Tag Archives: Jim Carter

Another news channel for Orlando cable TV?

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Between lots of travel for business (and some for pleasure), I’m playing catchup with the latest Orlando TV news…

Interesting — and unconfirmed — rumor passed on by a tipster: Bright House may be getting ready to add its Tampa Bay news channel, Bay News 9, to its Orlando channel lineup that already includes Central Florida News 13. Stay tuned. …

Former WKMG traffic reporter Secily Wilson returned to local television screens with a splash. She and her family were on the Orlando-based Family Feud game show. She had a bit of a slip in answering a question in the Fast Money segement — and it made her a YouTube star (with more than 940,000 views so far). Sentinel TV Guy Hal Boedeker catches up with Wilson to see what she’s been doing and how she hopes to return to television beyond game shows. …

Have you noticed the changes at WOFL-Fox 35 during the November sweep? The station has rebranded its 4:30 a.m. to 10 a.m news block “Good Day,” added a news ticker to its newscasts and has seemed to be much more aggressive. Will it make a difference in the ratings? …

Speaking of Fox 35, anchor Cale Ramaker tweeted this update about a former co-anchor:  ”Had a very nice lunch with my former co-anchor Corrina Sullivan, today. Very happy with her decision to be a full-time Mom.” …

GM Jim Carter is verrrrry happy with the performance of his Orlando duopoly, WESH 2 and especially WKCF-CW18. “Absolutely. They have got it going. Our prime-time ratings [on WKCF] this year in October were up 21 percent from last year,” he told the Sentinel. Read the full Q&A with Carter here.

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

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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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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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New news leader? WFTV, WESH battling it out

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Could WESH be about to end WFTV’s 30-year reign as the king of TV news in Orlando?

New Nielsen “people meters” data show — and parties at both stations acknowledge — a tight, two-station race between WFTV and WESH for the title of Central Florida’s news leader.

According to Sentinel TV Guy Hal Boedeker, WFTV averaged 48,000 viewers to WESH’s 46,400 at 6 p.m. in the news-coveted 25-to-54 age group. For the demo at 11, WFTV had 43,200 to WESH’s 37,500.

Here’s the amazing part: Among viewers ages 18-to-49, WESH is the No. 1 station at 5, 5:30 and 6 p.m. — 30,000 viewers for WESH to 29,000 for WFTV.

“It’s a two-station race,” WFTV GM Shawn Bartelt told the Sentinel.

WESH GM Jim Carter agreed: “Based on the ratings I see, it’s a two-station race, and closer than it’s been in a long time. We were No. 2 at 11, just slightly behind WFTV. The rest of the time periods, we’re right there with them. The horse heads are next to one other. They’re neck and neck.”

WFTV still leads in the overall household ratings — 128,800 homes to WESH’s 100,100 at 6 p.m. But the demo results are a bit startling and perhaps indicate a shift in Central Florida’s viewing habits.

Read the full story here.

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WKCF rises to top of CW

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The CW network may be struggling, but you can’t blame that on WKCF-CW 18.

The network has announced that O-Town’s CW station is the No. 2-rated affiliate in the nation. In the November 2008 demos, WKCF was rated No. 2 in the nation in Adults 18-34, Adults 19-49, Women 18-34, Persons 12-34.

“TV is a very competitive environment and to have CW18/WKCF as one of the top two stations in the country is a huge achievement,” WKCF/WESH President and GM Jim Carter said in a press release. “It also shows that the Central Florida viewers support CW18 and enjoy its programming.”

WKCF has always been a very strong affiliate for its network. Back when it was with the defunct WB network, WKCF was consistently one of the top WB affiliates in the nation.

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