Some random notes from the weekend …
WFTV sent its Mobile Cam to Texas to record Hurricane Ike’s landfall this past week. The Channel 9 crew got an eyefull of Ike.
According to WFTV.com, the station’s crew was riding in its Hummer when the storm made landfall on Saturday morning. As the Hummer was going along Interstate 45, it was hit by debris from a dock. The impact into the side of the vehicle caused a tire to blow out — which the crew had to change during the storm.
WESH has to be pleased with the massive number of people tuning in the Summer Olympics from Beijing. But the late-night anchors aren’t getting much sleep. They didn’t start the “11 p.m.” news until nearly 1 a.m. Monday night/Tuesday morning
WFTV is promoting reporter Vanessa Welch to co-anchor of its 10 p.m. newscast on WRDQ.
“She’s one of the best I’ve ever worked with,” WFTV News Director Bob Jordan told Sentinel TV Guy Hal Boedeker. “She’s our best enterprising reporter. When I think, over the years, of the people who have gone on to network jobs, she’s of that caliber. She’s got a big future.”
Welch joined WFTV in February 2007, coming to the station after stints at stations in Midland-Odessa, Texas, and in Raleigh, N.C.
Now, WFTV has big plans for Welch. Jordan told Boedeker that Welch just signed a 4-year deal with the station. She will co-anchor the 10 p.m. news with Darrell Greene and continue to report two or three days a week, too.
Welch replaces Cynthia Demos, who left the WRDQ newscast nearly a year ago to jump to Miami’s CBS O&O, WFOR-4. Martie Salt has been filling in with Greene on the show since Demos departed.
WOFL will launch its oft-discussed 11 p.m. newscast on Jan. 7, Florida Today reported. News about the late newscast was first revealed nearly a year ago, with a then-projected launch date of sometime in April. But the project never got off the ground. In the meantime, Fox 35 did launch its 6 p.m. newscast.
Cale Ramaker, who has been co-anchor of the 6 p.m. show, will leave that post to helm the 11 p.m. newscast as well as continue as the 10 p.m. co-anchor with Corrina Sullivan. Station newcomer Mike Dunston inherits Ramaker’s anchor chair on the 6 o’clock show.
GM Stan Knott told Florida Today that the 11 p.m. news will be a “hyper-local program designed to complement” Fox 35 News at 10.”The show is going to have a great energy, great feel and pace,” he said. “It really will be designed as an alternative to the other newscasts in the market, which have a lot of similarity to each other.”
Knott said the newscast will have “11 at 11,” — the day’s top stories in the first 11 minutes of the show — plus “Five Things You Need to Know,” — tips for viewers.
Knott didn’t say it, but I would assume Fox 35 will follow the model of nearly every other Fox O&O which launched an 11 p.m. newcast and use the News Edge format made popular at Fox sister WTVT in Tampa.
With little fanfare, WKMG has thrown the switch on 16:9 for its newscasts. (Oops — I reported early that Local 6 had gone to HD. Not the case, however.)
Local 6 is using 16:9 studio cameras, but its weather graphics and most field reports are still in standard 4:3 with “wings” on the side of the screen. I believe there was at least one 16:9 report tonight — some highlights from the Magic’s game.
The 16:9 switch comes after WKMG has been stretching its picture to fill the 16:9 ratio of today’s HD televisions. That was a bit annoying and also stretched out the anchors’ faces, making them look like the reflections in one of those old carnival funhouse mirrors.
WFTV was the first in Florida to switch to HD for its newscasts in July 2006, and WESH followed with its HD newscasts on Nov. 1, 2007. Now in O-Town, only WKMG and is Fox O&O WOFL-Channel 35 are not in HD.