Category Archives: WOFL-35

Orange County Sheriff’s office responds to Fox 35 video

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Video obtained by WOFL-Fox 35 of an Orange County Sheriff’s deputy arresting a 17-year-old has prompted the agency to review the arrest and the officer’s actions.

According to Fox 35, the incident in the video occurred last week when part of an Apopka neighborhood was closed off by the police during an bomb scare. The video shows the deputy and the young man exchanging words, then the deputy wrestling the suspect to the ground.

You can read the full story here, and you can watch the video below.

Sabrina Fein leaves Fox 35; WESH adds more Aixa Diaz

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Sabrina Fine posing in Orlando Style magazine

Sabrina Fine posing in Orlando Style magazine

A couple of changes to report on the local news scene…

WOFL-Fox 35 meteorologist/traffic reporter Sabrina Fein – declared by some to be the “hottest” woman on Orlando TV — has left O-Town. Posting on her Facebook fan page on May 19, Fein wrote, “For all of you that are wondering and asking, I have decided to take a short break from the news business and refocus my career in Los Angeles. Thank you all for participating in this page and I am hopeful that you will still follow me and my career. Take care for now. – Sabrina xoxo.” Reading more comments on the page, it appears that WOFL wanted to move her off the weather beat. …

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What’s Christine van Blokland doing since Fox 35?

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Christine van Blokland

For more than five years, Christine van Blokland helped wake up Central Florida viewers on Fox 35′s morning news. Well, that was until about a month ago when the morning features reporter departed WOFL.

So, why did she leave? Appearing Monday on Mix 105.1 FM’s Morning Mix show, Blokland blamed it all on Fox 35 anchors Bob Frier and Amy Kaufeldt. (OK, she was just kidding about that.) Actually, she really didn’t say why she left, but she did say she’s busy working on some projects.

Does she missing the morning shift? What do you think? She said Monday’s appearance was the first time in awhile she had to get up early, but because it was radio, she didn’t have to worry about makeup.

And what has she been doing? The first week after leaving WOFL, she said she traveled to Aruba with her boyfriend. Still beat from the morning news grind, she said she looked like “the before picture” for the first few days until the thearaputic Aruban waters restored her.

She also shared her secret to what kept her going for five years of perky, high-energy morning reports on Fox 35. “Sugarfree Red Bull,” she explained.

The early, early show at 4:30 — is it worth it?

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Broadcasting & Cable chronicles television news’ latest fad — the 4:30 a.m. newscast. Early, early birds in Orlando have two choices for their news that hour — WESH 2 and Fox 35. B&C quotes WESH’s GM about the new show:

While some may wonder who besides Red Bull-fueled nightcrawlers and bug-eyed insomniacs are up at 4:30, stations are finding revenue in that slot — and meeting mandates to be 24/7 local news outlets. “What stations do better than anyone is provide local news and weather,” says WESH-WKCF President/ General Manager Jim Carter, who launched a 4:30 March 30. “People want it when they want it, and the more we can be there when they want us, the better.”

Beyond wanting to provide the audience more information, the main reason for the new early shows: more revenue. B&C says the new 4:30 newscasts can deliver cash.

Ad rates aren’t princely pre-dawn. One market leader says 4:30 rates are 10%-15% of what the station gets for late news. A leading station in New York or Los Angeles might get $3,000 for a 30-second spot; everyone else, considerably less.  But advertiser interest is growing. “The 5 a.m. advertisers are taking a hard look at 4:30,” says WTVT VP/General Manager Bill Schneider. “The ratings aren’t something you can overlook.”

Read the full B&C story here.

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.

Fox 35 also adds 4:30 a.m. newscast

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Just two weeks after WESH 2 launched the first 4:30 a.m. newscast in Orlando, it already has some early, early morning competition.

With little fanfare, WOFL-Fox 35 has expanded its morning newscast, now starting at 4:30 a.m. too. The Fox O&O now produces FIVE-AND-A-HALF hours of local news each morning.

Boasting “We Own The Morning,” the station ran a promo for the expanded morning newscast during Tuesday night’s Fox 35 News at 10. Also in the promo: anchor Keith Landry, who apparently has been taken off weekends and moved to the expanded morning show. That would answer the question I posed on Sunday, wondering if Fox had changed its weekend anchors. (I guess that’s a yes.)

So, how long until WFTV’s Eyewitness News Daybreak and WKMG’s Morning News also expand to 4:30 a.m.?