Posts Tagged ‘WKMG-6’

WKMG: Urban Meyer told Gators he had heart attack

December 28th, 2009

"Ping"

WKMG-Local 6 sports anchor David “Ping” Pingalore said Monday evening he stands behind his Saturday report that Florida Gators Coach Urban Meyer had a heart attack during mid-season — one health reason that may have led to the coach’s decision to take an indefinite leave of absence from the team.

During WKMG’s “The 6 O’Clock News,” Pingalore reported live via phone from New Orleans, where the Gators are set to play Cincinnati in the Sugar Bowl. He elaborated on his Saturday report, saying Meyer himself told the Gators players he had a heart attack.

“On Saturday night I did report from a source that head coach Urban Meyer did tell the team sometime on Saturday that in mid-season he suffered a heart attack, and that source continues to stand by that story. We stand by that story,” Pingalore said. “Coach Meyer on Sunday denied any kind of rumor or fact or whatever it is that he suffered a heart attack. He said he did not suffer a heart attack. But our source inside that team meeting did say that Coach Meyer did tell the team he did suffer a heart attack. And Meyer, he kind of walked around a lot of those questions that were asked of him about his health [during Sunday's news conference.]”

“Ping” has been right with other Gators scoops, so that’s why this claim is being taken seriously by many despite UF’s denials.

Also one other interesting note about the Urban Meyer saga: WOFL-Fox 35 — which got rid of its full-time sports anchors and segments awhile ago — is running promos touting that it was the only station in town to carry Meyer’s Sunday afternoon news conference.

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Posted in Orlando TV, WKMG-6, WOFL-35

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Bob Frier returns to air December 14 on Fox 35

November 22nd, 2009

bobfrier-woflSome quick updates …

Former WKMG-Local 6 anchor Bob Frier, who recently signed with WOFL-Fox 35, will make his debut on his new station Dec. 14, according to station promos. Still no word on how the anchor duties at Fox 35 are going to be shuffled with Frier’s arrival. But it’s great that he will be back on TV — and may make the difference in pushing Fox 35 permanently ahead of WKMG in the early evening time slots where they square off. …

Holiday cheer, courtesy of Central Florida’s News Leader: When the City of Orlando said it would not have a Christmas tree this year due to budget cuts, WFTV-Channel 9 repsonded. According to the Orlando Sentinel, “A 31-foot blue spruce was donated by Warren Brown and Co., a tree farm, and the $6,800 cost of transporting it from North Carolina and installing it is being paid by AirTran Airways and WFTV.” Channel 9 is also a sponsor of the holiday Light Up UCF event. …

What will WFTV do when Oprah Winfrey ends her talk show in 2011? It’s probably too early to tell, but according to Broadcasting & Cable, most ABC O&O’s which air Oprah already know what they’re doing – more news. “According to many sources, executives at the ABC stations that serve as Oprah’s key station group have long said they will fill the time slots by expanding their local news. The ABC stations remain strong–even in today’s tough environment–and are news leaders,” B&C reported So, don’t be surprised to see WFTV’s Eyewitness News starting at 4 p.m. come September 2011. That’s still a long way off, and lots of things could happen, but that’s my bet. …

They’re hearing wedding bells over at WKMG. Local 6 evening anchor Mike Garofalo got hitched, and morning anchor Laura Diaz got engaged. Orlando Sentinel TV Guy Hal Boedeker reports that Garofalo married Sasha Andrade, a reporter at Post-Newsweek sister station WPLG-Local 10 in Miami. Boedeker says Diaz got engaged a month ago “to a WKMG colleague she identifies only as Mike.” Diaz told Boedeker,  ”He’s in sales. He’s in the other world, what we call the dark side.”

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Posted in Orlando TV, Uncategorized, WFTV-9, WKMG-6, WOFL-35

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New Guy at WESH, change in weather at WKMG

October 11th, 2009

ttt-notes2Back from a Fall break from blogging. Here’s what been going on …

New WESH 2 Sunrise anchor Jason Guy doesn’t officially start his new gig until Monday, but he’s been trying out the Channel 2 anchor desk. He co-anchored the Friday noon news with his Sunrise co-anchor Syan Rhodes, and he was spotted on the Saturday 11 p.m. news with Aixa Diaz. Guy, whose broadcasting career includes a stint as a contestant on CBS’ Big Brother, answered questions from Sentinel TV Guy Hal Boedeker. On how the Big Brother experienced shaped him, Guy said, “I had a rare experience in reality. I was genuinely who I am. And I went in there and I said, ‘Even if I don’t win, I want to keep my integrity.’ It helped me figure out where I was heading in life. I started working in reality-television production after the show. I got hired by an executive producer of Big Brother. I did well with that one and kept getting hired.” Read the Sentinel Q&A with Guy here. …

For anyone watching WKMG over the past couple of months, this probably comes as no surprise. The station has installed meteorologist Troy Bridges as the 11 p.m. weather guy, with chief meteorologist Tom Sorrells staying on the 6-7 p.m. news. For several months, Bridges and Sorrells have been sharing weather duties in the evenings — which at least to me has seemed awkward. I hope I’m wrong, but I’m not alone in thinking that Local 6 seems to be easing out Sorrells in favor of Bridges. It may be part of a cost-cutting move. As you recall WKMG laid off 20 people in May  and canceled its 4, 5 and 5:30 p.m. newscasts. …

One of those laid off in the Local 6 May purge was reporter Kimberly Houk. She’s back working again — now on weekend assignments for WESH 2. …

Gavin Maliska’s stint as news director at WOFL-Fox 35 didn’t even last a year. He was shown the door last month. and now GM Stan Knott has elevated Jeff Zeller to ND from assistant news director. For those keeping score, Zeller replaces Maliska, who replaced Bob Clinkingbeard, who replaced John Sears, who replaced Lena Sadiwskyj. In all, Zeller is Fox 35’s fifth news director in six years. Broadcasting and Cable says that before he joined WOFL 3-1/2 years ago, Zeller spent six years at WPXI in Pittsburgh – first as an executive producer and then as a managing editor/senior executive producer — and two years at WHIO in Dayton, Ohio.

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Posted in Anchors, Orlando TV, WESH-2, WKMG-6, WOFL-35

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