was running on the main WFTV channel, so when you flipped over for a minute, you didn’t missing anything. Now, the station is streaming audio from Cox radio station WMMO. Sorry, I liked the old channel better. …

Speaking of WFTV’s digital channels, I suspect part of the reason behind the change on 9.2 has to do with what’s coming on 9.3 — the future home of Spanish-language station WAWA. There’s likely not enough bandwidth for two HD channels and a third.  WKMG (LATV) and WESH/WKCF (Esteralla) already have deals for Hispanic programming on their sub-channels, so it only seemed like a matter of time and company for WFTV to add one. Still, the FCC lists WAWA has being assigned Channel 47 in the Orlando market. Is there really a WAWA on channel 47?  …

One question. All the local stations have multiple digital channels — except’s Fox’s duopoly of WOFL-Fox 35 and WRBW-My 65. What’s the deal there? …

WESH debuted its new HD camera on Chopper 2. Very cool. …

WKMG anchor Jacqueline London was married over the weekend to former NFL player Tony McGee. Saw a couple of folks Tweet about the wedding and reception — sounds like it was quite the bash. Best of luck to the new couple. …

Former WFTV sports anchor Zach Kline was also Tweeting some important news on Sunday. Kline, now at Cox mothership WSB in Atlanta, was among the lucky few media members to win the Masters lottery and earn the opportunity to play the Augusta National course on Monday. He Tweeted: “Who says dreams do not come true. Just found out I’m playing Augusta National tomorrow at 11:10 am. Anyone know the course record?”

Early-bird WESH adds 4:30 a.m. newscast

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WESH on Tuesday began airing an additional half hour of morning news, starting at 4:30 a.m.

“We are always looking for opportunities to serve the local news and weather needs of our viewers at times that are both convenient and valuable to them,” WESH GM Jim Carter said in a news release. “We saw that need in this time period and we filled it.”

Many stations across the nation have been moving up their morning newscasts to 4:30 a.m. The reason? With longer commutes, folks are getting up earlier. And, as one TV wag once said, the best lead-in to news is news.

WESH 2 News Sunrise usually runs No. 2 behind WFTV’s Eyewitness News Daybreak. Will getting a 30-minute jump on the competition at 4:30 a.m. make a difference?

The new  half hour of news will be anchored by Syan Rhodes, with meteorologist Amy Sweezey and traffic reporter Kimberly Williams, WESH said.

Continue reading →

WESH’s Claire Metz recovering after crash

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Veteran WESH 2 News reporter Claire Metz gives Sentinel TV Guy Hal Boedeker an update on her condition. She and her videographer were injured last week when a car slammed into the side of a WESH live truck in Daytona Beach.

“I have four broken ribs and a broken, displaced clavicle,” Metz told Boedeker. “They debated whether to operate, but they decided it was so close to blood vessels. I’m in a strap that holds your shoulders back in the hope the two bones will meet and heal. I have a lot of bumps and bruises. My left arm is swollen. It’s not a pretty picture. I’ll never be a hand model.”

Another casualty of the the crash — a favorite suit. “I had this great red suit on,” Metz said. “The paramedics said, ‘We have to cut it off.’ I said, ‘I’ve dreamed of people cutting off my clothes.’ ”

OK, that got a little weird. Still, best wishes to Metz and Hutch Breneman for speedy recoveries.

Read the full interview here.

WESH pioneer Nick Pfeifauf dies

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Nick Pfeifauf (left) anchoring at WESH

Nick Pfeifauf (left) anchoring at WESH

Former WESH 2 pioneer Nick Pfeifauf, 77, died last week after having a heart attack. Pfeifauf was the anchor for WESH news when I first started watching Central Florida television back in the 1970s.

 

According to WESH.com, Pfeifauf worked as news anchor, news director and vice president of research and development at Channel 2 from the 1960s until 1990. His wife, Eloise, said Pfeifauf started as a cameraman.
 
 ”About two months later, someone could not go on the air and since Nick had a shirt and tie on, he was asked to deliver the news,” she said. “With his 10 years in radio, he was able to pull it off, and from then on he was on the air. ”
 
I believe he was the first anchor of “NewsCenter 2″ when WESH first tried to emulate the Star Trek-like set (not the one in the picture) that was pioneered by WNBC, and I believe he was succeeded by Wayne Bennett. More on Pfeifauf here from the Orlando Sentinel.