Some quick updates …
Former WKMG-Local 6 anchor Bob Frier, who recently signed with WOFL-Fox 35, will make his debut on his new station Dec. 14, according to station promos. Still no word on how the anchor duties at Fox 35 are going to be shuffled with Frier’s arrival. But it’s great that he will be back on TV — and may make the difference in pushing Fox 35 permanently ahead of WKMG in the early evening time slots where they square off. …
Holiday cheer, courtesy of Central Florida’s News Leader: When the City of Orlando said it would not have a Christmas tree this year due to budget cuts, WFTV-Channel 9 repsonded. According to the Orlando Sentinel, “A 31-foot blue spruce was donated by Warren Brown and Co., a tree farm, and the $6,800 cost of transporting it from North Carolina and installing it is being paid by AirTran Airways and WFTV.” Channel 9 is also a sponsor of the holiday Light Up UCF event. …
What will WFTV do when Oprah Winfrey ends her talk show in 2011? It’s probably too early to tell, but according to Broadcasting & Cable, most ABC O&O’s which air Oprah already know what they’re doing – more news. “According to many sources, executives at the ABC stations that serve as Oprah’s key station group have long said they will fill the time slots by expanding their local news. The ABC stations remain strong–even in today’s tough environment–and are news leaders,” B&C reported So, don’t be surprised to see WFTV’s Eyewitness News starting at 4 p.m. come September 2011. That’s still a long way off, and lots of things could happen, but that’s my bet. …
They’re hearing wedding bells over at WKMG. Local 6 evening anchor Mike Garofalo got hitched, and morning anchor Laura Diaz got engaged. Orlando Sentinel TV Guy Hal Boedeker reports that Garofalo married Sasha Andrade, a reporter at Post-Newsweek sister station WPLG-Local 10 in Miami. Boedeker says Diaz got engaged a month ago “to a WKMG colleague she identifies only as Mike.” Diaz told Boedeker, “He’s in sales. He’s in the other world, what we call the dark side.”