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Sep
27

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Antenna TV lands on WRDQ’s 27.2 subchannel

Category: Orlando TV Tags: , , , 2 Comments

Somehow I missed this when it happened, but WRDQ recently added Antenna TV on its digital 27.2 subchannel.

Much like Me TV on WESH’s Channel 2.2, Antenna TV features classic TV shows — but the fare is a little more recent than MeTV. We’re talking 70′s and 80′s shows on Antenna, like Three’s Company and Married With Children. Still, good stuff — and in my view an upgrade over the RTV fare that WRDQ was airing on previously on 27.2.

If you have Bright House cable, you can watch Antenna TV on channel 465. It’s on channel 210 on Comcast, too. And with good, old rabbit ears, it’s on 27.2, of course. Get the program schedule and learn more about Antenna TV here.

(Full disclosure: I work for Tribune Co., which is the parent of Antenna TV — but that has nothing to do with me liking the programming.)

In other news …

  • So much for Orlando TV News going crazy over murder trials. When the jury in the Bob Ward trial returned its guilty verdict on Saturday morning, it appears only WFTV and WOFL broke into programming to air it. The other stations ran the video on their websites. Seemed a bit anticlimactic considering the amount of air time they gave coverage of the trial.
  • WUCF TV finished its first PBS pledge drive, and pulled in $60,000, Orlando Sentinel TV Guy Hal Boedeker reports. Even though this drive is over, the station will always need funds. Between drives, or during a drive, you can make a donation here.
  • Speaking PBS, when is WMFE-TV supposed to switch to its new religious format? It’s still airing the V-Me programming.

Sep
25

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September ratings: Most Orlando news down year-over-year

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So much for keeping the audience that was glued to Orlando TV news stations during the Casey Anthony trial. In the just completed September ratings period, most of the O-Town stations saw year-over-year declines in household and demo numbers for nearly every newscast. One of the few bright spots was WOFL-Fox 35 — which increased its 5, 10 and 11 p.m. news audiences over the same period from 2010. Read the full ratings report from TV Guy Hal Boedeker. And read the 2010 September ratings here.

5 p.m. weeknights (households):

  • WFTV with 77,700 (86,800 in 2010)
  • WESH with 51,000 (66,700 in 2010)
  • WOFL with 31,000 (27,000 in 2010)
  • WKMG with 18,600 (no 5 p.m. news in 2010)

5 p.m. weekdays (25-54 demo):

  • WFTV with 19,400 (31,400 in 2010)
  • WESH with 18,800 (27,300 in 2010),
  • WOFL with 12,900 (11,900 in 2010),
  • WKMG with 7,000 (no 5 p.m news in 2010)

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Jun
2

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Casey Anthony trial live video captivating Orlando TV

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Casey Anthony coverage on all 4 major network affiliates in Central Florida.

Casey Anthony’s murder trial is easily the biggest television news event in Orlando’s history.

Each day, it seems, the local television stations keep turning their coverage up a notch. All aired the opening statements, then planned to settle into live streaming coverage that would appear mostly online. But that plan went out the window almost immediately when Casey’s father, George Anthony, was called as the state’s first witness. Just minutes after they had returned to regular programming, they were cutting in with George’s testimony. It was a sign of things to come.

WKMG-Local 6 began broadcasting the trial on its digital subchannel 6.2, but has been dropping its afternoon programming to air the trial on its main 6.1 channel.

WFTV-Channel 9 opted to start carrying coverage on its sister station, WRDQ-TV 27. But once Oprah Winfrey’s show ended, WFTV replaced it at 4 p.m. with live coverage of the trial to lead into its 5 p.m. newscast. Now, WFTV has moved all Casey coverage throughout the day over to Channel 9.1  – bumping ABC soaps for this real-life drama.

Today, WOFL-Fox 35 — which is also airing the trial on its main channel, aired a station promo touting that its “the No. 1 choice for Casey Anthony coverage” — based on Nielsen ratings. (Really, a promo for that? See for yourself below.)

But its not just Orlando stations that are obsessed with the trial. Tru TV and HLN have been adding live coverage, and HLN’s primetime shows with Dr. Drew and Joy Behar are dominated by Casey trial discussion.

If and when Casey Anthony takes the witness stand, I would not be at all surprised to see CNN, Fox News and MSNBC carry that live. The only question is when the jury finally delivers its verdict, will main networks ABC, CBS and NBC carry that live? I wouldn’t bet against it.

The other question I have is how much is this coverage costing Orlando’s stations’ pocketbooks? In addition to fees for parking their mobile “studios” across the street from the Orange County Courthouse and the Monday-Saturday staffing for trial sessions, they are losing commercial revenue during non-stop trial coverage. (I won’t even get into the online costs involved with  bandwidth fees for all the streaming video  folks are watching online.)

Will it all be worth it?

 

 

Jan
2

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TV changes in ’11: WKMG, Daily Buzz, Golf Channel

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Some big changes with Orlando-based television start on Monday — the first weekday of the new year.

Cellar-dweller WKMG launches its new 7 p.m. newscast with Lauren Rowe as primary anchor. The station has split its hour-long 6 p.m. news into two 30-minute segments with the CBS Evening News with Katie Couric sandwiched in between at 6:30 p.m. Local 6 has been heavily promoting the new 7 p.m. news — but will Orlando folks decide to tune into to it over Jeopardy or Entertainment Tonight?

The Orlando-based The Daily Buzz hits the big time on Monday, with its debut in a top 10 market. The nationally syndicated morning show, based at Full Sail Studios in Winter Park, begins airing on Boston’s WLVI-CW 56. It will be the 165th station to carry the show, but most of those stations are in small markets. How will it fare in the nation’s No. 7 market? Lots of folks will be keeping an eye on the progress. Meanwhile, I was pleasantly surprised to find that The Buzz still airs in Orlando on WRDQ-TV 27 from 6 to 7 a.m., then continues until 9 a.m. on the WRDQ-27.2 digital subchannel.

And not to be left out, Orlando-based Golf Channel gets into the morning show business with the launch of its new show, The Morning Drive. Veteran sports broadcasters Erik Kuselias and Gary Williams anchor the show, which will air from 7 to 9 a.m. each weekday from Orlando. Central Florida icon Arnold Palmer is penciled in to appear on Monday’s first telecast.

Sep
5

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You tell us: Eyewitness News or Local 6 at 6:30?

Category: Orlando TV, WFTV-9, WKMG-6, WRDQ-27 Tags: , , , , , , Leave a Comment

Labor Day will mark the launch of WFTV’s 6:30 p.m. newscast on sister station WRDQ-TV 27. The new Eyewitness News at 6:30, anchored by Vanessa Welch and Josh Benson, will go head-to-head against WKMG-Local 6′s The 6 o’clock News with Lauren Rowe and Mike Garofalo. So Central Florida … which local newscast at 6:30 p.m. do you think will have the most viewers at the end of the month?

Local 6 has been doing news at 6:30 for more than year. Eyewitness News is Central Florida’s top-rated news, but will viewers who watch at 5, 5:30 or 6 follow the Channel 9 gang over to WRDQ at 6:30?

Jun
17

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WFTV adding 6:30 p.m. news on WRDQ

Category: Orlando TV, WFTV-9, WRDQ-27 Tags: , , , Leave a Comment

WKMG’s THE 6 O’Clock News hour is about to get some competition.

WFTV announced today that it will expand its Eyewitness News by a half hour in September, adding a 6:30 p.m. show on sister station WRDQ-TV 27  – giving Central Floridians two choices for local news at a time that has traditionally been reserved for national news.

But don’t expect to see Bob Opsahl or Martie Salt working the extra half hour. Orlando Sentinel TV Guy Hal Boedeker reports that Vanessa Welch and Josh Benson will co-anchor the 6:30 show — which goes up against ABC’s World News on WFTV.

 “I don’t think you’re going to see a reduction in ABC ‘World News’ at all,” WFTV/WRDQ GM Shawn Bartelt told Boedeker. “You’ll see people who want local news at 6:30 coming to WRDQ.”

My 2 Cents: Benson was hired to be WFTV’s weekend anchor, but he’s moving the WRDQ 10 p.m. and 6:30 shows to replace Darrell Greene, who is leaving for Memphis. Sure looks like he’s being groomed as Opsahl’s eventual replacement. … Perhaps this new show is WFTV’s way of also gearing up to add news at 4 p.m. in the fall of 2011 once Oprah goes away. … Knowing the rivalry between WFTV and WESH, it wouldn’t surprise me if WESH had planned a 6:30 show on its sister station, WKCF-CW 18, and WFTV wanted to trump its foe by announcing now. Also wouldn’t surprise me if WESH now decides to to add a 6:30 show on CW18. … And, how embarassing would it be for WKMG’s low-rated 6 p.m. hour to get beat by WRDQ this fall!

Read more from the Orlando Sentinel here.

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