Tag Archives: WKMG-6

Recent RogerSimmons.com Orlando TV News reports involving WKMG-Channel 6, the CBS affiliate for Central Florida. The station calls its newscasts Local 6 News. Channel 6 was the first TV station in Orlando and has previously used the call letters WDBO-TV (Way Down By Orlando) and WCPX

Blast from the past: WDBO-6 ad from 1975

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Blast from the Past continues with a bit of history in this classic advertisment.

The date was June 14, 1973. You would think having an embattled President Richard Nixon in town give the commencement address at UCF (then known as Florida Technological University) would be the top story on Orlando TV, but it wasn’t.

Tragedy struck in Central Florida. Two workers were killed when a 1,500-foot transmission tower — the tallest structure in Florida at the time — came crashing down in Bithlo. The tower included transmitters for Channels 6, 9 and 24 plus radio stations WDBO-92.3 FM and WDIZ-100.3 FM. The accident would have a profound impact on Central Florida media.

WFTV was off the air for several weeks after the accident. WDBO-TV was able to use an old backup tower, but with a greatly reduced transmission. Neither station would return to full power until more than two years. In the meanwhile, WESH-2 — with its transmitter in Orange City — became the dominant (and only full-power) station.

Here’s the advertisement from Channel 6 in November 1975 announcing that it was back to full power on a new TV tower.

 

Oh, Oprah! WESH pulls ahead of WFTV at 5 p.m.

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The folks at WFTV are missing Oprah right now. In the just completed July ratings, WESH 2 News finished ahead of Channel 9′s Eyewitness News at 5 p.m. in the 25-54 demo.

For years, WFTV’s 5 o’clock news benefited from following the Oprah Winfrey Show. But Oprah’s show is over — and so is the Casey Anthony trial — creating a new early news race for viewers. According to the Orlando Sentinel,  WESH averaged 27,600 viewers at 5 p.m. to  WFTV’s 27,200 in the 25-54 demographic. WOFL’s Fox 35 News averaged 15,300 while WKMG’s Local 6 News had  8,200.

WESH also finished No. 1 in the demo at 11 p.m. Still, when using total viewers, WFTV won all newscasts.

But anytime WFTV doesn’t win a news time period, it is news.  And if you think not finishing No. 1 in the demo isn’t important to Channel 9, think again. Did you see the last-minute push WFTV rolled out — using a cash stunt to get viewers to watch the last 5 minutes of Oprah (which, leads into Eyewitness News)? If WESH remains strong at 5 p.m., look for more cash giveaways from Central Florida’s News Leader.

Read the full Orlando Sentinel story here.

Heidi Hatch, Todd Romero, Laura Diaz find new roles

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Former Fox 35 morning anchor Heidi Hatch (left) with new KUTV 4 p.m. co-anchors Jill Marggetts and Cristina Flores.

Yes, Virginia — there really is life after Orlando TV, and here are some examples to prove it.

Former Fox 35 morning anchor Heidi Hatch, who left the station in June, has landed at Salt Lake City’s  KUTV. She’ll be anchoring a new 4 p.m. newscast at the CBS affiliate  – with “Utah’s only all-female anchor team,” the station says. “KUTV is proud to welcome Heidi Hatch back to Utah to co-anchor the show. Heidi is a Utah native who is returning home from Orlando where she was a morning anchor for 5 years.”  Hatch is definitely missed by her former Good Day viewers, who keep posting comments about her departure.

Another former morning host has switched mediums. WKMG morning anchor Laura Diaz has officially joined the morning crew at WXXL-106.7 FM. She popped up on the radio show just after she left Channel 6. Now, she’s known on radio as Lady Laura.

Former WESH weekend anchor Craig Lucie has moved up to Cox flagship WSB-ABC 2, while WFTV reporter Mark Boyle has headed to Texas to Post-Newsweek’s KPRC-NBC 2 in Houston.

Meanwhile, former WKMG sports anchor Todd Romero (below) has also found employment out west. He’s been spotted doing sports report in Denver at the Tribune/Local TV LLC duopoly of  KWGN-CW 2 and KDVR-Fox 31.

Orlando TV news covers final space shuttle launch

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The final launch of the space shuttle on Friday capped what arguably has been one of the busiest news weeks ever for Orlando TV news. Like the shuttle program, the Casey Anthony story is starting to wind down. But if the launch of Atlantis was any indication, some of the local TV innovations from the Casey saga will stay with us for awhile.

WFTV-9 moved its mobile courthouse studio over to the Kennedy Space Center, where Bob Opsahl anchored the final shuttle launch. WKMG-6 can’t seem to break out of wall-to-wall coverage — pre-empting CBS’ Early Show and other daytime programming to provide non-stop shuttle launch coverage all Friday morning. In another holdover of the Casey Anthony trial, Local 6 displayed online blog comments during the shuttle launch — the same thing it did during the trial.

Here’s a quick look at how Orlando TV news covered the final space shuttle launch:

Channel 6 displays comments from its live blog during the shuttle Atlantis launch.

WFTV's mobile courthouse studio (left) becomes its space center studio for Atlantis.

Axia Diaz and veteran space reporter Dan Billow anchor coverage on WESH.

Fox 35 had anchor Cale Ramaker on site for the launch of Atlantis.

Final space shuttle launch specials begin lifting off tonight

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The “other” big event in Central Florida this week is the final launch of the space shuttle — Atlantis is scheduled to blast off on Friday.

The shuttle program has been a huge part of the area’s culture, economy and history over the past 30 years, so Orlando’s TV stations are rolling out specials to mark the end of the shuttle era.

WFTV-9: Eyewitness to History — tonight at 8 p.m.

WESH-2: The Shuttle Program: Launches, Lessons, Legacy — Thursday at 8 p.m.

WKMG-6: Final Flight — Thursday at 8:30 p.m.

All the local stations will be airing the final launch live. Here’s a blast from the past: the first shuttle launch, Columbia, on April 12, 1981: