News That Won’t Slow You Down

Some quick hits for you today:

>> WESH starts its Olympic coverage tonight with the debut of its nightly preview show, The O-Zone. News anchor Wendy Chioji and sports director Pat Clarke host the show from Universal Orlando. It airs at 7:30 p.m.

>> In the past week, KABC in Los Angeles and WXIA in Atlanta started broadcasting their news in high definition. When do you think that will start in O-Town, and who will be the first? I would place my bet on WFTV.

>> Comings and goins at WFTV: Reporter Carl Willis has left to join KPRC in Houston. David Ham from WGGB in Springfield, Mass., and Tim Wetzel from WINK in Fort Myers join Channel 9 as reporters.

>> Can’t get enough Daily Buzz? Sure, there’s the three-hour show live on WB18 each morning, and the 24-hours-a-day replay on WB 18′s digital subchannel. But is that really enough? If not, check out the show’s website, DailyBuzz.tv, for video offerings including "Fast Casts" and "Behind the Scenes." It’s pretty entertaining.

Continue reading

O-Town Gets More Buzz on ‘Daily Buzz’

If you watch The Daily Buzz on WB18, you may have noticed something different about the nationally syndicated morning show. There’s more news about Central Florida.

Orlando is one of four test markets where the show is adding local news inserts. This week, WKCF also started a partnership with Metro Traffic to include local traffic segments during the show. And the station has been offering local weather forecasts for awhile.

Continue reading

Cancelled: WKCF says goodbye to Uncle Bud

WKCF-Channel 18 said it will pull the plug on Bud Hedinger and the 11-year-old “Original 10 O’Clock News” on Sept. 13. Hedinger first started in the market in 1986 when he was the 6 and 11 p.m. anchor at WFTV-Channel 9. After leaving in 1989, he returned in 1993 as the main anchor at WCPX (now WKMG) before moving to the WKCF newscast. WCPX previously produced the newscast for WB18. WKCF cited increased competition for its decision, but the newscast finished a close second to WOFL’s “Fox 35 News at 10″ and 27,000 households ahead of “Action News at 10″ on WRDQ-Channel 27.