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.
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Orlando’s first TV signal broadcast 63 years ago
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.
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‘Batman’ Adam West dies at 88, had huge impact on ABC, WFTV-Channel 9
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
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The man who helped Channel 9 launch ‘Central Florida News’
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.”
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It’s Eyewitness News, from 36 years ago
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
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Christmas in May? Cool off with this classic clip
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 in 1965, which poster Jason Ivey says ran live for six weeks on Channel 9….
WFTV dropping weather channel for MegaTV
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 and weather service from its digital subchannel, and replacing it with new Spanish-language channel MegaTV….
Blast from the Past: Danny Treanor back in 1977
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 folks from 1977. It was longtime Orlando weatherman Danny Treanor. Before he came to Orlando’s…
Breaking bear news: Bear breaks in at home of WESH’s Martha Sugalski
WESH 2 anchor Martha Sugalski had some personal “live, local, late-breaking” news at her Seminole County home this morning when a bear broke into her screened-in pool enclosure. “Woke up to a MASSIVE bear in our pool area who broke thru screen and was trying to get into cabinets. Don’t…
It’s a small world after all: Josh Benson leaves WFTV to head to WFOR in Miami
Josh Benson, the one-time heir apparent to Bob Opsahl who became the odd-man out when WFTV decided to revamp its anchor lineup, is heading to Miami. According to the South Florida Sun Sentinel, Benson will be the new morning anchor at CBS O&O WFOR. He begins Aug. 27. It’s sort of…