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Archive for the ‘WRDQ-27’ category

May sweeps: WFTV, CBS big winners in Orlando

May 29th, 2010

Just as predictable as afternoon thunderstorms in the summer: WFTV and CBS were the big winners in Orlando in the just-completed May sweeps.

The juggernaut that is Channel 9′s Eyewitness News showed no signs of weakness. WFTV’s newscasts won in all time periods — morning, noon, evening and night.

According to results in the Orlando Sentinel, WFTV’s 6 p.m. newscast had more viewers (128,500 homes) than the combined audiences of WESH 2 News (68,300), WKMG’s Local 6 News (27,400) and WOFL’s Fox 35 News (23,900). The results were the same in the 25-to-54 demo: WFTV (40,100), WESH (15,700), WKMG (11,300) and WOFL (10,800).

Despite CBS’ popular prime-time lineup on WKMG finishing No. 1. locally, WFTV’s 11 p.m. news was tops — pulling 42,200 homes in the demo compared with 27,900 for WKMG, 21,200 for WESH and 15,500 for WOFL.

The only dent in WFTV’s armor? It’s 10 p.m. newscast on sister station WRDQ-TV 27 finished behind WOFL’s Fox 35 News at 10. Those 10 p.m. demo numbers: Fox 35 (27,000), WRDQ (16,500) and WESH’s news on WKCF (8,700).

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Posted in Orlando TV, WESH-2, WFTV-9, WKCF-18, WKMG-6, WOFL-35, WRDQ-27

Tags: Ratings WESH-2 WFTV-9 WKCF-18 WKMG-6 WOFL-35 WRDQ-27

Andrea Jackson leaving The Daily Buzz

April 26th, 2009

Andrea Jackson, one of the original Daily Buzz anchors, is leaving the Orlando-based morning show. Her last day is Wednesday.

In a note to Sentinel TV Guy and More blogger Hal Boedeker, Jackson said, “It’s been a great experience being a part of ‘The Buzz’ since the very beginning. After being on the air for seven years, it’s the right time for a change. … Stay tuned.”

The nationally syndicated show moved to Orlando in the summer of 2004 from Dayton, Ohio. It originally aired on and was headquartered at WKCF-Channel 18 in Lake Mary. Once WESH parent Hearst-Argyle bought WKCF, it booted the Buzz so it could air local news on the station. The Daily Buzz found a new home on the dial at WRDQ-Chanel 27 — and new studios at Full Sail University in Winter Park.

The show still airs on 145 stations natioanlly. After Jackson’s departure, only weather guy Mitch English will remain from the original hosts — which also included Ron Corning.

Here’s a clip from The Daily Buzz web site feature Jackson:

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Posted in Orlando TV, WRDQ-27

Tags: Andrea Jackson Daily Buzz WKCF-18 WRDQ-27

Digital signals bring good news, bad news

April 7th, 2009

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.

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Posted in Orlando TV, WESH-2, WFTV-9, WKCF-18, WKMG-6, WOFL-35, WRBW-65, WRDQ-27

Tags: Digital TV WESH-2 WFTV-9 WKCF-18 WKMG-6 WMFE-24 WOFL-35 WRDQ-27

No March madness: WFTV still No. 1

April 3rd, 2009

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.

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Posted in Orlando TV, WESH-2, WFTV-9, WKMG-6, WOFL-35, WRDQ-27

Tags: Ratings WESH-2 WFTV-9 WKMG-6 WOFL-35 WRDQ-27

5 Orlando stations turn off transmitters tonight

February 17th, 2009

Turn out the lights, the party’s over … in analog.

At 11:59 p.m. tonight, five Orlando TV stations will permanently end their analog broadcasts, entering an all-digital era and most likely making your older model television sets obsolete.

The stations turning off their analog transmitters, according to the FCC: Public Broadcasting stations WMFE-Channel 24 and WBCC-Channel 68, Univison’s WVEN-Channel 26, independent WRDQ-Channel 27, religious broadcaster WTGL-Channel 45. They’re joining two other area stations that shut off their analog signals earlier: religious station WACX-Channel 55 and Public broadcaster WDSU-Channel 15.

The rest of the local stations — including big-network WESH-NBC 2, WKMG-CBS 6, WFTV-ABC 9, WKCF-CW 18, WOFL-Fox 35 and WRBW-MyNetworkTV 65 — will halt their analog signals in June.

If you get your TV signals via cable or satellite, you’re fine. If you rely on an antenna, then you may have a problem if your TV does not receive digital signals (most older models don’t). You’ll need a DTV box to convert the digital signal to analog. For more information about DTV and how to get a coupon for a DTV box, click here.