Tag Archives: Robin Smythe

Noah joins News 13 as morning traffic reporter

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Veteran Orlando traffic watcher Ted Noah has joined News 13 as its weekday morning news traffic reporter, the station announced Monday.

Noah’s face may not be familiar to Central Florida viewers, but his voice should be. He previously worked for Metro Traffic, providing traffic reports for radio and for News 13′s Traffic Check since 2005. The station also said on many occasions he also served as the photographer for Sky 13 — its shared Metro Traffic helicopter.

“Our viewers count on News 13 to get their day started right and to help them get to work and school on time,” Robin Smythe, News 13’s Vice President/General Manager, said in a news release. “Ted Noah elevates our News 13 Traffic Check reports by offering extended live coverage of morning traffic conditions across Central Florida.  If you need to know the best way to get to work in the morning, there’s no one better to count on than Ted and News 13’s Traffic Check.”

News 13 jumps out of news-sharing pool

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ttt-cfn13It didn’t take long for Orlando’s news pool to spring a leak.

The Sentinel’s Hal Boedeker reports that Central Florida News 13 has left the news-sharing pool that also included WKMG-Local 6 and WOFL-Fox 35.  “I don’t think it’s as beneficial to our organization as we hoped,” News 13 GM Robin Smythe told Boedeker. “We’re stepping away from it on a daily basis. The experiment is going extremely well. Everyone is playing well with each other. We have a different deadline structure from the traditional newscasts. Our story coverage needs are different, the timing is different.”

The news-sharing agreement — in which News 13, Local 6 and Fox 35 shared video of certain news events — started less than a month ago. It mirrored news sharing deals that have been popping up in other markets across the nation.

WKMG GM Skip Valet told Boedeker the pool will continue with Local 6 and Fox 35. “For now, it’s the two of us,” Valet said. “It’s going fine. Robin wasn’t specific about what didn’t work for her. WOFL and WKMG are pleased with how it’s working out.”

Keeping sky safe over O-Town

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The tragic crash of two news choppers of Phoenix has O-Town stations excercising a little more caution when they are covering news from the air. "Anytime something happens in the industry involving equipment like this, we think it’s very important to apply some due diligence, review our procedures, to make sure our safety practices are the best they can be," Central Florida News 13 GM and VP Robin Smythe told the Orlando Sentiel. Read the full story about local TV pilots coordinate their moves here.

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New anchor and future news anchor

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Central Florida News 13 is getting a new morning anchor starting Monday. Lisa Bell will be the 5 to 10 a.m. anchor with meteorologist Jeff Day, Orlando Sentinel TV Guy Hal Boedeker reports. Bell comes to CFN13 from WEAR-ABC 3 in Pensacola. "Her talent and level of commitment make her the perfect person for this role at News 13," station GM Robin Smythe said of Bell.

Meanwhile, Katie Trexler is someone you may see on one of Orlando’s stations soon. She’s the morning and midday anchor at Denver’s KMGH-ABC 7, but she’s relocating to Orlando, according to the Rocky Mountain News. Trexler’s husband recently received a sweet gig from an O-Town company, so the family is heading East. Trexler, the mother of twin 4-year-olds, says she plans to take some time off before deciding whether to get back into TV here.

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