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,…
Year: 2011
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…
Blast from the past: Prime time on WMOD-Channel 43
Blast from the Past goes back to 1986 today. That’s not that too far back, but a lot has changed since then. Take these advertisements for WMOD-Channel 43 for example. In 1982, the Melbourne-based station became the area’s second independent station — following in the footsteps of Channel 35. WMOD…
News 13 to start mornings with Marla Weech
Central Florida News 13 announced Monday that Orlando TV news veteran Marla Weech is now the anchor for Your Morning News. Weech, who has been on Orlando TV since the 1980s on channels 6 and 9, joined News 13 earlier this year. “I can’t think of a better person than…
Blast from the past: WFTV ad from 1981
Our summertime series, Blast from the Past, continues with this ad for the Eyewitness News team that first boosted Channel 9 to news dominance in Central Florida. Here you see the promotion for the 5:30 p.m. newscast with anchors Bob Opsahl and Carole Nelson, and then the 6 o’clock team…
WESH’s Me-TV part of diginet expansion
Just a few short weeks ago, Orlando TV viewers were given the chance to view one of the newest “diginets” — Memorable Entertainment Television, or Me-TV for short. Me-TV, which replaced WeatherPlus on WESH’s 2.2 digital subchannel, offers classic sitcoms and dramas from the 1950s, ’60s, ’70s and ’80s. I…