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.

Going solo with Chioji — Will it work?

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Is Wendy Chioji becoming the Katie Couric of Orlando?

She will be the first woman to solo anchor a 6 p.m. newscast in Orlando when WESH’s anchor reassignments take effect Jan. 29. Channel 2 hopes to make "WESH 2 News at 6 with Wendy Chioji" a showcase for one of the area’s veteran anchors.

"She is our most trusted and recognized anchor: she can get interviews others can’t," said WESH ND Barbara Maushard. "Wendy will put her years of reporting experience and community connections to work to present viewers with a one-of-a-kind newscast."

Said Chioji: "This is an opportunity few journalists ever get. I look forward to bringing Central Florida viewers important stories they won’t see anywhere else … and do it in a unique and different way."

The new format reminds us of an earlier era in television when anchors used to have their names as part of their newscast titles — as Chioji will at WESH. (Anyone remember "The Ralph Rennick Report" on WTVJ or "Wayne Farris and the News" on WCKT in Miami?)

So, WESH goes back to the past for its 6 p.m. news. Will the future bring more viewers to WESH, or will Chioji’s new newscast end up in the same ranking as Couric’s in the evening news ratings?

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Changes also in weather at WESH

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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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Chioji confirms WESH anchor shakeup

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WESH’s Wendy Chioji confirms the station’s reassignment of its anchors, including her role as solo anchor at 6 p.m. "I’m going to have a lot of creative control. I just love that," she told the Orlando Sentinel’s Hal Boedeker about the 6 p.m. newscast. Chioji says she will have a say in the story lineup for the revamped 6 p.m. show, which will also offer longer stories and more issue reports.

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WESH prepares to swap anchors

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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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Morning news battle heats up today

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Good morning, Orlando. You may not realize it, but you’re waking up in what has become the most competitive market for morning news in the nation — with more local news, with more national news and with plenty of surprises.

Monday morning, WESH-Channel 2 and WFTV-Channel 9 will start their early newscasts at 5 a.m. and then keep on broadcasting once their respective network morning shows go on the air at 7 o’clock. Instead of watching NBC’s Today, you can view WESH 2 News on CW 18 from 7-9 a.m. by switching over to WKCF-Channel 18. Instead of watching Good Morning America, you can tune to Eyewitness News This Morning from 7-8:30 a.m. by going to WRDQ-Channel 27.

WESH’s and WFTV’s news expansion to their sister duopoly stations sets up a local 7-9 a.m. showdown for the first time. WOFL-Fox 35 has had the 7-9 a.m. local broadcast news franchise to itself for six years since it launched its morning news in 2000. (Oh, and we can’t overlook cable’s Central Florida News 13, whose all-local newscasts do well in the mornings, too.)

WFTV was the first to announce its plans to expand its Eyewitness News franchise in the morning to sister station WRDQ. The details were revealed in early December, but the station has been planning the new morning news since July.

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