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Orlando market among Nielsen top 20 losers

September 4th, 2010 No comments »

So, what do Orlando, Tampa and Detroit have in common?

Those three are the only markets in Nielsen’s top 20 to lose households for the 2011 season. Tampa leads the losers, dropping almost 10,000 homes since last season. Detroit lost about 7,000 homes and Orlando about 2,000. Sure, you can blame the recession and the real-estate bubble burst for the Orlando-Tampa drops, but also note that the Miami-Fort Lauderdale market grew by more than 40,000 homes in the same period — and moved up to No. 16 in the nation. Everybody is heading south?

Thanks to NewsBlues.com for the 2011 Nielsen markets …

2010	2011			2010	2011
Rank	Rank			TV Homes	TV Homes
1	1		New York	7,493,530	7,515,330
2	2		Los Angeles	5,659,170	5,666,900
3	3		Chicago	3,501,010	3,502,610
4	4		Philadelphia	2,955,190	3,015,820
5	5		Dallas-Ft. Worth	2,544,410	2,594,630
6	6		San Francisco-Oak-San Jose	2,503,400	2,523,520
7	7		Boston (Manchester)	2,410,180	2,460,290
8	8		Atlanta	2,387,520	2,407,080
9	9		Washington, DC (Hagrstwn)	2,335,040	2,389,710
10	10		Houston	2,123,460	2,177,220
11	11		Detroit	1,890,220	1,883,840
12	12		Phoenix (Prescott)	1,873,930	1,881,310
13	13		Seattle-Tacoma	1,833,990	1,874,750
14	14		Tampa-St. Pete (Sarasota)	1,805,810	1,795,200
15	15		Minneapolis-St. Paul	1,732,050	1,753,780
17	16	+1	Miami-Ft. Lauderdale	1,538,090	1,580,580
16	17	-1	Denver	1,539,380	1,572,740
18	18		Cleveland-Akron (Canton)	1,520,750	1,526,200
19	19		Orlando-Daytona Bch-Melbourne	1,455,620	1,453,120
20	20		Sacramnto-Stkton-Modesto	1,404,580	1,409,400

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Posted in Orlando TV

Tags: Nielsen

Ex-WESH anchors’ Growing Bolder show goes national

September 4th, 2010 1 comment »

Growing Bolder: Marc Middleton and Bill Shafer

Former longtime WESH 2 News anchors Marc Middleton and Bill Shafer have reason to celebrate this weekend.

“Growing Bolder,” the focus of their attention since leaving the world of TV news, has been picked up nationally. This weekend, the 30-minute show begins airing on more than 100 PBS stations, including markets like L.A., San Francisco, Denver and Indianapolis.

“It’s a huge piece for us — it’s pivotal,” Middleton, CEO of Bolder Media Group, told the Orlando Business Journal. Now that the show — in its fourth season — will be seen beyond Central Florida, it can go after national sponsors, pulling in cash to continue to fund this effort at journalism focused on the 50-plus demographic.

Up until this big break, the show has been airing on local PBS station WMFE-Channel 24 as well as Tampa PBS affiliate WEDU-Channel 3. But the Growing Bolder brand isn’t restricted to television. There’s a radio show that airs on 90.7 WMFE-FM, as well as lots of social media outreach, including a Growing Bolder Facebook page and Twitter feed.

The show even has a new website, GrowingBolderTV.com that explains its mission: “It’s the newest show on PBS stations coast-to-coast. It’s inspirational, affirmational and entertaining. Produced by an Emmy Award-winning team, Growing Bolder tells the stories of ordinary men and women living extra ordinary lives. It’s about people reinventing themselves to pursue their passions and build lives of significance. It’s about entrepreneurs, cancer survivors, masters athletes, rock stars, artists, and more.”

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Posted in Orlando TV, Public Broadcasting, WMFE-24

Tags: Bill Shafer Growing Bolder Marc Middleton WESH-2 WMFE-24

Florida primary election results coverage plans

August 23rd, 2010 No comments »

Here are some of the primary night coverage plans of the Orlando TV stations:

Central Florida News 13 will start broadcasting results beginning at 7 p.m. The cable news station will also be hosting a live chat beginning at 6 p.m.

WRDQ-TV 27, sister station to WFTV-Channel 9, will offer a one-hour special “Central Florida Spotlight” beginning at 9 p.m. Expect to see Eyewitness News reporters as well as local politicos giving their analysis of the results.

WKMG-Local 6 will offer a live 4-hour webcast on ClickOrlando.com, starting at 7 p.m. Erik von Ancken will host the webcast.

And all the area stations plan to present results on parts of your TV screen during regular network programming.

If you need information about the candidates before you vote, check out the very fine OrlandoSentinel.com voter guide.

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Posted in CF News 13, Orlando TV, WFTV-9, WKMG-6, WRDQ-27

Longtime Orlando broadcaster Mike Burger retiring

August 23rd, 2010 No comments »

Mike Burger (courtesy CBS11)

After spending 40 years in broadcasting — a good many of those years here in Central Florida on the radio and on Channel 6 — Mike Burger is calling it quits.

The current weatherman at Dallas’ KTVT-CBS 11 has opted out of the final 19 months of a newly signed contact. “I found myself looking in the mirror, saying ‘What are you doing?’ ” Burger told Dallas TV blogger Uncle Barky. “Do you want to do this until you’re 70 and then drop over dead? It’s time to have some fun.”

The recent death of his longtime girlfriend’s mother gave him a new perspective on life, Uncle Barky reported. “It persuaded him that life can be short and should be sweeter down the stretch. He also ‘knew this was going to be my last contract, whether it was my decision to leave or theirs. So I decided it would be better to go out on my terms, and do it my way, so to speak.’ ”

Burger, who turns 65 in September, spent a good many years in Orlando — at WDBO radio and Channel 6, when it was WDBO, WCPX and WKMG. He did weather primarily on TV, but after departing for Dallas in 1989, he returned in 1996 to become morning news anchor at Channel 6. He stayed for four years, then headed back to Dallas.

Burger’s last weather segment will be Sept. 4th. He said he plans to remain in North Texas.

Here are some links to see Burger on Orlando TV, plus a special one with him, Glenn Rinker and Ben Aycrigg in the late 1980s at Channel 6. (Sorry for the poor quality of the first two.)

VIDEO: 1983: Carole Nelson at Noon With Mike Burger on WCPX

VIDEO: 1981: WDBO Nightwatch 6 newscast with Wayne Bennett and Mike Burger

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Posted in Anchors, Orlando Radio, Orlando TV, WKMG-6, Weather

Tags: WKMG-6

Summer break over: Catching up on Orlando TV

August 23rd, 2010 1 comment »

After a nice summer break away from TV news, it’s time to catch up. And, wow, there has been a lot going on ….

WFTV-Channel 9: Some of the most newsworthy changes have come from an unexpected place: the usually rock-steady Eyewitness News juggernaut. The big shocker: longtime anchor Barbara West is being taken off the 5:30 p.m. news, making way for rising star Vanessa Welch. GM Shawn Bartelt told Sentinel TV Guy Hal Boedeker the station is making the 5:30 change to provide some flow its new 6:30 p.m. news on WRDQ-TV 27. “I have the utmost respect for Barbara West,” Bartelt said. “This is no reflection on Barbara. I have to get more faces into those 90 minutes” from 5 to 6:30 p.m. West has been at WFTV since 1986 and will continue to anchor at noon and report on the health beat. … Another longtime WFTV anchor is also getting her air time scaled back, too. Daybreak anchor Vanessa Echols will be replaced by newcomer Bianca Castro from 7-9 a.m. on the Eyewitness News This Morning show on WRDQ. “We felt she needed a break,” Bartelt said of Echols. … And even more changes at WFTV: Main sports anchor Phil Burton is being shuffled out the door to make way for Christian Bruey, 26, who does play by play for the Daytona Cubs. Bruey starts in September. Burton will hang around through football season. … Morning meteorologist Matt Makens is departing WFTV to accept a weather position at Denver’s KMGH-ABC 7. … Speaking of Channel 9′s new 6:30 p.m. news, with Welch and newcomer Josh Benson, it will debut on Labor Day. … Finally (whew!), WFTV announced it will replace Oprah at 4 p.m. with Dr. Oz, starting in 2011. So much for theories that WFTV was going to launch a 4 p.m. newscast.

WOFL-Fox 35: After eight years, General Manager Stan Knott announced plans to leave the Fox O&O. While he’s been on board, the station has greatly expanded its news footprint in the mornings, evenings and weekends. No word on a replacement yet. More here. … Dr. Phil will be joining the Fox 35 family in 2011.

WKMG-Local 6: Well, when we last checked, WKMG was in the process of a major house cleaning. Gone were anchor Jacqueline London, reporter Donald Forbes and morning weather guy Eric Wilson. The changes kept on coming. Reporter Jessica D’Onofrio has left, stepping up to ABC O&O WLS-7 in her hometown of Chicago. The Chicago Sun-Times says she starts Aug. 30 will be covering breaking news in the mornings. So, what about all those openings at WKMG? Julie Broughton, formerly of Central Florida News 13, has been brought in temporarily to help anchor on the weekends. More new faces at the station: Shaun Chaiyabhat, from Memphis, is a GA; Quinn Schuler, from Tuscon, Ariz., is a GA; and Cortney Hall, from Champaign, Ill. is a morning reporter. … We mentioned earlier, WKMG is going to let Dr. Phil — which replaced its 5 p.m. news — go to WOFL in 2011. Will WKMG get back into the early evening news game? GM SkipValet isn’t saying.

WESH 2 News: Sunrise anchor Jason Guy became a daddy earlier this month. He and his wife welcome daughter Quinn Katherine Guy. … And congrats to Todd Grasley, who had been heading up WESH’s High School Playbook website. He’s off to Panama City for a new weekend sports anchor gig.

Central Florida News 13: Well, I was surprised. Hal Boedeker reported on News 13′s ratings and how they fare against the other stations in town. I didn’t think 13 was much of a player, but the local cable news station regularly beats some of its broadcast competitors in several news time slots. Who knew “Weather on the 1′s” could be so popular? … Anchor Jackie Brockington, missing for three months, returned to the air. Where was she? On medical leave. “Nothing serious — reconstructive foot surgery,” Brockington told Boedeker.

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