Don’t worry about ringing in 2011 without having WESH 2 or CW 18 on your DirecTV hookup. The Orlando stations’ parent, Hearst Television, reached a retransmission deal with the satellite TV provider on Thursday afternoon. “WESH is pleased to report a new carriage agreement has been reached with DirecTV. DirecTV…
Orlando TV (and print) newsers come together for Christmas
It’s back. The Orlando Sentinel’s annual ‘Twas the Night Before Christmas video has been posted. In addition to Sentinel staffers, it also includes prominent Orlando TV newsers, politicians, athletes and theme park characters reading the famous holiday poem. (I even make a cameo — see me waving my hands like…
Barbara West leaving WFTV’s Eyewitness News
Veteran anchor Barbara West, who has been with WFTV’s Eyewitness News for 24 years, is leaving the station. NewsBlues.com reported today that West will leave the station sometime before Jan. 1. “She’s had a great run. We’ll miss her,” News Director Bob Jordan told NewsBlues. Despite a long career in…
Industry honors for WKMG’s Pipitone, WESH’s Delis
Belated congratulations to WKMG investigative reporter Tony Pipitone and WESH chief photographer Pete Delis. The two Orlando TV newsmen were honored with Regional Silver Circle Awards at the Suncoast Emmy Awards on Dec. 4 in Fort Lauderdale. The Silver Circle Award recognizes those people who have made significant contributions to…
Noah joins News 13 as morning traffic reporter
Veteran Orlando traffic watcher Ted Noah has joined News 13 as its weekday morning news traffic reporter, the station announced Monday. Noah’s face may not be familiar to Central Florida viewers, but his voice should be. He previously worked for Metro Traffic, providing traffic reports for radio and for News 13’s…
Blast from the Past: INN on WOFL-TV 35
Today’s “Blast from the Past” newspaper advertisement comes from the February 15, 1981, edition of the (Orlando) Sentinel Star. It highlights the weeknight information programming on then-independent WOFL-TV 35. Like many independent stations, WOFL picked up the syndicated Independent Network News, produced out of WPIX-11 in New York City. For…
WESH gang back together again at Growing Bolder
Catching up on Orlando TV news after being busy Christmas shopping … Former WESH anchor Wendy Chioji has reunited with former Channel 2 colleagues Marc Middleton and Bill Shafer on their Growing Bolder television venture. She’s joining the show for its second season on public television. She was at the…
WESH report gets Colbert’s attention
The folks at Comedy Central had a good laugh over a WESH 2 News report about Heathrow Elementary banning “red and green” for Christmas. It’s funny because (1) Fox News Channel picked up the report and got all indignant about it and (2) the school district said the report was…
Bright House adds Bay News 9, 8 other channels
As we predicted earlier, Bright House Networks announced Tuesday the addition of its Tampa Bay cable news station, Bay News 9 — as well as eight other channels to its Orlando offerings. The seven new HD channels bring to 34 the number of high-def offerings the cable company has added…
Powerball host Hart gets full-time weather gig at 6
A week ago today, Orlando Sentinel TV Guy Hal Boedeker reported on WKMG’s hiring of Elizabeth Hart to become its full-time weekend evening meteorologist. The following night, she was hosting the multi-state, $25 million Powerball drawing — which coincidentally also airs on WKMG. Hart has been among a handful of…