As the dust from the February ratings period settles, it’s become clear there’s no stopping the WFTV juggernaut. Channel 9 was No. 1 in six of the seven daily newscasts, with only WKMG’s noon news preventing a clean sweep by WFTV. The real race is for No. 2 in O-Town,…
Author: Roger Simmons
CW Signs Up 18 — Plus Other Stuff
It’s been a newsy couple of days so far this week … The new CW Network signed up its first round of affiliates on Wednesday, and among the group of five was Orlando’s WKCF-Channel 18. The future former home of the WB network will now be the place where the…
Kaufeldt Moves on to Fox at 5
Amy Kaufeldt bid goodbye to her morning co-anchors on Fox 35 Friday. She’s moving to the new "Fox at 5" evening newscast, which begins on March 6 on WOFL. Here’s what we know about the new newscast and what’s going to happen on WOFL’s morning show. The new 5 p.m….
Assistant ND leaving WOFL
As WOFL prepares to launch its new 5 p.m. newscast in a little more than a week, it will be doing so without Assistant News Director Chris Ford. After three years, he’s leaving WOFL to become assistant news director at Tribune Co.’s CLTV cable operation in Chicago. The Fox 35…
Here’s an Anchor Idea for WESH
Go ahead and call me crazy. But what if WESH did something dramatic with its anchor line-up … like move Pat Clarke over one seat, from sports to the main anchor chair next to Wendy Chioji? When I’ve seen Clarke and Chioji on Channel 2’s Olympic Zone broadcasts, they really…
9’s New GM Comes From Charlotte
Shawn Bartelt, director of sales for Cox’s stations in Charlotte, N.C. (WSOC and WAXN) will succeed Bill Hoffman as vice president and general manager of Orlando’s WFTV and WRDQ. According to a press release, Bartelt joined Cox in 2000 as director of sales at WSOC and WAXN. She began her…
WFTV, WRDQ lose GM to Atlanta
WFTV and WRDQ General Manager Bill Hoffman is leaving Orlando to become GM at Cox-owned flagship WSB in Atlanta. It was under Hoffman’s tenure that stability returned to WFTV, including the re-hiring of news director Bob Jordan and the return of Eyewitness News to ratings dominance across the board. Hoffman…
Olympic Spirit Sinks in Orlando
NBC’s ratings woes from its Torino Olympics coverage have been well-documented already. The ratings are expected to pick up this week with the figure skating competition, but will that be enough to ignite Olympics TV fever in Orlando? So far, through Tuesday night’s Olympics programming, WESH-Channel 2 is getting some…
Fox Builds New Net With O-Town’s 65
Orlando’s former UPN 65 is getting a new name and a new network. Get ready for My TV 65. News Corp. announced plans Wednesday to create a new network for its Fox-owned stations that are losing UPN affiliation when that network shuts down this fall. News Corp. will launch My…
The Golden Age of MySpace.com
Following up on the item about the two WKMG reporters who posted on MySpace.com, listing themselves as 15 year olds … Heard from several people, including one person who said he was a friend of the women, who explained this is a common practice on the MySpace site to keep…