WOFL hires Pittsburgh anchor for evening newscasts

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WOFL has found a replacement for anchor Corrina Sullivan, who decided not to return to the station after her maternity leave.

The newcomer is Sonni Abatta, currently the morning anchor at Pittsburgh CBS O&O KDKA. Sentinel TV Guy Hal Boedeker says she will start at the station on July 20, and that she’ll anchor the 5 p.m. show with Cale Ramaker and Amy Kaufeldt, and the 10 p.m. show with Ramaker.

According to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Abatta’s last day at KDKA is this Friday. 

Abatta started anchoring KDKA’s morning and noon newscasts in January 2005. She graduated from Carnegie Mellon in 2003, started out as an intern at KDKA, then became an off-air reporter trainee. A short six months later, she was on the air doing morning weather reports. Former KDKA news director Al Blinke said Abatta earned her on-air role from her six months in her trainee position. She “probably worked harder, covered more important stories — even though you may not have seen her on air — than anybody starting out in a small market,” he told the Post-Gazette.

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WFTV analog signoff was the cat’s meow

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I’m still catching up on all the stuff I missed while I was occupied elsewhere.

So, what about that analog switch off?

Again, I missed it, but there was a nice touch with WFTV-Channel 9′s signoff. Included with the current WFTV logo was a version of the station’s first logo — the cattail 9 that was the moniker of WLOF-TV. The cat, whose tail formed the station’s channel number, was the symbol of WLOF when it signed on the air — with an analog signal — on Feb. 1, 1958. There were several versions of the cat, including a kitten for launch, a sort of tough tom cat that appears in the station logo at the top left, and the more cute, cartoon cat featured in WFTV’s signoff.

Eyewitness News anchor Bob Opshal gave a brief history of the station before the analog signal was pulled for good, and the TV screen when to “snow.”

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Magic memories and other news I missed

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Catching up on news that happened while I was occupied redesigning Central Florida’s most popular local Web site (you know which one) …

During the Orlando Magic’s amazing run to the NBA Finals, I heard from former WESH meteorologist Chris Castleman. He was with WESH-2 during the Magic’s first run to the Finals in 1995, and he was kind enough to share some photos taken from his on-air work covering the hoopla surrounding Shaq, Penny and the gang. Of the shots, he wrote, “Most were outside at the O’rena. The helicopter bit was something we did with [Hearst-Argyle sister station] KPRC-TV in Houston. …. Hope all is well in Orlando. GO MAGIC!” Well, there’s always next year, Chris. (See another photo of Chris with Wendy Chioji in the background at bottom of this post ) …

  • Some folks have been asking, “Where’s Fox 35 anchor Corrina Sullivan?” The night-time anchor has been out on maternity leave for awhile — and apparently isn’t coming back. According to a reliable poster on our TV News Talk message board, “She decided to be a stay-at-home mom. She came in for one day to clean out her desk and say goodbye. She is a consummate professional and her departure is a loss not only for the station, but for the industry.”
  • Speaking of WOFL, it wasn’t that long ago that Fox 35 went HD for its newscasts and had snazzy new graphics. In fact, I thought they were the best HD graphics in town. Guess I must have been in the minority. The station has now tweaked the blue graphics for ones that are more red — which do look more like something you would see on Fox News Channel. … Continue reading →

Disney monorail crash video obtained by WKMG

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WKMG-Local 6 scored a significant scoop when it obtained — and gained an exclusive license — for video showing the immediate aftermath of Disney World’s deadly monorail train crash. The compelling video from early Sunday morning was shot just after one monorail train plowed into another at the resort, killing a 21-year-old park employee.

But obtaining the video may have been the easy part for WKMG. Keeping others from using it was the tougher task. Versions of the video popped up on YouTube, Wikipedia and competitors’ stations and Web sites. That prompted WKMG ND Steve Hyvonen to send the following email to O-Town media outlets, including WFTV, WESH, WOFL, Central Florida News 13, WDBO radio and the Orlando Sentinel:

“WKMG has the exclusive rights to the video and still pictures taken at the scene of the Disney monorail accident.  We have already seen some of these images on the air and on the websites of our competitors.  I’m sure you will respect this exclusivity as we do when you have exclusive material.  WKMG’s attorneys are investigating improper usage of our material and will be in contact should any violations occur. “

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WESH morning anchor Scott Walker heading to Big Easy

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WESH has been hit with an unexpected setback in its quest for morning news dominance: anchor Scott Walker is departing the station.

Walker is heading to Hearst-Argyle sister station WDSU-NBC 5 in New Orleans to become that station’s 5 p.m. anchor. “The opportunity to return home to work in New Orleans at an institution like WDSU is an exciting one for me professionally and personally,” Walker said in a WESH news release. “I’ve covered everything from Super Bowls to hurricanes, but I’ve never done it in front of family, friends and the incredibly news-savvy viewers of South Louisiana and the Mississippi Gulf Coast. I’m looking forward to that — and finally using my Saints season tickets –more than words can express.”

Walker arrived at WESH two years ago from Mobile, Ala. He was paired with Syan Rhodes for WESH’s Sunrise show as well as its morning news on WKCF-CW 18 and WESH’s noon show. After a rocky start, the rebuilt WESH morning show has been picking up steam. WFTV-Channel 9 won the morning race by just 500 households over WESH in the May sweeps.

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WFTV disputes WESH has most accurate weather forecast

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Who has the most accurate weather forecast in Orlando? WESH says it does and that it has the certification to prove it. Top-rated WFTV says that’s baloney.

WESH recently dropped its WeatherPlus branding for its newscasts and started using WeatheRate’s seal for Orlando’s most accurate weather forecast. But what, you may ask, is WeatheRate? According to a news release on its Web site, “Using a business model similar to J.D. Power and Associates, WeatheRate conducts independent research at their own expense. At the end of each WeatheRating period, the company offers its seal of approval only to the most accurate station in each television market.”

It does this for a fee, of course. In a March 2005 posting on NewsBlues.com, Cincinnatti’s WCPO-ABC 9 was reportedly paying $1,000 a month to carry WeatheRate’s seal on its forecasts.

WeatheRate says its accuracy rating is based on verifying “high and low temperatures, sky cover, precipitation, snow accumulation, wind and fog. Accuracy in forecasting severe weather and timing of precipitation also comes into play.”

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