Some quick takes on Orlando TV news before the holiday weekend …
The Nielsen market rankings for the 2011-2012 TV season have been released, and Orlando remained No. 19 in the nation. Nielsen estimated the Orlando-Daytona Beach-Melbourne market grew from 1,453,120 TV homes in 2010 to 1,465,460 this year. We continue to gain ground on No. 18 Cleveland-Akron, which Nielsen said lost about 12,000 TV homes. See the full Nielsen list here. …
The Orlando Sentinel reports that memorial services for longtime Orlando TV anchor Scott Harris have been set for Sept. 8 at Bourne Chapel at Lake Highland Prep Middle School, 741 N. Mills Ave., Orlando. The service will start at 7 p.m. Sentinel colleague Scott Maxwell had another great column on Harris, who died earlier this week at age 64. …
Former WFTV-Channel 9 anchor Robert Maxwell, who left Orlando for a gig at KTVX-ABC 4 in Salt Lake City two years ago, has been taken off the 4, 5, 6, 9 and 10 p.m. news shows. NewsBlues.com says he’s been told his contact is not being renewed. …
Former WESH 2 News reporter Jeff Lennox, who left the station and the TV biz in April for a job with AAA in Tampa, is coming back to TV. NewsBlues reports that Lennox announced on his Facebook page that he would start at WSVN-Fox 7 in Miami later this month. …
The great FLNewscenter.com site reports that former WFTV meteorologist Tom Johnston will be forecasting again in the Sunshine State, taking the morning gig at Jacksonville dupopoly WAWS-Fox 30 / WTEV-CBS 47. …
And, finally, thanks to all of you who emailed comments about our new galleries showcasing newspaper ads from TV stations in Orlando and South Florida. I am excited to say that I have already added about 50 more images to the South Florida gallery, including ads for long-gone TV stations WFTL/WGBS-Channel 23 (Florida’s third TV station) and and WITV-Channel 17 (the state’s seventh TV station). See the South Florida gallery here.