Tag Archives: WESH-2

Recent RogerSimmons.com Orlando TV News reports involving WESH-Channel 2, the NBC affiliate for Central Florida. The station calls its newscasts WESH 2 News.

Morning anchor Schaad out at WESH

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WESH has decided to part ways with morning anchor Tom Schaad, who has been with the station since 1996.

Over the years Schaad has served in a variety of roles for WESH, most recently being the station’s morning anchor. (See video of Schaad anchoring noon news in 1997.) “That’s the TV business,” he told the Sentinel’s TV Guy. “We all understand that. They make changes to accommodate the viewer. You have to abide by that. It’s one of the things you accept when you become an anchor.”

No word on a possible replacement, but I’d put my money on newcomer Scott Walker, who joined the station from WPMI-NBC 15. He filled in for Jim Payne on WESH’s evening newscasts on Monday.

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O-Town TV women are on the move

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Some O-Town folks are on the move in this TGIF report:

Denise Cullen, former sports director at Central Florida News 13, has joined the Orlando Predators as their new director of communications. “Working for Orlando’s only professional football team is another step up in my career. I can’t imagine a better job,” Cullen said in a news release. Cullen made her mark in Orlando TV, working her way up from sports intern at WFTV-Channel 9 to being the first female to head a sports department at an Orlando station. Cullen has been an avid football fan ever since she can remember and at one point had dreams of playing in the NFL. She said, “I told my parents I wanted to play for the Pittsburgh Steelers and wear #88 just like Lyn Swann. If only I were taller!”

Meanwhile, Danielle Bellini, longtime traffic reporter at Channel 2, signed off at the end of the WESH’s 6 a.m. broadcast. Her replacement, Kimberly Williams, started with the 7 a.m. WESH 2 News on CW18.

And, from a tipster but not confirmed, longtime feature reporter Candice Coleman will be leaving Local 6. She’s been with the station since 2001, and I’ve always found her “Out There” reports to be a hoot.

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Veteran WESH reporter heads to Miami

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Rumors that veteran reporter Stephen Stock was leaving WESH were true. WFOR, the CBS O&O in Miami, has hired Stock to join its I-Team investigations unit.

 

“Stephen is a strong investigative reporter with an amazing work ethic. He brings unique investigative skills to an already strong I-Team. We are very excited about him joining us here at CBS4,” said WFOR News Director Adrienne Roark in a news release.

 

While at WESH, Stock’s investigations included uncovering tax fraud by Florida prison inmates, digging up the exact cause of hundreds of fires in Ford trucks and exposing problems with Florida’s day-care system. He also was the lead investigative reporter on WESH’s 20-part series, “Building Homes: Building Problems,” which examined the home building industry in Central Florida in partnership with the Orlando Sentinel. He and WESH won at George Foster Peabody Award for the series.

 

Stock has been at WESH since 1991. He did a lot of work out of WESH’s Marion County bureau — which, perhaps not-so-coincidentally, one tipsers says the station may be preparing to shutter.
When he arrives at WFOR-CBS 4, he’ll find some familar O-Town faces — former WESH anchor Shannon Hori, former WFTV anchor Jorge Estevez and former WFTV reporter Ted Scouten.

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New anchor heading to WESH

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 So, could this be the start of the big changes forecast at WESH?

Lagniappe magazine in Mobile, Ala., reports that WPMI-NBC 15 anchor Scott Walker is leaving the city and heading to WESH as a new anchor. And from the story, it looks like he’s part of a huge exodus from the Alabama TV station.

Walker, whose bio has already been removed from the WPMI site, was named "best anchor" in the market by the Mobile Press Club. He had been at the station for seven years. Here he is saying goodbye to his viewers.

According to Lagniappe, "Morning show anchor Scott Walker, who has taken a position at WESH in Orlando …. was the last of the station’s weekday anchors remaining from last year. The last several months have seen a mass exodus from the station, including anchors [Peter] Albrecht, [Drexel] Gilbert, [Kim] McCrea, Walker, Sandra Shaw, meteorologist David Glenn and reporter Nicole Patrick."

The big question in O-Town, though, is what will Walker’s role be at WESH?

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WFTV-Channel 9 sweeps July sweeps

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There are a lot of re-runs in the summer … and also in the O-Town ratings competition. WFTV-Channel 9′s Eyewitness News was again the top choice for Central Floridians. WFTV was No. 1 from 5-7 a.m., from 5-6:30 p.m. and at 11 p.m., according to the Orlando Sentinel’s TV Guy.

In the 6 p.m. competition, WFTV had 141,000 homes to 61,00o for WKMG-Local 6 News and 57,000 for WESH 2 News.
At 11 p.m., Eyewitness News wast No. 1 with 98,000 homes followed by Local 6 at 76,000 and WESH at 64,000. The Sentinel’s TV Guy says in that late-night timeslot, WKMG was down 11,000 from a year ago, WESH was up by 28,000 and WFTV was up by 4,000.

 

WESH was up across the board, actually. In a press release, Channel 2 said it was the only local broadcast station to see growth in all weekday newscasts. “We saw significant growth in both households and adult viewers in May, and it’s gratifying to see it continuing in July. It’s clear we are building some solid momentum,” said station President and General Manager Bill Bauman. High points for WESH: up 96 percent at 4 p.m. from a year ago, up 27 percent at 5 p.m., up 16 percent at 5:30, up 10 percent at 6 p.m. and up 13 percent at 11 p.m.

 

WESH was also eager to point out that its morning news on sister station WKCF-CW 18 from 7 to 9 a.m. is drawing 13 percent more viewers than The Daily Buzz did in the timeslot a year ago. Of course, now the Buzz is over on WRDQ-Channel 27, but it appears before and after WFTV’s morning news its sister station.

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Did O-Town stations stage news?

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All the stations in town picked up on the story about a 9-year-old boy who called 911 when his mother fell unconscious on the floor. But when area stations showed the "first meeting" between the Alex Swee and 911 dispatcher Matt Nicotra — it was actually staged for two local stations who showed up late.

According to the Orlando Sentinel, "crews from WESH-Channel 2 and WFTV-Channel 9 were on time to film the exchange of hugs when Alex and his mom met Nicotra for the first time. But WOFL-Channel 35 showed up late and asked the three to do it all over again so they could tape it. Then in the middle of the second ‘first’ meeting, a WKMG-Channel 6 crew arrived and asked the three, ‘Can you do it one more time?’ "

The paper wryly pointed out, "The ‘first’ meeting ended up taking almost as long as the six-minute 911 call between Alex and Nicotra."

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