Friday, September 29, 2006
Fox 35 hires new A.M. anchor
 Heidi Hatch, an anchor from KTVX-ABC 4 in Salt Lake City, is joining Fox 35 as its new morning anchor. She essentially replaces Amy Kaufeldt, who left the morning anchor desk in early 2006 to help launch WOFL's 5 p.m. newscast, Fox at 5.
Hatc h, who was introduced to viewers on the Fox morning show earlier this week, starts Monday. Born in Logan, she is a Utah native and graduated from Southern Utah University. She spent three years anchoring in Missoula, Mont., before returning to Utah in 2001. While with KTVX, she covered the 2002 Winter Olympics as well as the Elizabeth Smart story.
Trei Johnson and Lauren LaPonzina have been filling in as morning anchor since Kaufeldt went to evenings. Johnson will continue to anchor the 5-6 a.m. edition of the morning news, with Hatch joining Tom Johnson for the 7-9 shift.
Wednesday, September 27, 2006
Cullen leaving sports desk at CFN 13
Denise Cullen, one of a handful of women sports directors in the nation, is leaving Central Florida News 13. Her last sportscast is tonight on the cable news station.
Monday, September 25, 2006
Musical anchor chairs at WKMG
 The mass anchor reassignments begin this morning at WKMG. You may need a scoreboard to keep up with the changes at Local 6.
Here are the new assignments with the shows' former anchors in parentheses.
Local 6 First News: Lauren Rowe and Jacquie Sosa (Marla Weech and Sosa)
Local 6 News at noon: Marla Weech and Jacquie Sosa (Sosa)
Local 6 First at 4: Marla Weech and Jacqueline London (Lauren Rowe)
Local 6 News at 5: Bob Frier and Jacqueline London (Frier and Lauren Rowe)
Local 6 News at 5:30: Marla Weech (Jacqueline London)
Local 6 News at 6: Bob Frier and Jacqueline London (Frier and Lauren Rowe)
Local 6 News at 11: Bob Frier and Jacqueline London (only newscast that remains the same)
Meanwhile, in other Local 6 News, it appears that Big Picture Weather Wednesday is no more. The weather show, which took up the half of the 11 p.m. newscasts on Wednesdays, did not run this past week. It may have just run its course.
Wednesday, September 20, 2006
Ribando leaves Fox 35 News at 10
 There's another anchor change taking place in O-Town. Fox 35 News at 10's Shelly Ribando anchored her final newscast for WOFL on Wednesday night.
We had heard from several people earlier this week that she was leaving WOFL but didn't get confirmation until Wednesday night -- minutes before Ribando herself announced she was leaving Fox 35.
Ten minutes into Wednesday night's show, she said, "Tonight is my last night here at Fox 35. And I just want to say thank you to everyone at Fox. Everyone on camera -- Cale and Glen included, actually -- and behind the scenes are just a wonderful group of people to work with. I appreciate all my time here. Central Florida is a wonderful place to call home. I've enjoyed meeting so many of you out in the community, and I wish you all the very best here at Fox 35."
Co-anchor Cale Ramaker added, "It goes without saying that we definitely would like you to stay, we wish you were staying, I know I speak for everyone behind the camera. And you've been a great co-anchor. I've had a lot, and you're the best. And I wish you'd stay, but I know you're going to do very well where ever you go."
We're told that Ribando and WOFL could not agree on a new contract.
Ribando started at WOFL in late 2003 and was on the anchor desk for some of the biggest local stories of the past couple of years, including our wicked hurricane season in 2004. She was originally paired with Brad Stephens, then Keith Landry and finally Ramaker.
We reported back in August that WOFL was advertising for a new anchor, and we've been told by Fox 35 insiders that at least one woman had a tryout for the job since then. No word on a replacement for Ribando yet, however.
New jobs for 3 O-Town TV folks
Who says you can't go home? Ryan Andrews, who at one time was an intern at WFTV, has been hired by Channel 9 as its new weekend anchor and reporter. Andrews is originally from Winter Park and attended both UCF and FSU. Since graduating, he has spent 13 years as an anchor and reporter, most recently anchoring the 5, 5:30 and 10 p.m. newscasts for WOIO, the CBS affiliate in Cleveland. "We are thrilled to add Ryan to our team. He brings a level of professionalism and experience that will be evident to Central Florida viewers the first time the watch him on air," Bob Jordan, WFTV news director, said in a press release. ...
John Graham, former feature reporter at Fox 35 (and WDRB-Fox 41 in Louisville before that) is joining Walt Disney World as a freelance publicist. Any of John's old friends who want to catch up can find him at thatguyontv@hotmail.com. John is also a contributor at OrlandoCityBeat.com and can be heard Saturday mornings on Smooth Jazz 103.1 WLOQ. ...
The Sentinel's TV Guy blog reports that WKMG is losing reporter Deborah Garcia. She's moving to CBS flagships WCBS-TV in New York. Her last day at Local 6 is Sept. 27.
Thursday, September 14, 2006
McEwen, WESH and other news
I've been busy lately, so you'll have to settle for a few quick hits:
Mark McEwen made an emotional return to CBS's morning show this week, talking about his on-going recovery from a stroke. He was greeted with a standing ovation by The Early Show's crew and anchor Harry Smith. McEwen has made tremendous progress in his recovery, but still has a ways to go. Click here to watch a clip of the inspirational appearance. ...
Our post last week about ratings for WESH's new 4 p.m. news drew a reaction from one WESH source. The insider sent along ratings showing that WESH's new news beat WKMG's 4 p.m. show last Thursday. WESH also had a strong showing for its morning news that day, too. ...
We reported earlier that WKMG was considering expansion of its 4 p.m. to an hour. Next week, when many new shows arrive on the local stations, the TV listings still have WKMG's First at 4 running just 30 minutes, followed by Inside Edition. ...
More and more people are watching the CBS Evening News with Katie Couric, but Local 6's anchors appear not to be among them. Sports anchor Lee Goldberg closed out his sports report on Wednesday with a story about a carp fishing tournament in Illinois where the fish literally jump into the boat. Goldberg, Bob Frier and Lauren Rowe all laughed about the story and wondered why the fish jump into the boat. Well, if they had been watching Couric's show the night before, it was the feature story at the end by reporter Steve Hartman. It might even have been the same video from Hartman's report. ...
The Sentinel reports that WFTV is losing veteran reporter Josh Wilson. While he has built a solid portfolio of work in O-Town, he'll perhaps always be remembered for his strange interviews with state Sen. Gary Siplin. "I love you Josh Wilson. I love you Josh," Siplin repeated again and again while Wilson tried to interview him. Wilson is going to work for FEMA. Also from the Sentinel, Ryan Adams will start Monday as an anchor and reporter at the station. ...
Reporter Beth Sherman, who left Fox 35 after 8 years a couple of months ago, is the new Public Information Office for Hillsborough County's government.
Monday, September 4, 2006
Competitors watching WESH's new news
 So, how's WESH's new 4 p.m. newscast doing? One competitor was eager to let us know that last Thursday the first half-hour the new WESH news finished in 24th place in Orlando. Yes, you read that right -- 24th place. That, of course, is taking into account local cable channel ratings, too. I watched WESH's 4 p.m. news on Monday and thought it was pretty good. Jim Payne and newcomer Martha Sugalski seem to be clicking, although they did seem to force some extra banter into the 'cast. I know it's a holiday weekend, but WESH also reported about a "new Al-Qaeda tape" -- but it was really the same one that other media outlets reported about Saturday. Not a good thing for a station that bills itself as where "The News Comes First." ...
Our condolences go out to WFTV News Director Bob Jordan, whose son Mike was killed in an automobile accident in Largo last week. Mike Jordan was 37. ...
WKMG has an ad on its Local6.com site promoting the arrival of Katie Couric as the new anchor of the CBS Evening News on Tuesday night. Jacqueline London recently interviewed Couric, and that interview will air soon. Meanwhile, Local 6 is happily awaiting Katie's arrival, the Orlando Sentinel reported. "I think Katie is going to complement my 6 o'clock news," WKMG GM Henry Maldonado said. "It will make the hour stronger." ...
Speaking of new, the newest TV network -- My Network TV -- launches tonight on WRBW-My 65. The Fox-owned station is going to give a double-dose of the Fox-owned network's new shows, airing them at 8 and 9 p.m., then repeating them at 10 and 11 p.m. ...
Meanwhile, WESH 2 owner Hearst-Argyle completed its acquisition of WKCF-WB 18 -- giving it an O-Town duopoly. The WKCF operations moved to WESH's studios near Lee Road -- leaving the former WB 18 studios in Lake Mary empty except for the folks with The Daily Buzz. Oh, and the Buzz's days on WKCF seem to be numbered. WESH GM Bill Bauman told the Orlando Sentinel he would like to see WESH news on Channel 18 in the future -- and he seems to be hinting that it would be in the morning. Speaking about WKCF's contract to air the Buzz until next year, Bauman said: "I think as that contract comes up, we'll take a look at it and make some decisions about what to do." ...
A big hand to the local stations for their coverage of Tropical Storm Ernesto. Instead of the "sky is falling" type of coverage stations are often faulted for, I saw a lot of weather folks letting viewers know Ernesto wasn't going to be as bad as a typical afternoon thunderstorm. ...
And finally a big hand to all of you. August was another record month for traffic here at RogerSimmons.com. We had more than 143,000 page views during the busy news month. Thanks for stopping by!
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