Category Archives: WKCF-18

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.

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Health care debate: Is Oz better than Phil?

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drphilpixSome interesting news, considering WKMG’s schedule shuffle that replaced its early evening newscasts with Dr. Phil …

Local 6′s Post-Newsweek sister station, KPRC in Houston, has yanked Dr. Phil from its schedule — replacing the doc’s show with another doc — Dr. Oz.

Here’s what Broadcasting and Cable reported:  KPRC decided to remove Dr. Phil from its schedule due to disappointment with sliding ratings and disagreement over the show’s content, said Post-Newsweek President Alan Frank. The station is continuing to pay the show’s license fees, although it is not airing the show’s national commercials, which are sold by CTD and provide additional income to the syndicator. “It’s out of desperation that I did this,” said Frank, who said he’s personally met with show star and executive producer Dr. Phil McGraw to try and get his concerns resolved. “I did everything but stand on my head to get [CBS’] attention over the years.”

And in Detroit, B&C says another Post-Newsweek station – WDIV — is airing Dr. Oz at 3 p.m. — and has seen its 4 p.m. news ratings improve by 33 percent compared to last year.

The irony is that even if WKMG wanted to replace Dr. Phil with Dr. Oz, it can’t. Hearst-Argyle’s O-Town duopoly of WESH and WKCF locked up Dr. Oz in this market. If anything, looks like it was – at the very least — a good defensive move by WESH.

Estrella now set to launch Monday on WKCF

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estrellaThe debut of O-Town’s newest Spanish-language offering has been pushed to Sept. 14. 

Back in July, WESH-2,  WKCF-CW 18 and parent Hearst Television announced a partnership with Liberman Broadcasting to offer its Estrella TV to Central Florida viewers on WKCF’s digital sub-channel 18.3. The original start date was sometime in in mid-August; now Estrella will go live on Monday.

According to Broadcasting and Cable, Orlando is one of 17 markets nationally where Estrella is launching. Among the other Florida markets are Miami, on Sunbeam’s WSVN-Fox 7, and West Palm Beach, on Hearst’s WPBF-ABC 25

Estrella is giving partnering stations an opportunity to cash in with Hispanic-targeted advertising. According to B&C, “The affiliate model sees the stations keep 40 percent of the commercial inventory, according to Liberman, with Estrella retaining the other 60 percent. Stations will have the opportunity to put local touches on the programming lineup, such as a Spanish-language newscast produced by station talent to air on Estrella.”

Said WESH/WKCF GM Jim Carter in a news release: “We are always looking for ways to better serve our large and growing Hispanic population, and with LBI’s Spanish-language broadcast experience reaching back to the 70’s, we know we’ve found the right partner.”

WESH to launch 10 p.m. news on WKCF

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wesh2oncw18After an absence of nearly seven years, WKCF-CW 18 will resume a 10 p.m. newscast starting Aug. 31.

Hearst sister station WESH-2 will produce the 30-minute newscast, which will air seven days a week.

“WESH 2 News at 11 has developed a very strong following. We believe the time is right to offer a 10 p.m. newscast for Central Florida viewers who prefer an earlier news option,” Jim Carter, WESH/WKCF president and general manager, said in a news release.

Monday-Friday, the newscast will be anchored by WESH’s 11 p.m. anchor team: Martha Sugalski, Jim Payne, sports director Guy Rawlings and Chief Meteorologist Tony Mainolfi. The Saturday and Sunday news will feature Aixa Diaz and meteorologist Malachi Rodgers. 

Bud Hedinger was the anchor on WKCF’s previous 10 p.m. news — the area’s first 10 o’clock newscast. It was very popular, often topping WOFL’s then-upstart 10 p.m. news. But WKCF’s owner at the time decided it was better to show sitcom reruns than to compete against Fox 35 and then-newcomer WRDQ (which started airing a WFTV-produced newscast).

“At a time when some news organizations are cutting back on their coverage, we’re excited to provide Central Florida news viewers with even more options at a time they may find more convenient,” Carter said.

Read more from WESH here.

Local 6 News finishes July in 4th place

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ttt-sweepsOrlando Sentinel TV Guy Hal Boedeker has more on the July ratings races in O-Town TV, including WKMG’s fourth-place showing in the evening in the 25-54 demo.

“We were No. 4 before we made the changes,” WKMG General Manager Skip Valet told Boedeker. “I think I’m better serving the audience. We’re in the summertime, and everyone is down a little bit. I’m focused on how competitive we are in the morning and at 11 p.m.”

More July ratings numbers after the jump …

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WESH moves ahead of WFTV in the morning

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wesh2newshdFor the first time in five years, WESH 2 Sunrise at 6 a.m. finished July ahead of WFTV’s Eyewitness News Daybreak in the adults 25-54 demo, WESH reports.

The station also notes that it is closing in on WFTV’s top-rated Eyewitness News in the evening — trailing now by 9,600 adults in the demo.

In the morning race, WESH’s audience is up 34 percent from last July. In the early evening — and without competition from WKMG from 5-6 — WESH 2 is up 58 percent. In late news — despite being saddled with NBC’s prime time as a lead-in — WESH is up 27 percent.

More good and some bad news for WESH after the jump …

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