Posted by Roger Simmons
Some quick Orlando TV news notes …
For nearly three years, WKMG-Local 6 has been the only major news outlet in Orlando not broadcasting its local news in high definition. That apparently changed this week.
Nearly six years after WFTV-Channel 9 became the first station in Florida to broadcast its news in high definition, Local 6 finally made the switch to HD in a low-key affair today.
WKMG has been broadcasting its news in the widescreen 16:9 format since 2008, but it didn’t immediately follow its rivals in upgrading to HD for its newscasts. WFTV launched HD in 2006, WESH 2 followed in 2007 and WOFL-Fox 35 in 2009. Several folks emailed me about the switch. I didn’t see where WKMG noted the change, but I did notice the graphics look better as well as the studio shots.
SAD NEWS FROM WESH: Linda Fern, 60, who had been with WESH 2 News for more than 27 years, was killed early Monday in a two-vehicle crash on I-4 in Volusia County.
“She was part of our Daytona staff when the station was physically located there. She’s been a part of our morning news, behind the scenes as an editor and photographer there for a long time,” WESH News Director Bob Longo told the Orlando Sentinel.
“For many years, she was our go-to satellite truck operator and is best known by our reporters and photographers as the glue that made all those many satellite shots from all those storms and hurricanes work. She will be missed.”
The Florida Highway Patrol is still investigating the crash.
