Saturday, March 31, 2007
WESH flying high with its new Chopper 2
Look, up in the sky! It's a bird? It's a plane? No, it's .... the new, blue Chopper 2. WESH has a new eye in the sky, debuting its improved Chopper 2. Piloted by veteran helicopter reporter "Chopper Dan" McCarthy, the new Chopper 2 is quipped with four cameras and an automatic pilot feature. But perhaps the most important part of this model, known as the "Long Ranger," is its larger fuel tank. That will allow the chopper to stay in air for longer periods of time. "We are committed to covering big news stories in a big way. This new helicopter allows us to stay above the scene longer," WESH News Director Barbara Maushard said. "This gives WESH 2 News a huge advantage when covering brush fires and other big news events that are best covered from the air." Added McCarthy: "I'm thrilled to be piloting one of the best news helicopters in the country. The new Chopper 2 is the envy of everyone I've talked to!" When not covering breaking news, the new helicopter will be scanning the sky every morning during WESH 2 News Sunrise and WESH 2 News on CW 18. WESH was the first station in the Orlando-Daytona Beach market to bring viewers news from the air. The first Chopper 2 debuted in 1979. Labels: WESH 2 News
Friday, March 30, 2007
CO poisoning sends 6 photog to hospital
Scott Schroeder, a photographer for WKMG, suffered severe carbon monoxide poisoning inside a Local 6 live truck earlier this week while on assignment in Cocoa Beach. NewsBlues.com reports that Schroeder was found sitting upright in the front seat, passed out and foaming from the mouth. The truck's CO alarm was sounding. The reporter with the crew called 911, and when fire department investigators arrived they found carbon monoxide levels in the vehicle were "off the chart." Schroeder -- who fire officials said was lucky he didn't die or suffer brain damage -- was later released from the hospital and was resting at home.
For longtime market watchers, the incident was eerily similar to what happened in 1992 to  then-Channel 6 reporter Shepard Smith. Now a Fox News Channel anchor, Smith was rushed to the hospital after he was found passed out from carbon monoxide fumes inside a Channel 6 news van. Smith had been editing for about two minutes inside the aging van when he collapsed. Photographer Chris Kennedy got Smith out of the van and called for help.
Station management at the time cited the poor condition of the news vehicle, saying there were expecting a replacement soon and didn't want to bother fixing any problems with it. Labels: WKMG Local 6
Thursday, March 29, 2007
Changes keep coming at Local 6
 Lots of personnel moves happening at WKMG.
First, morning anchor Jacquie Sosa -- who was supposed to return from maternity leave on Monday -- was told her contract had not been renewed. She's not expected to appear on the air again at the station, according to an insider. Sosa's original co-anchor in the morning was Mark McEwen, who suffered a stroke in 2005. Main sports anchor Todd Lewis signed off for the last time during Tuesday's 6 p.m. show. His contract was not renewed either. Lewis had been with WKMG since 1997, first as weekend sports guy, then morning news guy and back to sports as the main weekday anchor. No word on his replacement -- if there will be one. WKMG has cut back on its sports coverage, canceling its longtime Sunday night highlight show. Holding down the sports fort is weekend sports anchor Lee Goldberg. When Ryan Baker left as WKMG in 2003, Goldberg worked an incredible 59 consecutive days covering all the sports shifts while before the station moved Lewis into the main sports seat. And an insider at WKMG says reporter Samantha Knapp has told staff that she's out of at the end of this month. She reportedly has been working month to month without a contract. Labels: WKMG Local 6
Wednesday, March 21, 2007
Overweight? WESH wants to see you
 In what sounds like a possible May sweeps series, WESH is seeking some overweight volunteers to be on TV. According to a number of Atkins-related Web sites, Channel 2 wants four volunteers to test out different diets so it can report the results.
One site, Living La Vida Lo-Carb, reports, "WESH-TV will be featuring four different people who will follow one of four major diets, including low-carb, throughout the month of April and May." Speculation is that four diets in the WESH report might be Atkins, Zone, LEARN, and Ornish diets -- which were all featured in a recent Journal of the American Medical Association study about diets. In that report, the Atkins diet produced the most weight loss. If you're interested in taking part in the WESH report, you can contact a rep at the firm working with Channel 2 on the case study. That would be Lisa Strickland Harris at 212-229-0500 or e-mail her at LHarris@crt-tanaka.com.
New anchor and future news anchor
Central Florida News 13 is getting a new morning anchor starting Monday. Lisa Bell will be the 5 to 10 a.m. anchor with meteorologist Jeff Day, Orlando Sentinel TV Guy Hal Boedeker reports. Bell comes to CFN13 from WEAR-ABC 3 in Pensacola. "Her talent and level of commitment make her the perfect person for this role at News 13," station GM Robin Smythe said of Bell.
Meanwhile, Katie Trexler is someone you may see on one of Orlando's stations soon. She's the morning and midday anchor at Denver's KMGH-ABC 7, but she's relocating to Orlando, according to the Rocky Mountain News. Trexler's husband recently received a sweet gig from an O-Town company, so the family is heading East. Trexler, the mother of twin 4-year-olds, says she plans to take some time off before deciding whether to get back into TV here.
Tuesday, March 20, 2007
Thief gets into WFTV, steals from employees
 Looks like WKMG's new "Catch A Criminal" feature could have a new subject -- the guy who robbed workers at WFTV this week.
According to Channel 9's Web site, the station's security cameras caught the thief trying to get into a locked employee entrance around 9:45 a.m. -- during regular business hours. "Then he walked around the building, past the live vans to the back, where he slipped in a side door. He walked inside and stole debit cards from five WFTV employees," the story said. Those employees later saw thousands of dollars worth of charges on their debit cards. Police think the man may be the same person who got into the Orlando Sentinel's building and stole from employees there. Police said almost every large office building in downtown Orlando has been targeted by thieves, who have gotten away with cash, credit cards and even computers -- all the time posing as workers or visitors in the buildings.
WESH extends Wendy Chioji's contract
 WESH has extended the contract of longtime anchor Wendy Chioji, according to NewsBlues.com . No word on contract details. Her solo-anchored WESH 2 News at 6 p.m. newscast was up 10 percent from a year ago in the February sweeps. Chioji has been with the station since 1988, as a reporter, weekend anchor and then lead anchor. To salute Wendy on her new deal, here's a clip of her closing out the weekend news back in 1990, plus a 2 News promo from 17 years ago.
>> Click here to watch WESH weekend news close.
Labels: WESH 2 News
Catching up: Lots of "new" news to report
Dang, a lot of stuff has been going on since I took my spring break ...
NEW BABY: Central Florida's largest team of broadcast meteorologists just got larger. WESH's Leslie Hudson gave birth to Avery Vy Russell last week. She was born at 7:26 a.m. on Wednesday and weighed in at 6 pounds, 12 ounces. You can find a couple of pics here. Congrats!
NEW TRAFFIC GUY: Ryan Harper of Metro Networks is the new morning traffic guy at WOFL-Fox 35. He replaces Ken Smith, who after nearly 3 years of flying in the chopper for WOFL, has flown west. Insiders say Smith landed a gig with top-rated KLAS in Las Vegas. He reportedly starts in April.
NEW ND: Sean McNamara has been hired as the new news director at Central Florida News 13, according to NewsBlues.com. McNamara comes from Syracuse, where he has been director of marketing for WSTM-NBC 3 and was previously the news director at News 10 Now in Syracuse. He starts March 28.
NEW SHOW: WESH is picking up Hearst-Argyle's new prime-time talk-show special, Conversations with Carlos Watson. The first of four quarterly specials will air tonight with Watson -- described as "an emerging television personality" -- interviewing Sen. Hillary Clinton, music entrepreneur Sean "Diddy" Combs, handicapped Olympic medalist and Rhodes scholar Bonnie St. John and NASCAR champion Jeff Gordon.
NEW HARDWARE: Congrats to WESH 2 reporter Greg Fox, who picked up a Cronkite Award from the University of Southern Cal's Annenberg School of Communication. Fox was honored for his coverage of the 2006 political campaigns. According to the Annenberg School, Fox was recognized for "excellent journalistic analysis and helping voters evaluate what candidates say." Judges praised Fox's "Truth Tests," including one that "went beyond sound bites to show the profound impact religion can have on a race."
We'll be right back after this short break
OK -- spring break is over. I took some time off from blogging and my "real" job to rest and take the family down to Key West. I grew up not far from the Keys and spent a lot of time there as a kid, but this was the first time in about 10 years we had been down there. And there have been some changes. The wildlife is still great. On Big Pine Key -- in a span of 5 minutes and less than 20 yards -- we saw a young alligator, a big male Key Deer and an iguana. Iguana!? Yes, seems they're starting to overrun the island and many other of the Keys. The former pets were set loose in the wild and are multiplying rapidly.
About the only animals increasing in greater number are chickens and roosters on the streets of Key West. The hotels around famous Mallory Square actually have workers assigned to chase the crowing roosters away from bleary-eyed guests not ready to face a sunrise after having too many pina coladas after sunset. But the pesky birds don't stay away for long.
Still, if you've never been to the Keys, I highly recommend it. And enjoy it while you can. The average home price in the Keys is nearing $1 million -- meaning many of those who work on the islands can't afford to live there. They take 5-hour bus rides from Miami to their service jobs. Some paradise.
Thursday, March 1, 2007
Former WESH ND lands in Little Rock
Ed Trauschke, whose four-year run as news director at WESH ended in August, has landed in Little Rock, Ark. The Arkansas TV News blog reports that Clear Channel's WLRT-Fox 16 has hired Trauschke as its new ND. He replaces Michael Fabrac, who left the station in Nielsen market No. 57 in August. Trauschke was a longtime reporter for O-Town's Channel 6 before becoming WESH's ND.
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