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HomeAuthorsRoger Simmons

Articles by Roger Simmons

About Roger Simmons
Roger Simmons has been blogging about Orlando television since 2001. You can email him at roger@rogersimmons.com
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Orlando TV

Greed, movies and soda: How Channel 6 became WCPX-TV in 1982

June 18, 2017 Roger Simmons

Thirty-five years ago this month, there was a big change in Orlando television. You can blame a greedy, lazy station owner as well as the FCC, a movie company and even a soft-drink maker.  … MORE

Orlando TV

Former Fox 35 meteorologist Jim Van Fleet forecasting weather for Royal Caribbean cruises

June 15, 2017 Roger Simmons

Former Fox 35 morning meteorologist Jim Van Fleet has a new gig on the high seas. He’s the chief meteorologist for Royal Caribbean Cruises – the cruise industry’s first such position. … MORE

Orlando TV

Orlando’s massive TV tower came crashing down in 1973

June 11, 2017 Roger Simmons

The Bithlo TV tower was called the tallest structure on the planet at one point.  But as workers were preparing to install an an antenna for educational station WMFE-Channel 24  on June 8, 1973, the tower collapsed into a massive pile of steel and wires. A structural failure was cited as the cause. … MORE

Orlando TV

Orlando’s first TV signal broadcast 63 years ago

June 11, 2017 Roger Simmons

It was at 11:16 p.m. on Friday, June 4, that Channel 6 turned on its transmitter for the first time and sent out its first broadcast, a test pattern. The signal came from an 80-foot antenna atop the station’s new 500-foot tower on Texas Avenue, just north of West Colonial Drive.  … MORE

Orlando TV

‘Batman’ Adam West dies at 88, had huge impact on ABC, WFTV-Channel 9

June 10, 2017 Roger Simmons

Adam West, the  caped crusader “Batman”  who helped change the ratings fortunes of ABC and WFTV-Channel 9 in the mid-1960s, died Friday night at age 88.  West is best known as TV’s “Batman,” and the show’s three-season run made a huge impact across the nation and here in Central Florida on Channel 9 … MORE

Anchors

The man who helped Channel 9 launch ‘Central Florida News’

June 5, 2017 Roger Simmons

When Channel 9 went on the air in February 1958 as WLOF-TV, it took about a year and half to launch a regular evening and late-night newscast. That finally happened on Monday, Sept. 7, 1959, when the station began an ambitious program called “Central Florida News.” … MORE

Anchors

It’s Eyewitness News, from 36 years ago

May 29, 2017 Roger Simmons

Another blast from the past. A full-length Channel 9 Eyewitness News from May 29, 1981 featuring Bob Jordan, Carole Nelson, weatherman Danny Treanor and sportscaster Mike Storms … MORE

Orlando TV

Christmas in May? Cool off with this classic clip

May 29, 2017 Roger Simmons

More and more old Orlando TV tapes are showing up on YouTube, which is great for someone who loves history. This one arrived recently — it’s a clip from “Santa’s Toy Shop,” WFTV’s Christmas special … MORE

No Picture
Orlando TV

WFTV dropping weather channel for MegaTV

January 22, 2013 Roger Simmons

If you’re like me, and find yourself tuning into Severe Weather Center 9 on Channel 9.2 during thunderstorms or bad weather, you’re going to be disappointed in this news. WFTV is removing the 24-hour radar … MORE

No Picture
Orlando TV

Blast from the Past: Danny Treanor back in 1977

January 22, 2013 Roger Simmons

Mobile-Pensacola Fox affiliate WALA-Channel 10 celebrated its 60th anniversary on Jan. 14. The station posted a lot of old photos on a Facebook account, and there was a familiar face in the gallery showing station … MORE

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What’s on TV tonight? You finally found out in July 1951

Jacksonville’s WMBR-TV Channel 4 went on the air on Oct. 16, 1949, broadcasting four hours a day from its 478-foot antenna on the city’s southside. But it would be nearly two years before Orlando newspapers took note and began running daily TV listings for the area’s closest station. … MORE

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