Category Archives: WKMG-6

Top Orlando TV news videos on YouTube

Posted on by
Reply

If you’ve checked out the channel pages on this site, you’ll know I have lots of video of Orlando TV — past and present. But as much as I have, YouTube has more. (In fact, many of my videos have been posted by others onto YouTube.) I’ve created a YouTube playlist with some of my favorite Orlando TV News videos I’ve spotted on the site. You can take a look here. There are more than 40 clips, representing WCPX, WKMG, WESH, WFTV, WOFL, WKCF and even WAYK (now known as WOPX).

Continue reading →

Digital signals bring good news, bad news

Posted on by
Reply

When Orlando’s TV stations — and all others in the nation — finally turn off their analog transmitters on June 12, some Central Florida viewers might be in for a surprise.

Because of tower relocations and the switch to a digital signal, many area stations will reach more households over the air than they did with their analog signals — especially households in and around the Metro Orlando area. Here’s the map showing the new digital signal areas vs. the old analog signal areas for all of Orlando’s stations.

One of the big losers is WESH 2 (NBC). The good news: Homes with digital boxes in Polk, Brevard, Osceola and Indian River counties can pick up WESH’s digital signal — thanks to its digital broadcast tower being in east Orange county. The bad news: When WESH’s transmitter on its tower in Orange City is turned off, households in Pasco, Hernando, Citrus, Sumter, Marion, Levy, Alachua, Putnam, Clay and St. Johns counties won’t get WESH’s signal anymore. You can read more about WESH’s signal here.

Here’s how some other area stations will fare:

  • WRDQ- 27 (Independent): Analog tower in Osceola County; digital tower in east Orange. It picks up a larger number of households in Volusia, Putnam, Marion, Sumter, Hernando, Pasco and Polk. The more northerly digital tower means the loss of households in Hardee, Highlands, Okechobee and Indian River counties. 
  • WOFL-35 (Fox): Analog tower in east Orange; digital tower in east Orange. With new digital footprint, it gains households in Flagler, Putnam, Marion, Sumter, Hernando, Citrus, Polk, Osceola, Brevard and Indian River counties. 
  • WKMG-6 (CBS): Analog tower in east Orange; digital tower in east Orange. It gains households in Flagler, Putnum, Marion and Sumter; it loses homes in Pasco and Polk counties. 
  • WFTV- 9 (ABC):  Analog tower in east Orange; digital tower in east Orange. It keeps its signal footprint vitrually the same, but it gains households in Polk and Indian River counties. 
  • WMFE-24 (PBS): Analog tower in east Orange; digital tower in east Orange. Gains households in Flagler, Marion, Lake, Sumter, Polk, Osceola and Brevard counties. 
  • WVEN-26 (Univision): Analog tower in northwest Volusia County; digital tower in Orange City. It gains households in Lake, northern Osceola and northern Brevard. It loses households in St. Johns, Putnam, Alachua and Marion counties. 
  • WBCC-68 (PBS): Analog tower in Oscoela; digital tower in east Orange. It gains households in Volusia, Seminole, Lake and Polk counties. 
  • WDSC-15 (PBS): Analog tower in Daytona Beach; digital tower in east Orange. It  picks up households in Lake, Orange, Seminole, Osceola, Polk and Brevard counties.

Continue reading →

New GM hints of changes at Local 6

Posted on by
Reply

Former Local 6 news director Skip Valet returned to WKMG last week as its new general manager. He’s replacing retiring GM Henry Maldonado – and it sounds like he’s ready to get to work to push WKMG out of the ratings cellar.

In an interview with the Orlando Sentinel, Valet said, “I don’t think a great newscast is defined by the number of hours. I don’t think people are clamoring for more and more news. People want a real, honest accounting of what happened in our town. They get sick of repetition.”

So, does that mean viwers should expect to see elimination of some newscasts at WKMG?  “Or expanding somewhere else. We have to figure out where the viewers are. You’ll see an ever-increasing presence by us on the Internet,” Valet said.

One thing that will remain the same at WKMG: on-air editorials. Valet said he will continue to practice started under Maldonado of having the station GM deliver commentaries.

Read the full Q&A with Valet here.

Continue reading →

No March madness: WFTV still No. 1

Posted on by
Reply

The unusual — and basically meaningless — March sweeps ended on Wednesday. To no one’s surprise, WFTV-Channel 9 was once again the Nielsen powerhouse for Central Florida.

The ratings numbers show 9′s Eyewitness News was the top choice in households and in the 25-54 demo in all the time periods. WESH 2 News was No. 2, followed by WKMG’s Local 6 News.

At 10 p.m., WOFL’s Fox 35 News nearly doubled the viewers for the WFTV-produced Eyewitness News at 10 on WRDQ-Channel 27.

Details and more numbers here from from the Orlando Sentinel’s TV Guy.

Continue reading →

Not many folks see Frier’s goodbye on Local 6

Posted on by
Reply

Why did WKMG let go longtime anchor Bob Frier? Could be a combination of things — budget tightening, wanting to go in a different direction … yadda, yadda, yadda.

But one key reason has to be Local 6′s ratings. Yes, WKMG’s 11 p.m. newscast — once ranked No. 1 — does well following CBS’ primetime, but the station’s early evening newscasts are ailing. When other stations are promoting their upcoming 11 p.m. shows during network primetime, WKMG has been running spots trying to lure viewers to its 5 p.m. newscast.

And according to NewsBlues.com, WKMG may need a lot more promos. When Frier signed off on Friday night at the end of the 6 p.m. newscast, fewer than 1,000 homes in the key 25-54 demo were tuned in … and WKMG was the seventh-rated station in that quarter hour.

Here’s the viewer info from Friday evening, from NewsBlues.com:

     Rating Share  
1 WFTV-9-ABC 3.0 13 local news
2 WESH-2-NBC 1.8 8 local news
3 WRBW-65-MyTV 1.7 7 Judge Judy
4 WRDQ-27-Ind .7 3 George Lopez
5 WKCF-18-CW .6 2 Deal-No Deal
6 WOFL-35-Fox .6 2 local news
7 WKMG-6-CBS .2 1 local news

Continue reading →

Forget extension, Orlando stations set to drop analog signals

Posted on by
Reply

Despite lawmakers’ approval of a plan to extend the digital transition period until June, at least three Orlando stations may pull the plug on their analog broadcasts as early as Feb. 17.

Public broadcaster WMFE-Ch. 24, Univision’s WVEN-Ch. 26 and indy WRDQ-Ch. 27 may turn off their analog signals 12 days from now, according to the Orlando Sentinel.

“I don’t think there is much of anything to be gained by postponing it to June 12,” WVEN VP/GM Antonio Guernica told the Sentinel. “I think everybody who is going to be ready is ready and those who aren’t ready now, I don’t believe they will prepare between now and June 12. There are some folks who will react only when they go to their TV and their favorite programming is not there.”

Meanwhile, among other stations: WKMG-Ch. 6, WESH-Ch. 2 and WKCF-Ch. 18 will likely wait until the new June deadline to end analog broadcasts, while WFTV-Ch. 9 hasn’t made a decision on what to do.

Why pull the plug early? Money. The stations could save thousands of dollars in electricity bills by turning off their analog transmitters by the original DTV deadline of Feb. 17. They’re already paying for power for both analog and digital transmitters now.

Read the full story here.

 

Continue reading →