As if the long, strange saga of infamous “tot mom” Casey Anthony could not get any stranger … it does, of course. This time it involves attorneys Orlando TV stations are using as legal experts to help analyze the case. It started Thursday, when Anthony’s defense attorneys filed motions that…
Bob Frier returns to air December 14 on Fox 35
Some quick updates … Former WKMG-Local 6 anchor Bob Frier, who recently signed with WOFL-Fox 35, will make his debut on his new station Dec. 14, according to station promos. Still no word on how the anchor duties at Fox 35 are going to be shuffled with Frier’s arrival. But…
Abatta, Kaufeldt swap anchor shifts at Fox 35
New WOFL ND Jeff Zeller appears to be wasting no time making changes at Fox 35. A pair of anchors — newcomer Sonni Abatta and veteran Amy Kaufeldt — will be swapping roles. Orlando Sentinel TV Guy Hal Boedeker reports Kaufeldt will become Cale Ramaker’s co-anchor on the Fox 35 10…
Health care debate: Is Oz better than Phil?
Some interesting news, considering WKMG’s schedule shuffle that replaced its early evening newscasts with Dr. Phil … Local 6’s Post-Newsweek sister station, KPRC in Houston, has yanked Dr. Phil from its schedule — replacing the doc’s show with another doc — Dr. Oz. Here’s what Broadcasting and Cable reported: KPRC decided to…
New Guy at WESH, change in weather at WKMG
Back from a Fall break from blogging. Here’s what been going on … New WESH 2 Sunrise anchor Jason Guy doesn’t officially start his new gig until Monday, but he’s been trying out the Channel 2 anchor desk. He co-anchored the Friday noon news with his Sunrise co-anchor Syan Rhodes,…
Estrella now set to launch Monday on WKCF
The debut of O-Town’s newest Spanish-language offering has been pushed to Sept. 14. Back in July, WESH-2, WKCF-CW 18 and parent Hearst Television announced a partnership with Liberman Broadcasting to offer its Estrella TV to Central Florida viewers on WKCF’s digital sub-channel 18.3. The original start date was sometime in in mid-August; now…
O-Town Tweeters make news, plus other notes
Some quick notes for midweek: TVNewsCheck.com is noting how Twitter has become popular in TV newsrooms, and it called upon two of O-Town’s top TV Tweeters to explain the craze. “I thought the social networking sites were strictly a phenomenon of teenagers and young kids. I thought it was meaningless chatter, but it’s…
Meet the man who really delivers the news
No, we’re not talking about an Orlando anchor. We’re talking about Bob Cross. Never heard of him? Not many outside the TV biz have, but you if you watch any of Orlando’s TV newscasts, you’ve almost certainly seen his work. Thirty years ago, Cross got into the TV news business…
Judge: Doctor not at fault for McEwen’s stroke
A Maryland doctor will not be held liable for failing to diagnose the pre-stroke symptoms of former CBS and WKMG anchor Mark McEwen. The Associated Press reports that Monday’s ruling in U.S. District Court in Baltimore is a setback for McEwen, who was diagnosed by the doctor with stomach flu two days…
Information sharing creates new problems for TV
You may have heard about the latest blowup between O-Town stations. This one involved WFTV’s video inteview with religious runaway Fathima Rafqa Bary. Channel 9’s exclusive video was posted on YouTube.com — then WESH and WOFL broadcast portions of the clip obtained from the video-sharing Web site. Neither station credited…