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Posts Tagged ‘WKMG-6’

Hurricane Charley anniversary telethon Thursday

August 12th, 2009

Courtesy Orlando Weekly

WKMG broadcast fascinating recollections of Hurricane Charley — and the other storms of 2004 — on Wednesday night. Reporter Donald Forbes had a particulary moving tale of riding out the storm in Port Charlotte crouched next to a wall, finally reaching the safety of the station’s satellite truck only after the storm’s eye arrived with an eerie orange glow.

A reminder that on Thursday — the fifth anniversary of Charley — WKMG-Local 6, WOFL-Fox 35 and Central Florida News 13 are teaming up for a daylong telethon to benefit the Red Cross. The stations will be providing coverage of the telethon, which runs from 5 a.m. to 7 p.m. To donate, you can call 1-888-288-9279.

Finally, I couldn’t let the Charley anniversary pass without another look at one of my favorite Orlando Weekly cartoons from 2004. Tom Terry and Tom Sorrells became the most popular people in Central Florida for their endless hours of on-air work during Charley, Frances and Jeanne — but, no offense guys, we don’t ever want to see that much of you two again!

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Posted in CF News 13, WKMG-6, WOFL-35

Tags: News 13 Tom Sorrells Tom Terry Weather WKMG-6 WOFL-35

King of Orlando TV? Tom Sorrells, of course

August 12th, 2009

smackdown-tomsorrells The Orlando Sentinel’s fun summer online contest, the Orlando Celebrity Smackdown, has its championship match up.

The winner among all the local television personalities is WKMG chief meteorologist Tom Sorrells. He reached the finals by knocking out fellow Channel 6 weatherman Eric Wilson in opening round, then dispatching Fox 35 morning meteorologist Jim Van Fleet in the second round, upsetting WFTV chief met Tom Terry in the third round, then rallying late to defeat WESH-2 anchors Jim Payne and Martha Sugalski in the semifinals.

Facing Sorrells from the radio side of the contest bracket are Doc and Grace, morning DJs on K92FM. They made it to the finals by upsetting the Monsters of the Morning from Real Radio 104.1.

On Wednesday night, Doc and Grace were leading Sorrells. Voting concludes this week. You can make choice for ruler of O-Town airwaves by clicking here. The winner will be announced on Wednesday, Aug. 19.

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Posted in Orlando Radio, Orlando TV, WKMG-6

Tags: Jim Payne Martha Sugalski Tom Sorrells WESH-2 WKMG-6

Hurricane Charley: Orlando stations remember anniversary with special, Red Cross telethon

August 10th, 2009

hurricanecharley Thursday will mark the fifth anniversary of Hurricane Charley’s surprising and destructive visit to Orlando.

Orlando’s TV stations performed a great public service on Aug. 13, 2004 — dismissing the official National Hurricane Center track for the storm and correctly predicting the hurricane was headed to Orlando, not to Tampa. The stations gave residents extra time to prepare for the storm — but no one could have known it would be a hurricane drill that would have to be repeated two more times during our relentless summer of storms.

Area stations are marking the anniversary in different ways. WKMG-Local 6 — which lost power during Hurricane Charley and remained on the air only by using a generator from one of its live trucks — will air a one-hour special Wednesday that recalls not only Charley but the other storms of 2004. “Charley, Frances & Jeanne: Five Years Later” will air at 8 p.m. Wednesday.

WKMG is joining WOFL-Fox 35 and Central Florida News 13 in hosting a daylong telethon, beginning at 5 a.m. Thursday. Money collected will go to the American Red Cross — which provided relief to Central Floridians during Charley, Frances and Jeanne. Read more about the telethon here.