Category Archives: WKCF-18

New news moves Buzz to later air time

Posted on by
Reply

WESH’s decision to air local news on WKCF-CW18 from 7 to 9 a.m. each weekday has displaced The Daily Buzz.

The nationally syndicated morning show will now air on tape from 9 a.m. to noon on WKCF. The show had been airing live from 6-9 a.m. on WKCF since it moved operations to Channel 18′s studios in Lake Mary in 2004.

Once WESH acquired WKCF last year, it immediately indicated its wanted to air local news in the Buzz’s time slot. The big question is whether the Buzz will remain at 9-noon on WKCF or be dropped from the station all together soon.

Continue reading →

Help Wanted Sign Out at Daily Buzz

Posted on by
Reply

The Daily Buzz is looking for a new anchor.

The Orlando-based national morning show has posted on tvjobs.com looking for someone "to sit next to our current host Andrea Jackson." Uh, isn’t that what John Brown does now?

The answer is yes. The show confirms that Brown is leaving, and the posting is for his position.

In more Buzz news, show marketing director Chris Iller is heading out West to be part of ACME’s Albuquerque duopoly. Coming in to take the Buzz’s marketing duties are Steve Bailey and Deanne Schulz. Bailey is the VP of ACME Promotions as well as the official new marketing director for the show, and Schulz handles media and affiliate relations.

Continue reading →

CW Signs Up 18 — Plus Other Stuff

Posted on by
Reply

It’s been a newsy couple of days so far this week …

The new CW Network signed up its first round of affiliates on Wednesday, and among the group of five was Orlando’s WKCF-Channel 18. The future former home of the WB network will now be the place where the CW calls home in Central Florida. WKCF won out over independent WRDQ-Channel 27. I’m not sure how strong of a contender Channel 27 was for CW affiliation, but a couple of insiders said the station sure was interested. Emmis-owned WKCF is still up for sale, by the way, and CW affiliation should help those prospects. The other new netlet this fall, Fox-owned My Network TV, will end up on Fox-owned WRBW-Channel 65, currently home to UPN. Read the full story.

Marc Middleton ended a 20-something-year career at WESH on Tuesday, signing off after the noon news. Middleton came to WESH initially as its sports director back in the early 1980s. He later swapped places with then-morning anchor Bill Shaffer. As reported earlier, Middleton is teaming up with former Channel 2 anchor Andrea Coudriet in starting a media relations company.

Reynolds Wolf, former morning meteorologist at WKMG-Channel 6, is joining CNN as a new weathercaster. After leaving O-Town, Wolf was at KMOV in St. Louis. He starts Monday. Here’s more info.

Central Florida News 13 is getting a full-time Tallahassee bureau. Station owner Bright House Networks said the bureau, working out of FSU station WFSU-Channel 11 (PBS), will feed stories to CFN 13 as well as sister station Bay News 9 in Tampa. "What happens in Tallahassee on a daily basis affects all of us living in Florida," Elliott Wiser, vice president of news programming for Bright House Networks Florida Group, told the Orlando Sentinel.

Continue reading →

It’s CW Decision Time for WKCF, WRDQ

Posted on by
Reply

TVWeek reports that more than 200 TV station owners and executives received their first communications from the new CW Network on Tuesday — starting the process for affiliate selection.

In Orlando, that affiliation choice comes down to two stations:

  • WKCF-Channel 18, the current WB affiliate and one of the strongest WB stations in the nation.
  • WRDQ-Channel 27, the independent station owned by Cox and run by the stongest station in the market, WFTV.

Selection of O-Town’s CW station could come quickly, according to the letters sent out. "Affiliation materials will be sent out this week. At the same time, we will be contacting each company involved in the first wave of affiliation discussions," the letter said. "We will do what is necessary to move quickly to evaluate each market, as well as to provide each television station that wishes to participate in our evaluation process an opportunity to do so."

As they say in TV, stay tuned …

Continue reading →

News That Won’t Slow You Down

Posted on by
Reply

Some quick hits for you today:

>> WESH starts its Olympic coverage tonight with the debut of its nightly preview show, The O-Zone. News anchor Wendy Chioji and sports director Pat Clarke host the show from Universal Orlando. It airs at 7:30 p.m.

>> In the past week, KABC in Los Angeles and WXIA in Atlanta started broadcasting their news in high definition. When do you think that will start in O-Town, and who will be the first? I would place my bet on WFTV.

>> Comings and goins at WFTV: Reporter Carl Willis has left to join KPRC in Houston. David Ham from WGGB in Springfield, Mass., and Tim Wetzel from WINK in Fort Myers join Channel 9 as reporters.

>> Can’t get enough Daily Buzz? Sure, there’s the three-hour show live on WB18 each morning, and the 24-hours-a-day replay on WB 18′s digital subchannel. But is that really enough? If not, check out the show’s website, DailyBuzz.tv, for video offerings including "Fast Casts" and "Behind the Scenes." It’s pretty entertaining.

Continue reading →

O-Town Gets More Buzz on ‘Daily Buzz’

Posted on by
Reply

If you watch The Daily Buzz on WB18, you may have noticed something different about the nationally syndicated morning show. There’s more news about Central Florida.

Orlando is one of four test markets where the show is adding local news inserts. This week, WKCF also started a partnership with Metro Traffic to include local traffic segments during the show. And the station has been offering local weather forecasts for awhile.

Posted on Thursday, February 2, 2006 at 9:54 AM

Continue reading →