Posts Tagged ‘WKCF-18’

May sweeps: WFTV, CBS big winners in Orlando

May 29th, 2010

Just as predictable as afternoon thunderstorms in the summer: WFTV and CBS were the big winners in Orlando in the just-completed May sweeps.

The juggernaut that is Channel 9′s Eyewitness News showed no signs of weakness. WFTV’s newscasts won in all time periods — morning, noon, evening and night.

According to results in the Orlando Sentinel, WFTV’s 6 p.m. newscast had more viewers (128,500 homes) than the combined audiences of WESH 2 News (68,300), WKMG’s Local 6 News (27,400) and WOFL’s Fox 35 News (23,900).  The results were the same in the 25-to-54 demo: WFTV (40,100), WESH (15,700), WKMG (11,300) and WOFL (10,800).

Despite CBS’ popular prime-time lineup on WKMG finishing No. 1. locally, WFTV’s 11 p.m. news was tops — pulling 42,200 homes in the demo compared with 27,900 for WKMG, 21,200 for WESH and 15,500 for WOFL.

The only dent in WFTV’s armor? It’s 10 p.m. newscast on sister station WRDQ-TV 27 finished behind WOFL’s Fox 35 News at 10. Those 10 p.m. demo numbers: Fox 35 (27,000), WRDQ (16,500) and WESH’s news on WKCF (8,700).

» Read more: May sweeps: WFTV, CBS big winners in Orlando

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Posted in Orlando TV, WESH-2, WFTV-9, WKCF-18, WKMG-6, WOFL-35, WRDQ-27

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WKCF-CW 18 named CW’s top affiliate

May 25th, 2010

What’s the station the CW Network wishes all of its affiliates would be like? Well, just turn on Orlando’s WKCF-CW 18 and find out.

The station announced Thursday that it received the APEX Award from The CW for being the network’s “Model Affiliate of the Year.”

According to the press release, “The Model Affiliate is the highest award given by the CW Television Network for being an overall outstanding local TV station. The award is based on the quality and involvement of all aspects of television operations such as CW18 marketing and station branding, on and off air promotional efforts, sales and advertiser ventures, duopoly integration with sister station WESH 2 and local media partnerships.”

» Read more: WKCF-CW 18 named CW’s top affiliate

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Posted in Orlando TV, WKCF-18

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

March 30th, 2010

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.

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

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Posted in Orlando TV, WESH-2, WKCF-18

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Estrella now set to launch Monday on WKCF

September 9th, 2009

estrellaThe debut of O-Town’s newest Spanish-language offering has been pushed to Sept. 14. 

Back in July, WESH-2,  WKCF-CW 18 and parent Hearst Television announced a partnership with Liberman Broadcasting to offer its Estrella TV to Central Florida viewers on WKCF’s digital sub-channel 18.3. The original start date was sometime in in mid-August; now Estrella will go live on Monday.

According to Broadcasting and Cable, Orlando is one of 17 markets nationally where Estrella is launching. Among the other Florida markets are Miami, on Sunbeam’s WSVN-Fox 7, and West Palm Beach, on Hearst’s WPBF-ABC 25

Estrella is giving partnering stations an opportunity to cash in with Hispanic-targeted advertising. According to B&C, “The affiliate model sees the stations keep 40 percent of the commercial inventory, according to Liberman, with Estrella retaining the other 60 percent. Stations will have the opportunity to put local touches on the programming lineup, such as a Spanish-language newscast produced by station talent to air on Estrella.”

Said WESH/WKCF GM Jim Carter in a news release: “We are always looking for ways to better serve our large and growing Hispanic population, and with LBI’s Spanish-language broadcast experience reaching back to the 70’s, we know we’ve found the right partner.”

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Posted in Orlando TV, WESH-2, WKCF-18

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WESH to launch 10 p.m. news on WKCF

August 21st, 2009

wesh2oncw18After an absence of nearly seven years, WKCF-CW 18 will resume a 10 p.m. newscast starting Aug. 31.

Hearst sister station WESH-2 will produce the 30-minute newscast, which will air seven days a week.

“WESH 2 News at 11 has developed a very strong following. We believe the time is right to offer a 10 p.m. newscast for Central Florida viewers who prefer an earlier news option,” Jim Carter, WESH/WKCF president and general manager, said in a news release.

Monday-Friday, the newscast will be anchored by WESH’s 11 p.m. anchor team: Martha Sugalski, Jim Payne, sports director Guy Rawlings and Chief Meteorologist Tony Mainolfi. The Saturday and Sunday news will feature Aixa Diaz and meteorologist Malachi Rodgers. 

Bud Hedinger was the anchor on WKCF’s previous 10 p.m. news — the area’s first 10 o’clock newscast. It was very popular, often topping WOFL’s then-upstart 10 p.m. news. But WKCF’s owner at the time decided it was better to show sitcom reruns than to compete against Fox 35 and then-newcomer WRDQ (which started airing a WFTV-produced newscast).

“At a time when some news organizations are cutting back on their coverage, we’re excited to provide Central Florida news viewers with even more options at a time they may find more convenient,” Carter said.

Read more from WESH here.

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Posted in Orlando TV, WESH-2, WKCF-18

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