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Mar
30

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Early-bird WESH adds 4:30 a.m. newscast

Category: Orlando TV, WESH-2, WKCF-18 Tags: , , , , 1 Comment

WESH on Tuesday began airing an additional half hour of morning news, starting at 4:30 a.m.

“We are always looking for opportunities to serve the local news and weather needs of our viewers at times that are both convenient and valuable to them,” WESH GM Jim Carter said in a news release. “We saw that need in this time period and we filled it.”

Many stations across the nation have been moving up their morning newscasts to 4:30 a.m. The reason? With longer commutes, folks are getting up earlier. And, as one TV wag once said, the best lead-in to news is news.

WESH 2 News Sunrise usually runs No. 2 behind WFTV’s Eyewitness News Daybreak. Will getting a 30-minute jump on the competition at 4:30 a.m. make a difference?

The new  half hour of news will be anchored by Syan Rhodes, with meteorologist Amy Sweezey and traffic reporter Kimberly Williams, WESH said.

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Jan
19

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Changes also in weather at WESH

Category: Orlando TV, WESH-2 Tags: , , , , Leave a Comment

Perhaps overlooked in the shakeup of WESH’s anchors are the changes taking place in the WESH WeatherPlus storm center.

Morning vet Tony Mainolfi is getting the prime evening newscasts, with Amy Sweezey shifting to the noon and 4 p.m. shows. Since longtime chief meteorologist Dave Marsh left in 2006, no one on WESH’s weather team was given his former title. Could this be a sign that Mainolfi will get Marsh’s old title now that he has Marsh’s old shows?

And, the WESH has added a fifth meteorologist to its staff to replace Mainolfi in the morning. The new met is Jason Brewer (right), who comes to WESH from Houston’s KPRC-NBC 2. Brewer has been doing the weekend weather at the Houston station since May 2006. Previous to that he was the chief met at KOSA in Odessa, Texas, and also worked at WTVD-ABC 11 in Raleigh-Durham, N.C.

"Weather is one of the biggest reasons why our viewers watch local news. Therefore, our commitment to weather coverage will continue to expand," said WESH ND Barbara Maushard. "By adding Jason to our team, we will be able to offer our viewers even more team coverage of Central Florida weather on-air, on-line and on our digital weather channel, WESH 2 Weather Plus."

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Jan
18

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WESH prepares to swap anchors

Category: Orlando TV, WESH-2 Tags: , , , , , Leave a Comment

Expect a complete makeover of Channel 2′s anchor assignments shortly, according to a WESH insider. Included will be a solo anchor shift at 6 p.m. for Wendy Chioji, a return to the 11 p.m. show by Jim Payne and a more prominent evening role for morning weather guy Tony Mainolfi.

I haven’t received confirmation yet, but here’s what the insider says the new assignments are:
  • 4-5 p.m. — Martha Sugalski and Chioji anchor
  • 5-6 p.m. — Payne and Sugalski anchor
  • 6-6:30 p.m. — Chioji anchors solo
  • 11-11:35 p.m. — Payne and Sugalski anchor
Payne and Sugalski have been anchoring the 4 p.m. show, Chioji and Raoul Martinez have been doing the the 5 p.m. with Payne and Chioji at 6 p.m. and Sugalski and Chioji at 11.

The anchor reassignments are due in some part to the hasty assignment of Martinez to anchor WESH’s new 7-9 a.m. newscast on CW18 with Eryka Washington.

What Mainolfi’s move to evenings mean for meteorologist Amy Sweezey remains to be seen.

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