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O-Town sports radio talker Dan Sileo is expanding into television. He reports that he's going to Tampa to join the 11 p.m. NewsEdge newscast at Fox O&O WTVT-Channel 13. Sileo's morning show on WQTM-740 AM also airs in Tampa, and it's is adding Jacksonville to its simulcast network on Tuesday.
Meanwhile, I forgot to note last week the sad state of sports in O-Town. When your Orlando Magic traveled to Detroit to play the Pistons in their playoff series, the only local video crews covering the team in Motown were from WFTV-Channel 9 and OrlandoSentinel.com. WESH, WKMG and WOFL all stayed home. Wow, how things have changed from the old Shaq days, huh?
Finally, Sunday's NHL double-overtime playoff game on NBC meant the scheduled special on Kentucky Derby winner Barbaro got iced. WESH reports that "Barbaro: A Nation's Horse" will now air on CNBC on Friday at 9 p.m. and midnight.
Sentinel TV critic Hal Boedeker slams WKMG-Local 6 for its sweeps kickoff: a staged home burglary on Thursday's 11 p.m. news. Boedeker wrote in his blog, "This tired stunt was a shameless bid to inject drama into the newscast" and "I'm expecting better from WKMG. Viewers are, too, after the Guetzloe Files." Read the full post here. ...
WKMG was the only one of the local stations to have its main weeknight anchor team working the 11 p.m. shift Sunday night. ...
According to the electronic program guide on my TV, WOFL-Fox 35 ditched the second half-hour of its Friday 10 p.m. news to air a "Does it Work?" special. Stations do this so they can drop low-rated quarter or half hours from their sweeps ratings average. I would have thought WOFL's news numbers would be sky high thanks to American Idol. Not sure why the station needs to "code out" part of their newscasts now. ...
WFTV's sweeps offering Monday night is anchor/reporter Chris Egert's look at dirty supermarkets. ...
While WOFL and WKMG debuted new sets, graphics and music to start sweeps, WESH got into the makeover act and redid its anchor intros. Click the links to view video and frame grabs showing the changes at WKMG , and the changes at WOFL, and the new anchor intro at WESH.
> If case you've been living under a rock, WKMG is having tryouts for its new traffic reporter. Hal Boedeker of the Sentinel blogs about the finalists.
> Hey, forget traffic reporting -- maybe you should be a network correspondent? The South Florida chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists is presenting a seminar on Saturday in Miami called, "How to Break into Network News ... and Stay There." Susan Candiotti of CNN and Mark Potter of NBC will be on hand to provide the skinny. Click here for information.
> So, we've reached another sweeps and still WFTV (and little sister WRDQ) are the only O-Town stations broadcasting the news in HD? What Central Florida station will be next? WESH's sister, KCRA-NBC 3 in Sacramento, started HD news recently -- using the same exact set WESH has now. WFTV seems to be setting the standard for the Cox chain, as its little sister in Charlotte, WSOC-ABC 9, started its HD broadcasts last week. The new sets at WKMG and WOFL look like they're HD ready. OK, after saying all that, I'm putting my money on WESH for the fall.
> Stan Knott, the GM at Fox's O-Town dupoly of WOFL-Fox 35 and WRWB-My65, likes having the Magic on his station, says the Orlando Sentinel's Jerry Greene. Of course, like just about everything in primetime on My65, the Magic are getting canceled, too.
> Do you like Family Guy? If so, you'll be excited that you'll be seeing more of it on WOFL-Fox 35. The station has signed on to carry re-runs of the cartoon comedy starting in the fall.
WKMG unveiled its new set -- as well as new graphics, news music and a new weather center on Tuesday. The Local 6 Big Picture Weather Center is out -- in is the Storm Tracking Center. But a couple of people have noticed this new WKMG weather center looks a lot like another one here in town. Hmmmm. Still, nice upgrades all around by WKMG.
Moving day is near for the folks at The Daily Buzz.
The Orlando-based national morning show will be vacating its home in the former WKCF-CW18 studios on Friday. The show has been headquartered in the building since moving to Central Florida in 2004. But WESH bought WKCF last year and moved its operations to Channel 2's Winter Park studios. Then, the WKCF building was sold to religious station WTGL-Channel 52.
So, where's the Buzz going? To Disney World, of course! The show will broadcast from the Disney-MGM studios for two months while new studios are built for it at Orland0's Full Sail school of film, art and media production.
"We're going to have a lot of room at Full Sail, and everyone involved is pretty excited about it," a Buzz insider said.
Here's an update on two of WESH's May sweeps projects:
Starting Thursday, meteorologist Tony Mainolfi will forecast the weather from a different location along the Brevard, Volusia and Flagler county coasts during a 20-day, 20-location event. In his live broadcasts in WESH's 4-6:30 p.m. newscasts, Mainolfi will feature stories on the people and places he visits in addition to providing the daily forecasts.
"It's important for us to get out of the studio and explore how our communities are impacted by weather, as we prepare for the upcoming hurricane season," WESH News Director Barbara Maushard said.
Starting Monday, a monthlong weight-loss series is the feature its WESH's Sunrise and CW18 morning shows. Dieters will be split into two teams and will follow either South Beach or Atkins weight-loss programs. Participants will be monitored by WESH 2 News medical reporter Dr. Todd Husty, who will also provide helpful and healthful information.
Viewers can follow each dieter's progress throughout May. The dieters will share their stories, their frustrations and their secrets to success. Viewers will also learn how men and women respond differently to South Beach and Atkins diets.
According to Maushard, "these are real people with real stories. Viewers will be able to relate to these folks, cheer them on, and hopefully learn something about how to best lose weight."
First, an Orlando news crew was roughed up on the ground. Now, our O-Town TV guys are being attacked from the air.
WOFL has suspended its regular outdoor weather segments in the garden area behind its studio because of a mother hawk. She's taken up residence in a tree above Fox 35's Lake Mary studios.
"We have a little situation going on," anchor Tom Johnson explained on air this week. "There is a mama hawk high up in one of the pine trees. And we think she has some eggs she's waiting on or some little ones in that nest right there. So anytime anybody goes out behind out station, mama hawk gets a little upset and attacks."
WOFL already has its live newsroom Web cam and its live studio Web cam, so why not make the most of this situation and add a live Hawk Cam?
In other news ...
New WKMG anchor Erick Weber made his debut Tuesday on Local 6's First News. He'll be doing the morning and noon show with Lauren Rowe ...
WOFL's new logo, graphics and music debuted Monday. All the changes were positive ones, and I'll post some frame grabs later. Still waiting for the new WKMG set, which was supposed to debut Monday. ...
Sweeps start Thursday. WESH's plans include having meteorologist Tony Mainolfi at the beach and a weight loss segment on 2 News Sunrise
WOFL and WKMG are expected to debut new sets and graphics today.
At WOFL, over the the weekend the station's news set was tweaked for the new look -- which an insider says includes new graphics and music. One thing it definitely includes is a new station logo. Actually, it's the Fox-mandated corporate logo design (shown above) that has been used on WOFL's MyFoxOrlando.com since it launched but has yet to be used on air ... until now.
Over at WKMG, the station is taking the wrapping off its new set today, according to the Sentinel's TV Guy. The current incarnation of the WKMG set -- with its big video screen backdrop -- debuted in 2004 during the station's coverage of Hurricane Jeanne.
Here's your Monday memo -- some quick hits to start the week ...
> WKMG's traffic reporter tryout stunt is today from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the Local 6 studios on John Young Parkway. During First News, WKMG reported that one woman was already in line by 4 a.m. (Why?) In addition to not needing any experience, from the guidelines posted on the Loca6.com, it sounds like WKMG is really just looking for a prop comic. For example, from the station's FAQs: "What should I wear? Whatever you feel projects your personality. Can I bring props? Yes! Anything that help us understand who you are trying to sell." Maybe WKMG is secretly hoping to hire Gallagher to do traffic in the mornings?
> Former WFTV weather producer and now WPBF-ABC 25 meteorologist Eric Burriswas filling in with the weather on WESH Weather Plus over the weekend. Both WESH and WPBF are owned by Hearst-Argyle. Folks who saw him and e-mailed me gave the Orlando native a big thumbs-up.
> We told you last week about how a WFTV crew was pushed around by an angry businessman in Ocala, and how WFTV planned to file an incident report with the Marion County Sheriff's Office. The station apparently did, according to the Ocala Star-Banner.
> An interesting and admirable experiment in TV news is taking place down in Southwest Florida. WFTX-Fox 4 in Fort Myers is creating a "Viewer Bill of Rights" for its news coverage. Among the items in the "Bill of Rights," is the Right to Responsible Newscasts and Promotions: "Fox 4 will keep it real. While our presentation style will be conversational, we will avoid sensationalism. We will deliver the content that we promise. We will explain our values, but will not indulge in empty bragging." I assume that also includes not indulging in a no-experience-needed traffic reporter tryout during sweeps?
A WESH 2 News report about how prison inmates file false tax returns for employment while serving long prison sentences has led to the creation of a bill in Congress to stop the practice.
For years, law enforcement officials and the IRS were aware of the fraudulent practice yet did nothing to stop it because the perpetrators were already serving prison sentences that usually paled in comparison to tax fraud conviction. A U.S. Treasury Department audit discovered the scam, exposed by the WESH reporter Stephen Stock, costs American taxpayers more than $68 million in 2004 alone.
A WESH press release said a bill aimed at preventing the practice overwhelmingly passed the U.S. House of Representatives this week on its way to becoming a law. According to Rep. Rick Keller, "the WESH investigation resulted in us successfully getting a congressional hearing and now passage of legislation which cracks down on the prisoner tax fraud problem -- which could end up ultimately saving taxpayers $800 million a year." The bill must still pass the U.S. Senate before becoming law.
Stock's "Doing Time, Stealing Your Money" report that brought attention to the problem was awarded a prestigious first place Green Eyeshade Award for TV Investigative Reporting from the Society of Professional Journalists in 2005. The report was also a 2005 IRE Awards finalist.
WFTV Eyewitness News reporter Tim Wetzel and his cameraman got roughed up a little during a confrontation with a Marion County businessman on Thursday.
The news crew was at Hercules Fence to do a story about what the company had on its sign outside. Every week, the fencing firm apparently puts what it thinks is a funny saying on its sign. This week's "joke" offended a lot of folks: "What has 4 wheels and flies? A dead cripple in a wheelchair."
Marion residents contacted Channel 9 to say they were upset about the joke on the sign, and they said that despite their complaints, the company wasn't doing anything about it. When the Channel 9 crew arrived at the company to ask about the sign, a man there pushed Wetzel and his cameraman out the door. Click here to watch video of the confrontation.
WFTV says it filed an incident report with the Marion County Sheriff's Office over the confrontation.
Former Fox 35 reporter Beth Sherman checks in with news about her new job.
"I'll be leaving my Pinellas County PIO job for a civilian job with the Department of Defense this Friday," she wrote in an e-mail. "I will be moving to Arlington, Va., and will be doing public affairs for the DOD. With my four years prior Air Force Armed Forces Radio and TV experience, it's a natural fit for me and I am looking forward to the change."
Sherman started with WOFL in January 1998 before leaving last year. In addition to serving as a PIO, she's also been freelancing on the side for her own company, eleven-11 consulting.
The 5 a.m. hour of Tuesday's Local 6 First News could have been renamed "The Marla Weech Show."
The station's traffic reporter position is vacant, co-anchor Lauren Rowe was out because she was ill, so it was supposed to be just Weech and meteorologist Larry Mowry on the show. But Florida Today reports that just about 15 minutes before going on the air, Mowry received a call that his pregnant wife was about to give birth. Station management gave him to OK to rush to the hospital, so Weech handled the news, traffic and weather on the show until fill-in weatherman Jerry Steffen was able to arrive about 30 minutes after being called for emergency duty.
But who had the tougher day, Weech or Mowry's wife? Rowe said this morning that Mowry's wife gave birth around 7:30 p.m.! But Mom, dad and their new daughter are doing fine, Rowe reported.
Steve Rondinaro, who spent 10 years on the anchor desk in O-Town, is back reporting the news. He's the new lead anchor and managing editor for WWAY-ABC 3 in Wilmington, N.C.
Rondinaro was the main anchor at WESH from 1986 to 1995, when he stunned co-workers with a decision to leave Central Florida and move to the quiet mountains of North Carolina. He and his wife bought a bed and breakfast, but also he kept his hand in broadcasting by acquiring a tiny radio station. That led to the creation of Rondinaro Broadcasting, which would later add an FM station and another AM station.
Rondinaro returned to Orlando in 1999 -- this time at WFTV -- to anchor for a year before again returning to the mountains. He eventually sold off his radio stations and bought a local TV station, WLNN (known as Mountain Television).
Orlando's Sun Sports and Fox Sports Net Florida GM Cathy Weeden did something crazy Monday.
In near 40-degree weather, with it raining and the wind blowing so hard it was difficult to even stand up, she went running -- for 26 miles and 385 yards. Weeden competed in the Boston Marathon. She completed the course in 4 hours, 20 minutes.
"Bland newscasts [that] lack a distinctive style."
That's how Orlando Sentinel TV Critic Hal Boedeker characterizes WESH 2 News. It was part of a Sunday feature on the state of the city's newscasts. He says top-rated WFTV "delivers fast-paced Eyewitness News with businesslike determination," and WKMG "has hit on a formula of offering reports that make viewers switch away from WFTV or stay up at 11."
> Traffic reporter needed, no experience necessary. That's the help-wanted ad WKMG is placing -- seeking you, me or anyone else who wants to try traffic reporting to replace Secily Wilson on Local 6 First News. "We'll know what we're looking for when we see it," WKMG ND Susan Forbes told the Sentinel. "They'll be given a script. Each person gets about a minute. We'll narrow it down and see what we find." A la American Idol, viewers will be invited to vote on the on-air performances, although the vote is meaningless for the most part. The auditions will be April 23 from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. at WKMG's studios at 4466 John Young Parkway. But really -- don't get me started on what it says about your news department when its reduced to pulling a stunt like.
> Some real O-Town broadcast journalists WITH experience have been recognized in the 2007 Society of Professional Journalists' Sunshine State Awards. Finalists for this year's contest were revealed over the weekend. Winners will be announced May 19. Among the local finalists:
Deadline Reporting: Erik von Ancken and Alfred Mason, WKMG, "Firestorm Closes In"
Sports Feature/Commentary: Scott A. Fais and Neil Petagno, Central Florida News 13, "Grand Slam Colin"
Criminal Justice Reporting: Tony Pipitone, Darran Caudle, Tim Arnheim and Brent Singleton, WKMG, "Cheerleaders Betrayed"
Political/Government Reporting: Tony Pipitone, Darran Caudle, Scott Noland and Tim Arnhein, WKMG, "Toll Agency Troubles"
While cruising the Internet on Sunday night looking for items for this week, I came across a slideshow on Local6.com about the "world's largest Great Dane." While viewing the photos, I noticed the "sponsored links" on the right side of the screen.
Under the label "Ads by Google," the advertisement reads: "Nappy Ho for President. This Ho needs money for 08. Contribute to Bills [sic] ho today!" Then there's a link to hillaryclinton.com -- which did indeed go to the candidate's Web site.
Now, I don't blame WKMG for this bit of tastelessness or even Internet Broadcasting, which produces the Local6.com site for the Orlando station. The blame likely falls on the folks at Google, who apparently allowed this to go through on their ad network.
But it does highlight a problem with many Web sites, which essential turn over their national advertising slots to groups like Google -- who then program ads for specific topics or locations without the Web site's control.
It's just that since we all know the origin of the "nappy ho" comment, it seems an even more egregious mistake for allowing this to show up on a broadcaster's Web site.
WKMG traffic reporter Secily Wilson signed off Friday morning, acknowledging her three years at the station and also former co-worker Jacquie Sosa, who was also recently dropped from the morning show while on maternity leave.
"Today is my last day after being here on the air with everyone here at the Local 6 family. I'm saying goodbye," Wilson said. "I just want to say to those of you who have embraced me over the three years and who have seen me out in the community and just told me what a wonderful job I'm doing, thank you. And for those of you who didn't embrace me, thank you as well. We always need that in our lives, and I appreciate it. Now, I'm going to spend more time with my girls and go shopping with Jacquie Sosa."
> WKMG Problem Solver Mike Holfeld appears on the Dr. Phil show tonight on Local 6 to talk about the case of former Lockheed engineer Allison Quets, who kidnapped her birth twins from their adoptive parents. Not familar with the story? Click here for what Holfeld reported back in February.
> The Don Imus saga had a profound effect on Orlando broadcasting. The Sentinel's Scott Maxwell reports that a on-air discussion of the New York curmudgeon's racist comments led to one local radio personality storming out of the studio, quickly followed by another -- which left the station scrambling to fill the dead air with a "best of show." Who's involved? Read all about it here.
> Local stations are required by the FCC to file annual reports on how well they do hiring minorities. These Equal Employment Opportunity reports have been posted on the area stations' Web sites. Are they doing enough to try to hire minorities? Read the reports for yourself here on WESH/WKCF and WKMG (2007 reports), and WFTV/WRDQ and WOFL (2006 reports).
WOFL has hired a weekend sports anchor -- finally. Kevin Holden, now anchoring sports in Texas for the News 8 Austin cable channel, is joining the Fox 35 staff, according to NewsBlues.com.
Holden's career started at a small independent station in Georgia, and he previously worked in Tupelo, Miss., Houston and Greenville, S.C. Click here to read Holden's bio.
I think it's been been more than a year since WOFL had two sports anchors. It was around March 2006 when then-weekend sports anchor Eric Clinkscales -- a veteran of WOFL's news start-up -- left the the desk. Since then, Thomas Forester has been handling all the sports duties for Fox 35.
What does this have to do with Orlando TV News? Nothing, but it's just too dang funny not to pass on.
Check out the reporters from Louisiana's KATC and KLFY jockeying for position at a post-election rally. And watch all the way until the end to see the reaction from the anchor desk.
Actually, I say let's bring both of these women to O-Town -- the woman from KATC, for being such a bitch (which isn't necessarily a bad thing), and the woman from KLFY, for calmly handling the situation in a professional manner. Watch it...
> More AP Florida broadcast award info has been forwarded. Central Florida News 13 picked up two awards. Scott Fais and Neil Petagno won for best hard news feature for "Miracle Family" and for best sports feature for "Major League Colin." ...
> WKMG would love to air another edition of The Guetzloe Files -- just in time for the upcoming May sweeps, of course. "If the injunction is lifted, there is stuff in there that's explosive," Local 6 GM Henry Maldonado told the Sentinel's TV Guy. Read all about it here. ...
> Maybe another good sweeps series would be, When Fish Attack! Central Florida News 13's David Waters reported the story this week of a 50-something-pound fish jumping into a Brevard County man's boat and biting him. Ouch! CNN.com picked up the video nationally. Click here to watch this big fish story.
WFTV-Channel 9 and the Orlando Sentinel have expanded their weather partnership.
Channel 9 is now providing video of its forecasts several times a day for OrlandoSentinel.com. The two O-Town media entities have been weather partners for several years, teaming up on an annual hurricane guide and participating with a daily weather page in the Sentinel.
This new video venture is an unusual partnership in that WFTV and OrlandoSentinel.com are competitors on the Web. But both sides benefit, with OrlandoSentinel.com getting the latest weather information from meteorologists at the area's top-rated station, and WFTV's weather staff getting that much more exposure though another media outlet.
The folks are WKMG are sporting some new hardware.
The station picked up three first-place awards in the recent Associated Press Florida Broadcast competition. Local 6 won for best investigative story, for its coverage of the Orlando-Orange County Expressway Authority's hiring of political consultant Doug Guetzloe; for its coverage of the Christmas Day tornadoes; and for its coverage of a fatal police shooting caught on tape by Sky 6. (I'd provide a link to the full list of state winners, but I have been unable to find those online.)
Meanwhile, the station is also celebrating a regional Edward R. Murrow Award from the RTNDA, won in the spot news category for Local 6's coverage of the fatal police shooting. Locally, WDBO-AM also won a Murrow. Click here for the full list of regional winners.
David Pingalore, weekend sports anchor at Cleveland's WOIO-CBS 19, has been hired as the new sports director at WKMG-Local 6. Sentinel TV Guy Hal Boedeker reports that Pingalore will join the station in late April.
Boedeker wrote: "David is a creative, aggressive and original sportscaster with a distinctive personality," news director Susan Forbes said in a staff memo. "I firmly believe he will be a factor in redefining the sports franchise not only at this station but in this town."
Pingalore graduated from Jacksonville University, where he played on the school's Division I golf team through his college years. He interned with WTVT-Fox 13 in Tampa and also worked at WJKS, the former ABC affiliate in Jacksonville. Read Pingalore's WOIO bio here.
At WKMG, Pingalore replaces Todd Lewis, whose contract was not renewed. If Pingalore needs any inside info on WKMG, he can ask David Wittman. The former Channel 6 anchor is the 4, 6 and 11 p.m. anchor at WOIO.
Some familiar faces are leaving and some new faces are arriving at Central Florida's top-rated Eyewitness News. Here's the rundown:
> Weekend evening meteorologist Arch Kennedy has been named the new chief met at WZTV-Fox 17 in Nashville. He went on air for the first time at WFTV on Aug. 13, 2004 -- the day Hurricane Charley hit Central Florida. The station will fill Kennedy's position and is currently looking for a replacement.
> Jodie Fleischer has been hired selected as a general assignment reporter by Atlanta's WSB-ABC 2, the Cox sister station to WFTV.
> Josh Einiger is now reporting for WNBC-4 in New York. (Note: Earlier I mistakenly wrote that state Sen. Gary Siplin made Einiger a local legend by repeating "I love you Josh. I love you Josh" during an interview. The Siplin interview was with former WFTV reporter Josh Wilson, who now works for FEMA. Sorry about that.) And former weekend Daybreak anchor Christina Arangio has been hired by WTEN-ABC 10 in Albany, N.Y., as its new 11 p.m. news anchor.
Said WFTV News Director Bob Jordan in a news release: "We're very proud of the great work that these individuals contributed to Eyewitness News over the past few years."
“We look at it as a blessing and a curse,” said WFTV/WRDQ GM Shawn Bartelt in a news release. "Part of what comes with being a strong market leader in news is that other companies and stations across the county look at your talent first. The plus is that the most talented individuals available are also interested in coming to work for a strong station.”
Among the new faces at WFTV:
> Weekend Daybreak Anchor and reporter Elizabeth Artz, who won several Associated Press Awards while at WVTM-NBC 13 in Birmingham, Ala.
> Reporter Vanessa Welch, who comes WTVD-ABC 11 in Raleigh, N.C. She was recently nominated for an Emmy for breaking news coverage and spent considerable time covering the John Edwards presidential campaign.
> Volusia County reporter Jason Allen, who comes to Central Florida from WBAY-ABC 2 in Green Bay, Wisc.
> Reporter Eric Rasmussen, who won an Edward R. Murrow Award and comes ABC O&O KFSN-30 in Fresno, Calif.
> Reporter Jeff Deal, who comes to WFTV from Albuquerque, N.M.
> And Andrea Conklin, who joins the Channel 9 team from the Texas border near Houston.
The extreme makeover of Local 6's First News morning show continues. A insider says employees were told that that traffic reporter Secily Wilson will be leaving the newscast on April 14.
Technically, Wilson works for Traffic.Com but has been part of the WKMG morning show for several years. In January 2005, she suffered a stroke while on the air. After further examination, doctors determined she actually had several minor strokes. She worked with a speech pathologist and returned to work.
For those keeping count, for a much-touted morning show that once had Mark McEwen, Jacquie Sosa, Wilson and meteorologist Larry Mowry, only Mowery will remain after April 14. Sure appears a clean sweep is in the forecast, though.
Although morning anchor Jacquie Sosa is out at Local 6, she will remain on contract through most of the year but you won't see her on air again. That's the word from the Sentinel's Scott Maxwell, who quotes WKMG GM Henry Maldonado as saying he and Sosa -- still of maternity leave -- reached the deal as part of a "mutual agreement."
Wrote Maxwell, "Maldonado wouldn't say much else about the split with Sosa, who did a yeoman's job carrying the mornings after Mark McEwen suffered a stroke and had to take leave. But he did say that he wants to center his station's early day offerings around Lauren Rowe."
Maldonado said he is also close to signing a deal with a new sports anchor to replace Todd Lewis, whose contract wasn't renewed.
Erick Weber, who has appeared on The Tonight Show in comedy skits and most recently worked at WTMJ-NBC 4 in Milwaukee as a sports anchor, will join WKMG as its new morning and noon anchor, according to a Local 6 insider. He replaces Jacquie Sosa, whose contract was not renewed. His first day on the air at WKMG will be April 26.
Weber worked in Milwaukee for three years as sports anchor at WTMJ. He was an elementary school teacher when he started interning at KESQ in Palm Springs, Calif. He later became weekend sports anchor for a year and half at KNDU/KNDO-NBC in Tri-Cities/Yakima, Wash., before making the move to Milwaukee.
After Weber graduated from Ohio State, he worked as a page at NBC on The Tonight Show, Fresh Prince of Bel-Air and other shows. On his WTMJ bio page, Weber wrote, "After being around the actors and producers, I decided, 'hey why not give acting a shot as well?' " This led to a number of comedy skits on the Tonight Show with Jay Leno. "Doing live skits in front of the audience was, let's say, just a wee bit nerve-racking," he wrote.
Perhaps foreshadowing his move from sports to news anchoring, Weber also said on his bio, "I always seem to get where I am going by taking a different path."
-- The Internet sex sting in Polk County that resulted in the arrests of 28 men -- including three Disney workers and one technician for Local 6 -- was widely reported on local TV news. But the way the stations reported it varied greatly. Video on WKMG's Local6.com site shows the station did not try to downplay its employee's arrest. Actually, it's the Disney connection that's downplayed in my opinion. It's obviously an embarrassing incident, but WKMG made the right call in not trying to hide the arrest of one of its own. WESH.com video shows Channel 2 focused on the three Disney workers. Video on WFTV.com shows Eyewitness News reported the Disney workers and the WKMG worker in its package. A co-worker told me she thought WFTV was overplaying the WKMG's worker's connection to the sting, but based on the video here I would have to disagree.
-- Apparently a lot of folks in Central Florida think it's great to be a Florida Gator! Monday night's NCAA basketball championship on WKMG was watched in 294,000 local households, according to the Orlando Sentinel. The semifinal game against UCLA on Saturday drew an impressive 214,000 homes on Local 6.
-- Interesting discussion topic I'll throw out for you all. If you were having a charity event or other public function, what Orlando TV anchor would you want the most to be the guest speaker? Somehow, a colleague ended up in a discussion about this, and he said hands-down it's WESH's Wendy Chioji. She's been here a long time, folks here know her and she's living a great story after successfully battling cancer. Can't disagree with that. Any others you would put high on your list and why? You can leave comments below.
Laura Diaz Monserrate's career has just taken a huge leap.
She jumps 116 markets to become a reporter/fill-in anchor at WKMG. Monserrate has been the 5 p.m. and 9 p.m. anchor in Monroe, La. -- market No. 135 -- at the duopoly of KTVE-NBC 10 and KARD-Fox 14.
But the move to O-Town is a homecoming for her. She is originally from Orlando, attended the University of Florida and interned at Local 6.
WFTV is initiating a campaign to encourage volunteerism to help with area problems. "Through the efforts of on-air spots, special programs and online information we will ask Central Florida residents to do just one thing and make a difference by volunteering," according to a WFTV press release.
The focus for year one of the campaign is Central Florida's youth. Channel 9's Eyewitness News will partner with the station's WFTV 9 Family Connection to produce news stories and four specials that focus on how the area is dealing with the problems faced by youth and what solutions exist.
The campaign begins tonight at 7:30 with the first half-hour special designed to build awareness of what the issues are and what people can do to part of the solution.
WFTV 9 Family Connection has already enlisted local leaders and celebrities to help in getting the word out. Among those involved are Diane Sawyer and Robin Roberts from Good Morning America, the Orlando Magic, Arnold Palmer, Elisabeth Hasselbeck of The View and Dancing with the Stars' Joey Fatone.
Channel 9 plans to distribute tens of thousands of dollars to local individuals or groups to go out and "pay it forward" and make a difference in the lives of Central Florida's youth.
A production technician at WKMG has been arrested as part of an Internet sex string. Christian Rodriguez-Torres, 19, was among 28 caught in the Polk County Sheriff's Office's latest operation targeting men wanting to have sex with under-age girls.
Detectives, posing as 13-and-14-year-old girls, lured suspects from Internet chat rooms to a rented house in Polk County. The men -- which also included three Disney workers and two UCF students -- were arrested over four days after they arrived at the undercover home.
WKMG-TV General Manager Henry Maldonado said, "These charges are severe and we are shocked that one of our employees was involved. The employee was suspended. Local 6, of course will aggressively report on the arrests and continuing investigation."
The Florida Gators are in college basketball's national championship game -- again. WKMG-Channel 6 will air CBS' coverage of the game against Ohio State tonight starting at 9.
WFTV-Channel 9 has sent a handful of people to the Georgia Dome and will air a pre-game special on the Gators tonight at 7:30. "Gators: Go for the Glory" will have sports anchors Zach Klein and Jenny Dunn -- who both hosted Sunday's Sports Night on 9 highlight show live from Atlanta.
News anchor Cynthia Demos will kick off WFTV's Gators coverage with live reports from Atlanta this morning on Eyewitness News Daybreak.
Fox's American Idol is undoubtedly the hottest show on TV right now. I just don't get it, but I accept that I'm in the minority when it comes that.
Have you ever wondered if the folks working in the news departments at Fox's TV stations take a break to watch the show? Well, you might have a chance to find out -- especially here in Orlando at Fox 35.
WOFL's Web site, MyFoxOrlando, has added a live newsroom cam and live studio cam -- so you can spy on the journalists at Fox 35. Are they watching American Idol or Fox News Channel? Come back during the show to find out. Click here for the newsroom Web cam, and click here for the studio Web cam.
Oh, and if you can't get enough American Idol, MyFoxOrlando has an entire are dedicated to the show. Click here to see the American Idol section.
