Word came this morning that longtime Orlando TV news anchor Scott Harris had passed away. He was 64 and had been battling kidney cancer. “Scott died peacefully this morning at Hospice of the Comforter,” News 13 General Manager Robin Smythe told the Orlando Sentinel. Harris, whose real name was Vincent…
Month: August 2011
Veteran Orlando TV news anchor Scott Harris in hospice care
Anchor/reporter Scott Harris, a familiar face to Orlando TV news watchers since the 1970s, is now in hospice care. David Waters, Harris’ former colleague at Central Florida News 13, posted this update Saturday on Facebook: “For friends of Scott Harris, stop by if you are up to it. His family…
Hurricane Irene: Orlando TV’s connection
A couple of notes from a weekend of TV news dominated by Hurricane Irene… HLN spent Saturday showing coverage from affiliate stations along the East Coast, including Norfolk’s WAVY-NBC 10. On the desk there was former WESH 2 anchor Tom Schaad — a veteran of Orlando’s hurricane-filled season of 2004….
WESH reporter gets a surprise from Hurricane Irene
As Hurricane Irene passed by Central Florida, Orlando’s TV news crews were camped out along to coast to watch waves and report on beach erosion. WESH 2 reporter/meteorologist Dan Billow got an up-close-and-personal interaction with Irene — as he was drenched by a wave on Satellite Beach moments before a…
European vacation over — now, back to work
I still have a little jetlag after spending most of the past two weeks on a family vacation in Europe. It was an incredible experience as we toured Paris and Barceolona. There were visits to Notre Dame, the Eiffel Tower, Versallies and the Louvre while in France, plus Las Ramblas,…
Fox 35’s Jim Van Fleet heading to Tampa’s WTSP
Meteorologist Jim Van Fleet, who has spent a decade forecasting the weather at WOFL-Fox 35, is heading to Tampa’s WTSP-CBS 10 to take over its chief meteorologist job. “Fox 35 did make an offer for me to stay and it was a very generous offer, but quite simply this opportunity…
Blast from the past: It’s Mike Douglas on WESH
Blast from the Past features an icon of TV talk shows, Mike Douglas. This ad from November 1965 touts Douglas’ show on WESH-Channel 2 as a “merry go round of mirth and madness.” I vaguely remember the Mike Douglas Show, and not sure I would use the words “mirth” and…
Blast from the past: Channel 9 news ad from 1969
Blast from the Past focuses today on WFTV-Channel 9 and ABC. This ad is from February 1969, promoting the ratings-challenged news on ABC and Channel 9. Frank Reynolds was the anchor of the “ABC Evening News.” Ray Reuster — who would later have a long career with the Daytona Beach…
Blast from the past: WDBO-6 ad from 1975
Blast from the Past continues with a bit of history in this classic advertisment. The date was June 14, 1973. You would think having an embattled President Richard Nixon in town give the commencement address at UCF (then known as Florida Technological University) would be the top story on Orlando TV,…
Blast from the past: WESH, NBC ad from 1968
Blast from the Past continues with this ad for the 1968 NBC fall lineup on WESH-2. The online archives this came from are only in black and white. Too bad, since I believe the NBC peacock here was in its full color glory when this advertisement appeared in the Daytona…