Longtime O-Town anchor Marla Weech is being laid off from WKMG as the slowing economy starts to takes its toll at Local 6. “I’m being laid off,” she told Orlando Sentinel TV Guy Hal Boedeker on Friday. “It’s tough economic times. My position is being eliminated. My heart goes out…
After 20 years, Wendy Chioji to leave WESH
WESH veteran anchor Wendy Chioji — who celebrates her 20th anniversary with the station today — will leave Channel 2 at the end of the May sweeps. In a press release issued Thursday, WESH said Chioji’s decision to leave “was based on her personal interest in moving west and the…
WKMG Local 6 News goes 16:9
UPDATED: With little fanfare, WKMG has thrown the switch on 16:9 for its newscasts. (Oops — I reported early that Local 6 had gone to HD. Not the case, however.) Local 6 is using 16:9 studio cameras, but its weather graphics and most field reports are still in standard 4:3…
No Date Set for McEwen’s Return
After suffering a stoke in November, Local 6 morning and noon anchor Mark McEwen continues to improve but no date has been set for his return to the air, the station says. McEwen, who spent 16 years in morning TV with CBS before coming to Orlando, had the stroke in…
Analysis: Remembering what Bauman did at WESH
Looking back, I wonder if it was a clue? When the stations issued their news releases from the Novemeber sweeps, Bill Bauman’s comments were not in WESH’s release. Instead, it was VP and station manager Bob Fein who was quoted as saying, “in May we saw significant growth for WESH…
Longtime WESH GM Bauman retires
BREAKING NEWS …. Hal Boedeker of the Orlando Sentinel has news that longtime WESH/WKCF GM Bill Bauman is retiring immediately. He has been part of the O-Town TV scene since the 1970s. Click for details from the Sentinel on Bauman’s departure.
Local 6 introduces Larry Mowry’s replacement
After hyping it as “big news” throughout the weekend, WKMG announced on its Morning News show Monday that meteorologist Larry Mowry is leaving to head to CBS O&O KTVT in Dallas. Anchor Erick Weber said in announcing Mowry’s departure, “We want to let you know about our secret. Just learned…
WESH expands morning news on CW18
Want more morning news? This week WESH began a six-week experiment simulcasting the 6-7 a.m. hour of its Sunrise newscast on CW18 — leading into the two-hour block of local news it airs on WKCF. According to a WESH news release, “The goal of the simulcast is to expand…
Another WESH video on YouTube? Mother-F***er!!!
WESH-2 is one of a handful of TV stations and newspapers (including, ahem, the Orlando Sentinel) that have a partnership deal with YouTube to post video to the popular site. But it’s the video viewers are posting from WESH that seem to be getting most of the traffic on YouTube….
Fox 35’s 11 p.m. news starts Jan. 7
WOFL will launch its oft-discussed 11 p.m. newscast on Jan. 7, Florida Today reported. News about the late newscast was first revealed nearly a year ago, with a then-projected launch date of sometime in April. But the project never got off the ground. In the meantime, Fox 35 did launch…