Wednesday, January 31, 2007
Fox 35 adding 11 p.m. newscast
Following the lead of other Fox O&O's, WOFL is adding an 11 p.m. newscast.
NewsBlues.com reports that the new show will start in April. The 11 p.m. slot was previously filled with the dreadful Geraldo At Large. Since that show was canceled, the even more dreadful Still Standing has been running in the 11 p.m. spot.
Fox 35 has done well with its hour-long 10 p.m. news, which it will continue to produce. But it will be interesting to see if the new show can make any headway against the established 11 p.m. newscasts on the other locals. WOFL's 10 p.m. news has benefited from having American Idol and 24 as lead-ins -- while the new 11 p.m. show will only have the 10 p.m. show as its lead-in.
No word yet on anchor or anchors for the 11 p.m. show, but I wouldn't be surprised to see newcomer Corrina Sullivan have a role. In a recent interview with Orlando Sentinel TV Guy Hal Boedeker, Sullivan talked about the lack of hard news on the station -- but in a nice, polite way, of course. "In St. Louis, we had an older demographic," Sullivan said. "There's a more vibrant, energetic team here. In St. Louis, you have a lot of hard news. It's very hard-hitting. Here we believe in empowering people with information that they can use. It's a little different here." Labels: WOFL Fox 35
Assessing WESH's changes
 This week began with the anchors and weather personnel at WESH taking on their new news assignments. So far: Wendy Chioji is walking a lot, Tony Mainolfi isn't sleeping a lot but the ratings look good.
The re-named, solo-anchored "WESH 2 News at 6 with Wendy Chioji" is definitely different from the other early-evening newscasts on the station -- and the ones on the other stations, too. ( Watch a clip of the first show here) The stories are a bit longer, and nightly interview segment with Chijoi is something that seems worthwhile. Chioji also is now standing while delivering the news, walking about the studio for the weather segment with Mainolfi and the sports segment with newcomer Guy Rawlings. If WESH was going for distinguishing this newscast from its others, it's succeeded. Mainolfi, though, is losing sleep over the changes. He's been reassigned from the morning newscasts to the 6 and 11 p.m. shows -- but his morning replacement hasn't arrived yet. So, when Mainolfi finishes the 11 p.m. show, he basically takes a nap at a nearby hotel then returns to the studio for the 5-7 a.m. morning news and then the 7-9 shift on CW 18 . Fortunately for Mainolfi, new morning weather guy Jason Brewer starts on Feb. 12. WESH insiders have been happy with the ratings for the revamped shows so far this week. The station says this is its long-term plan, so we'll see how things fare during the sweeps. And, speaking of WESH, former assistant ND Anzio Williams has been bumped up the Hearst-Argyle chain. After WESH, Williams became the news director at H-A's WDSU in New Orleans -- leading the station's Hurricane Katrina coverage there and later in Orlando when the station temporarily moved its ops here. Now, Williams is going to be the ND at KCRA-NBC 3 in Sacramento. Labels: WESH 2 News
Wednesday, January 24, 2007
WKCF doing well for the CW
 After picking up the pieces from the failed WB and UPN networks, the CW is still trying to find its identity -- and its viewers.
But Orlando's WKCF-CW 18 has emerged as one of the netlet's strongest affiliates. "The initial ratings were soft, we think, because of a lot of confusion surrounding the launch of The CW," station GM Bill Bauman told the Orlando Sentinel. "But we have seen growth every week." Bauman, who also manages WESH, praised the CW management team, too. "We've had many conversations with the people running The CW, and they appear to me to be the most affiliate-friendly network ever," he said.
Tuesday, January 23, 2007
6 fights subpoena, plus other stuff
 Attorneys for Local 6 filed a motion on Monday to quash a subpoena seeking the Doug Guetzloe files from Problem Solvers reporter Tony Pipitone. WKMG GM Henry Maldonado said the station is fighting the subpoena to "protect our right to investigate." More from the Orlando Sentinel ...
>> Southeast Polk County TV viewers will be keeping WFTV-Channel 9 and WKMG-Local 6 on their cable systems. Comcast Cable wanted to drop the two Orlando stations to free up space for new digital channels. According to the Lakeland Ledger, the company argued that 85 percent of the programming on the two Orlando stations is duplicated by the Tampa stations that are required to be on the Polk cable system. ... >> Orlando's WFTV tied for No. 8 nationally among ABC affiliates with the top prime-time ratings for 18-34-year-olds in the November sweeps. Channel 9 had a 5.7 ratings average, tying it with Cox sister station WSOC in Charlotte, N.C. Hearst-Argyle's WISN in Milwaukee, WMBC in Kansas City and WOCO in Oklahoma City tied for No. 1 with a 7.9 rating. Details here ... >> A tipster says Fox 35 freelancer Julie Kim has landed a full-time job at Fox's WTFX in Philadelphia. Labels: Guetzloe files
Monday, January 22, 2007
Will Pipitone turn over Guetzloe files?
Local 6 Problem Solvers reporter Tony Pipitone has until 11 a.m. today to turn over the personal files he has for political consultant Doug Guetzloe.
Orange-Osceola State Attorney Lawson Lamar's subpoena ordered Pipitone to turn over 80 boxes of Guetzloe's business and personal records. The files were given to Pipitone by a man who bought them from a storage unit, where Guetzloe allegedly didn't pay his rent for storing the items.
WKMG GM Henry Maldonado told the Orlando Sentinel late last week, the station had not decided what to do. "Right now it's in the hands of our lawyers," he said. Labels: Guetzloe files
Thursday, January 18, 2007
Going solo with Chioji -- Will it work?
 Is Wendy Chioji becoming the Katie Couric of Orlando?
She will be the first woman to solo anchor a 6 p.m. newscast in Orlando when WESH's anchor reassignments take effect Jan. 29. Channel 2 hopes to make "WESH 2 News at 6 with Wendy Chioji" a showcase for one of the area's veteran anchors. "She is our most trusted and recognized anchor: she can get interviews others can't," said WESH ND Barbara Maushard. "Wendy will put her years of reporting experience and community connections to work to present viewers with a one-of-a-kind newscast." Said Chioji: "This is an opportunity few journalists ever get. I look forward to bringing Central Florida viewers important stories they won't see anywhere else ... and do it in a unique and different way." The new format reminds us of an earlier era in television when anchors used to have their names as part of their newscast titles -- as Chioji will at WESH. (Anyone remember "The Ralph Rennick Report" on WTVJ or " Wayne Farris and the News" on WCKT in Miami?) So, WESH goes back to the past for its 6 p.m. news. Will the future bring more viewers to WESH, or will Chioji's new newscast end up in the same ranking as Couric's in the evening news ratings?
Changes also in weather at WESH
 Perhaps overlooked in the shakeup of WESH's anchors are the changes taking place in the WESH WeatherPlus storm center.
Morning vet Tony Mainolfi is getting the prime evening newscasts, with Amy Sweezey shifting to the noon and 4 p.m. shows. Since longtime chief meteorologist Dave Marsh left in 2006, no one on WESH's weather team was given his former title. Could this be a sign that Mainolfi will get Marsh's old title now that he has Marsh's old shows? And, the WESH has added a fifth meteorologist to its staff to replace Mainolfi in the morning.  The new met is Jason Brewer (right), who comes to WESH from Houston's KPRC-NBC 2. Brewer has been doing the weekend weather at the Houston station since May 2006. Previous to that he was the chief met at KOSA in Odessa, Texas, and also worked at WTVD-ABC 11 in Raleigh-Durham, N.C. "Weather is one of the biggest reasons why our viewers watch local news. Therefore, our commitment to weather coverage will continue to expand," said WESH ND Barbara Maushard. "By adding Jason to our team, we will be able to offer our viewers even more team coverage of Central Florida weather on-air, on-line and on our digital weather channel, WESH 2 Weather Plus."
Chioji confirms WESH anchor shakeup
WESH's Wendy Chioji confirms the station's reassignment of its anchors, including her role as solo anchor at 6 p.m. "I'm going to have a lot of creative control. I just love that," she told the Orlando Sentinel's Hal Boedeker about the 6 p.m. newscast. Chioji says she will have a say in the story lineup for the revamped 6 p.m. show, which will also offer longer stories and more issue reports.
Wednesday, January 17, 2007
WESH prepares to swap anchors
 Expect a complete makeover of Channel 2's anchor assignments shortly, according to a WESH insider. Included will be a solo anchor shift at 6 p.m. for Wendy Chioji, a return to the 11 p.m. show by Jim Payne and a more prominent evening role for morning weather guy Tony Mainolfi.
I haven't received confirmation yet, but here's what the insider says the new assignments are: - 4-5 p.m. -- Martha Sugalski and Chioji anchor
- 5-6 p.m. -- Payne and Sugalski anchor
- 6-6:30 p.m. -- Chioji anchors solo
- 11-11:35 p.m. -- Payne and Sugalski anchor
Payne and Sugalski have been anchoring the 4 p.m. show, Chioji and Raoul Martinez have been doing the the 5 p.m. with Payne and Chioji at 6 p.m. and Sugalski and Chioji at 11. The anchor reassignments are due in some part to the hasty assignment of Martinez to anchor WESH's new 7-9 a.m. newscast on CW18 with Eryka Washington. What Mainolfi's move to evenings mean for meteorologist Amy Sweezey remains to be seen. Labels: WESH 2 News
6's Pipitone gets Guetzloe's files
 Just when it seems the strange saga of political consultant Doug Guetzloe can't get any more bizarre, it does.
The Orlando Sentinel reports that WKMG-Local 6 investigative reporter Tony Pipitone has obtained boxes of Guetzloe's personal and business files, and Guetzloe isn't too happy about it. According to the Sentinel, "the records were being kept in a leased storage unit, and when Guetzloe apparently failed to pay his $55 monthly storage fee, the owner of the unit exercised his right to put the contents up for public auction late last year. A man paid $10 for the entire collection -- and once he realized what he had purchased, he contacted Pipitone." Guetzloe said he told Pipitone: "That's dirty, dirty stuff . . . I can't believe you involved yourself in something so underhanded and so sleazy." WKMG GM Henry Maldonado defended the station's ownership of the files. He also told the Sentinel, "We have been examining the documents -- including copies of checks, invoices, memos and other materials dating back decades -- to determine what they contain. We usually do not comment on developing stories." What he didn't say but probably wanted to: "Just wait until the February sweeps to see what we've uncovered!" Labels: Guetzloe files
Monday, January 15, 2007
Hispanic network to air on WKMG
 WKMG-Local 6 will soon be home to youth-oriented Hispanic programming on its digital subchannel.
Post-Newsweek, parent of WKMG, has signed a deal with LATV -- Latino Alternative -- to program the digital subchannels of P-N stations in Orlando, Miami, Houston and San Antonio, according to TVNewsday.com LATV's music-oriented programing targets 12-34-year-olds. The network was started four years ago by Walter Ulloa, CEO of Entravision, which owns Orlando TV station WVEN-Univision 26 and programs WOTF-Telefutura 43. WKMG currently airs an automated Web-like page of news, weather and traffic on its digital 6.2 subchannel. Orlando is the 19th largest media market in the nation, but ranked No. 17 among Hispanic TV markets.
Ex-anchor Wilson teaching others
 Annetta Wilson, former anchor at Channel 6 and marketing director at CFN 13, checks in to report that life off-air is great. Well, actually, she's still involved in television.
Wilson left CFN 13 a year ago -- on positive terms -- to start her own company. With Annetta Wilson Media Training and Success Coaching, the former anchor said she is "taking 30-plus years of industry experience and teaching people how to access the media and keep their feet out of their mouths!"
Sunday, January 14, 2007
New WESH and WFTV a.m. promos
Here are WFTV's and WESH's promos for their new morning newscasts on their sister stations. >> Click to watch
Morning news battle heats up today
 Good morning, Orlando. You may not realize it, but you're waking up in what has become the most competitive market for morning news in the nation -- with more local news, with more national news and with plenty of surprises.
Monday morning, WESH-Channel 2 and WFTV-Channel 9 will start their early newscasts at 5 a.m. and then keep on broadcasting once their respective network morning shows go on the air at 7 o'clock. Instead of watching NBC's Today, you can view WESH 2 News on CW 18 from 7-9 a.m. by switching over to WKCF-Channel 18. Instead of watching Good Morning America, you can tune to Eyewitness News This Morning from 7-8:30 a.m. by going to WRDQ-Channel 27.
WESH's and WFTV's news expansion to their sister duopoly stations sets up a local 7-9 a.m. showdown for the first time. WOFL-Fox 35 has had the 7-9 a.m. local broadcast news franchise to itself for six years since it launched its morning news in 2000. (Oh, and we can't overlook cable's Central Florida News 13, whose all-local newscasts do well in the mornings, too.)
WFTV was the first to announce its plans to expand its Eyewitness News franchise in the morning to sister station WRDQ. The details were revealed in early December, but the station has been planning the new morning news since July.
It was a bit of a no-brainer for WFTV to try to extend its ratings domination. Its Eyewitness News Daybreak from 5-7 a.m. finished the November sweeps as the top-rated morning newscast in Central Florida, drawing more households than WESH, WKMG and WOFL combined. It also was the top-rated morning newscast in the nation among ABC affiliates.
Still, when WESH parent Hearst-Argyle acquired WKCF-CW18 in September, GM Bill Bauman said he wanted to expand WESH's morning news to the station -- but didn't give a time frame. It was a bit problematic because the nationally syndicated Daily Buzz show -- produced from the old CW 18 studios -- had the 6-9 a.m. slot locked up on WKCF.
But in stunning surprise and a bit of one-upmanship, WESH debuted a two-hour local newscast from 7-9 a.m. on WKCF this past Friday morning -- beating WFTV to the morning time period by three days.
"We have been planning the addition of this morning newscast since the purchase of WKCF in September of last year," said Bauman in a news release. "As one of the top CW affiliates in the country, the CW18 platform offers us a remarkable opportunity to extend the WESH 2 News brand to an entirely new audience. In addition, localism and commitment to the community are significant parts of our vision for CW18."
"Mornings are the fastest area of growth for stations around the country," said Barbara Maushard, WESH 2 news director, "and people constantly tell us they want more local news beyond 7 a.m. We're excited to provide Central Florida viewers with even more local news, weather and traffic as they prepare to start their day."
To make way for WESH's news, The Daily Buzz has been bumped to 9 a.m. -- meaning CW18 will offer local and national news from 7 a.m. to noon each day.
Back over at WFTV, its 90-minute Eyewitness News This Morning begins on WRDQ-Channel 27 with a twist. WRDQ becomes only the second station in the state to broadcast news in high definition -- a no-so-coincidental distinction since WFTV was the first in the state to air news in HD.
"Our market research shows us that there is a strong appetite for local news in the morning after the network affiliates start to air the network morning news products," WFTV GM Shawn Bartelt said in a press release. "We are committed to local news and the timing is right for us to expand our morning news. We are excited to start this new venture on TV 27 and at the same time, launch high definition local news on WRDQ."
Some other changes at Channel 27. The WFTV-produced Action News at 10 p.m. will be rebranded Eyewitness News at 10, keeping the same naming convention as the Eyewitness News This Morning show on WRDQ.
And WRDQ will, for the first time, air national news. Channel 27 will pick up ABC's America This Morning, from 6-7 a.m. each weekday.
"We have one of the most recognizable and dominant news brands in the country," said WFTV news director Bob Jordan. "Now we will produce six and a half hours of local news each weekday. Whether our viewers get their morning news at 5 a.m. or 7 a.m. or their evening news at 10 or 11, they'll get the same consistent high definition Eyewitness News product on both stations."
Meanwhile, both WESH and WFTV face some huge technical hurdles in the news expansions. Both are still expected to do local news cut-ins to their respective national morning shows at the same time they are airing local news on their sister stations. It sounds like a logistical nightmare on a good day -- just imagine how that might have to work on a day when there's breaking news?
And ... are you ready? ... the news expansion isn't over. WOFL will soon start airing Fox's new national morning show at 9 a.m., and NBC will announce this week plans to expand the Today show to four hours.
Of course, all of this begs an obvious question: Is there really a need for all these newscasts?
Labels: Orlando morning newscasts
New news moves Buzz to later air time
 WESH's decision to air local news on WKCF-CW18 from 7 to 9 a.m. each weekday has displaced The Daily Buzz.
The nationally syndicated morning show will now air on tape from 9 a.m. to noon on WKCF. The show had been airing live from 6-9 a.m. on WKCF since it moved operations to Channel 18's studios in Lake Mary in 2004. Once WESH acquired WKCF last year, it immediately indicated its wanted to air local news in the Buzz's time slot. The big question is whether the Buzz will remain at 9-noon on WKCF or be dropped from the station all together soon. Labels: Orlando morning newscasts
Where the news comes most
With the expansion of morning newscasts to their sister duopoly stations, WESH and WFTV have solidified their status as the providers of the most live local newscasts in Central Florida.
WESH 2 now produces 7-1/2 hours of local news each weekday, taking the top spot among the area stations.
WFTV is second with 6-1/2 hours of news while WOFL -- which had the local morning news field to itself until Friday -- is a close third with six hours of local news each weekday.
WKMG -- the area's only network station without a duopoly partner -- brings up with rear with 5 hours of news a day.
Note: Central Florida News 13 broadcasts news 24 hours a day, but not all of its newscasts are live. Labels: Orlando morning newscasts
Wednesday, January 3, 2007
Fox 35 has a bone to pick with you
It's been awhile since the market had some true characters on-air. That's apparently about to change. NewsBlues.com reports that WOFL-Fox 35 is hiring former Cincinnati consumer/investigative reporter Tom Sussi. His calling card is a big bone ... seriously. But, hey, he has his own Web site, so we like that. He'll be coming to O-Town from Hearst-Argyle's WLWT. Here's his bio from Cincy. ...
Deanne Shulz, who handles affiliate and media relations for The Daily Buzz, is moving down the road. On Jan. 8, Shulz becomes Manager of Public Relations in the TV Division of NBC/Universal Orlando, working with the new iVillage Live! Shulz has been with the Buzz the past two years. ...
Speaking of iVillage Live!, the Orlando Sentinel says NBC/U folks are happy with the Islands of Adventure-based show. "Live entertainment at a theme park is such a strategic fit," said Universal VP for TV Development Cindy Gordon. "What's so great about iVillage Live is it's easy to keep fresh, because the content is changing every day. It's never the same show twice." Some local folks apparently like the show so much, they keep coming back and back and back.
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