Category Archives: WKMG-6

Stations deliver with storm coverage

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All of the area media outlets did an outstanding job with coverage of Friday’s deadly tornadoes. They alerted viewers overnight about the tornado warnings and then went wall to wall with more than 12 hours of coverage of the storms’ destruction.

Even before their regularly scheduled 5 a.m. newscasts Friday, the meteorologists at WESH, WKMG and WFTV were providing weather cut-ins before and after midnight. All those stations stayed with coverage from 5 a.m. through 6:30 p.m. WOFL-Fox 35 was also in storm-coverage mode, but returned to regular programming long before the other Big 3 did. CFN 13 also did well providing coverage during its regular 24-hour news schedule.

WESH not only pre-empted programming on Channel 2 for storm coverage, but also ran its news for hours on sister station WKCF-CW 18. Much of WESH’s coverage was also broadcast on MSNBC, and CNN was taking feeds from WESH, WFTV and WKMG. WESH and WKMG closed out Friday night with extended editions of their 11 p.m. newscasts.

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At home with the news (from 1982)

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Twenty-five years ago in Orlando TV was a much simpler time. You could conduct a standup at the airport with your main anchors and bump into a sailor. You could talk about weather with a group of people who happen to all have yellow umbrellas to protect you when a sudden rain starts. You could walk by the space shuttle. And you could wear really weird looking pants while watching WCPX’s News Watch 6 with your family. Here’s a classic news promo clip from 1982 — "Heart of Florida, We’re at home with the news." (Click here to watch the clip)

 

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6 scratches Lewis from sports lineup

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WKMG main sports anchor Todd Lewis will be leaving Local 6 at the end of March, when his contract with the station expires. It is not being renewed.

Local 6 GM Henry Maldonado told the Sentinel’s Scott Maxwell that the decision to part ways with Lewis was mutual. Others say the move was not that unexpected. Still, Lewis hopes to remain in the area.

"I love Central Florida," Lewis told Maxwell. "So I’m going to make every effort to keep my life here."

Who will replace Lewis has yet to be announced. The logical choice would seem to be No. 2 sports guy Lee Goldberg. He was bypassed for the top sports job 3 years ago when Ryan Baker left. At that time, the station decided to bring Lewis back to the sports desk after he had been moved to mornings as news anchor.

Lewis’ replacement will join a growing list of new sports directors in Central Florida. WFTV (Zack Klein in for Dan Hellie) and WESH (Guy Rawlings in for Pat Clarke) have also changed their main sports guys within the past several months.

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6 fights subpoena, plus other stuff

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Attorneys for Local 6 filed a motion on Monday to quash a subpoena seeking the Doug Guetzloe files from Problem Solvers reporter Tony Pipitone. WKMG GM Henry Maldonado said the station is fighting the subpoena to "protect our right to investigate." More from the Orlando Sentinel …

>> Southeast Polk County TV viewers will be keeping WFTV-Channel 9 and WKMG-Local 6 on their cable systems. Comcast Cable wanted to drop the two Orlando stations to free up space for new digital channels. According to the Lakeland Ledger, the company argued that 85 percent of the programming on the two Orlando stations is duplicated by the Tampa stations that are required to be on the Polk cable system. …

>> Orlando’s WFTV tied for No. 8 nationally among ABC affiliates with the top prime-time ratings for 18-34-year-olds in the November sweeps. Channel 9 had a 5.7 ratings average, tying it with Cox sister station WSOC in Charlotte, N.C. Hearst-Argyle’s WISN in Milwaukee, WMBC in Kansas City and WOCO in Oklahoma City tied for No. 1 with a 7.9 rating. Details here …

>> A tipster says Fox 35 freelancer Julie Kim has landed a full-time job at Fox’s WTFX in Philadelphia.

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Will Pipitone turn over Guetzloe files?

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Local 6 Problem Solvers reporter Tony Pipitone has until 11 a.m. today to turn over the personal files he has for political consultant Doug Guetzloe.

Orange-Osceola State Attorney Lawson Lamar’s subpoena ordered Pipitone to turn over 80 boxes of Guetzloe’s business and personal records. The files were given to Pipitone by a man who bought them from a storage unit, where Guetzloe allegedly didn’t pay his rent for storing the items.

WKMG GM Henry Maldonado told the Orlando Sentinel late last week, the station had not decided what to do. "Right now it’s in the hands of our lawyers," he said.

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6′s Pipitone gets Guetzloe’s files

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Just when it seems the strange saga of political consultant Doug Guetzloe can’t get any more bizarre, it does.

The Orlando Sentinel reports that WKMG-Local 6 investigative reporter Tony Pipitone has obtained boxes of Guetzloe’s personal and business files, and Guetzloe isn’t too happy about it.

According to the Sentinel, "the records were being kept in a leased storage unit, and when Guetzloe apparently failed to pay his $55 monthly storage fee, the owner of the unit exercised his right to put the contents up for public auction late last year. A man paid $10 for the entire collection — and once he realized what he had purchased, he contacted Pipitone."

Guetzloe said he told Pipitone: "That’s dirty, dirty stuff . . . I can’t believe you involved yourself in something so underhanded and so sleazy."

WKMG GM Henry Maldonado defended the station’s ownership of the files. He also told the Sentinel, "We have been examining the documents — including copies of checks, invoices, memos and other materials dating back decades — to determine what they contain. We usually do not comment on developing stories."

What he didn’t say but probably wanted to: "Just wait until the February sweeps to see what we’ve uncovered!"

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