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. According to TV News Check,…
Weather
Fox 35, AccuWeather team up under new corporate deal
Self-proclaimed Weather Authority Fox 35 is getting some help in its forecasting department. Fox Television Stations signed a deal with AccuWeather to partner with 11 Fox owned-and-operated stations. The deal includes running AccuWeather’s content online and “jointly produced and branded content across virtually all of the stations’ media platforms.” “Weather is one of the most…
Weather news from WESH and RogerSimmons.com
Perhaps I missed some announcement on this … but when did WESH 2 start using “First Alert” branding with its weather? Perhaps it’s a bit of Hearst TV corporate synergy, since sister station WPBF-ABC 25 in West Palm Beach has been using the First Alert branding for its weather. Check out the images below and…
Wicked weather disrupts sports, Casey Anthony coverage
It’s not just Casey Anthony who can scramble Orlando TV programming. Mother Nature also has some clout. Late afternoon tornado warnings on Saturday disrupted Orlando’s already mixed-up TV programming. Sports fans hoping to watch the U.S. Open golf tournament on WESH-2 and the Yankees-Cubs baseball game of the week on Fox 35 had to settle…
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 Orlando folks who host the…
Blast from the Past: Danny Treanor on WFTV
We continue our Blast from the Past series with this newspaper advertisement from 1978. It’s for weatherman Danny Treanor on WFTV. Back then, Danny did the weather on the noon, 6 p.m. and 11 p.m. newscasts. That was quite a long day! Here’s what the text says: “Rain or shine, you’re certain to get the…
Why meteorologists shouldn’t have telestrators
This picture (pointed out by former O-Town anchor Scott Walker on his Twitter feed) is from Nashville’s WTVF-CBS 5. It was snapped by a viewer during the station’s coverage of severe weather on Saturday and posted on the Facebook group, “I survived the Great Nashville Monsoon of May 1st.” I think this graphically illustrates why…
Fox 35 live cam tracks Guardian construction
How excited is Fox 35 about getting its new $1.5 million Guardian dual pole radar? The station has set up a live cam so folks can follow along with the construction progress. The station broke ground for the Doppler tower on Aug. 5. At the time, chief meteorologist Glenn Richards said it would take about 45…
Hurricane Charley anniversary telethon Thursday
WKMG broadcast fascinating recollections of Hurricane Charley — and the other storms of 2004 — on Wednesday night. Reporter Donald Forbes had a particulary moving tale of riding out the storm in Port Charlotte crouched next to a wall, finally reaching the safety of the station’s satellite truck only after the storm’s eye arrived with an…
Hurricane Charley: Orlando stations remember anniversary with special, Red Cross telethon
Thursday will mark the fifth anniversary of Hurricane Charley’s surprising and destructive visit to Orlando. Orlando’s TV stations performed a great public service on Aug. 13, 2004 — dismissing the official National Hurricane Center track for the storm and correctly predicting the hurricane was headed to Orlando, not to Tampa. The stations gave residents extra…