With the expansion of morning newscasts to their sister duopoly stations, WESH and WFTV have solidified their status as the providers of the most live local newscasts in Central Florida. WESH 2 now produces 7-1/2 hours of local news each weekday, taking the top spot among the area stations. WFTV…
Tag: WFTV-9
Recent RogerSimmons.com Orlando TV News reports involving WFTV-Channel 9, the ABC affiliate for Central Florida. The station calls its newscasts Eyewitness News. Channel 9’s original call letters were WLOF (We Love Orlando Florida).
More Sweeps Analysis
Breaking down more sweeps numbers, from Friday’s Orlando Sentinel. >> WOFL’s 10 p.m. newscast is up 17 percent from a year ago. From Monday-Sunday, Fox 35 News has 52,200 households and WRDQ’s Action News has 36,000. >> Showing how much the network lead-in helps or hurts, WFTV (ABC) is up…
WKMG Dominates AP Awards
WKMG was the big winner when the 2006 Florida Associated Press Broadcasters awards were presented on Saturday night. Local 6 News won both first- and second-place awards in the Best TV Newscast and Individual Achievement categories, plus a first place in spot news. The Jan. 11, 2005, WKMG newscast —…
Marla is Back … And On Channel 6
Scott Maxwell of the Orlando Sentinel breaks the news that longtime Central Florida anchor Marla Weech is coming back to TV, this time on WKMG-Channel 6. The gig is listed as only temporary (for now), as she will join Local 6’s morning show to fill in for Mark McEwen as…
9 Reporter Washed Up? No, Just Wet
Yesterday, we reported how WFTV is having a contest to try to liven up its live shots. Well, now the subjects of the stories are doing their part to spice things up even in taped pieces. WFTV reporter Leland Vittert was doing a story about local residents who are waiting…
A Contest for Reporters and Photogs
Reporting from the middle of a busy highway toll plaza, or reporting from down in a sinkhole. Those are two things that may have made you shake your head when watching Eyewitness News this past month. You may have asked yourself, "Are those reporters crazy?" No, maybe they’re just trying…
Smith Engineers Exit from Channel 9
WFTV morning meteorologist Joe Smith is getting out of the weather biz … and the TV biz, too. According to NewsBlues.com, Smith has decided to enter the graduate engineering program at Cal-Berkeley this fall. After graduating from the FSU meteorology program, he started out at Tallahassee’s ABC affiliate before jumping…
Going Out of the Biz, and Going Out of Town …
WESH Sunrise reporter Shannon FitzPatrick signed off Wednesday morning. She’s leaving the TV biz to pursue a career in real estate and marketing. (I’d like to have a dollar for every TV person who has gone into real estate, but I digress.) FitzPatrick started at WESH in 1998 and moved…
Doctor Files Suit Against WFTV
Attorneys for a Winter Park plastic surgeon have filed a defamation suit against WFTV-Channel 9 for a series of reports the station ran about the doctor. According to the Orlando Sentinel, the civil suit by Dr. Thomas Trevisani alleges that Channel 9 aired reports in 2002, 2003 and 2004 that…
Reporters Shouldn’t Play in Traffic
Some news nuggets for you … >> While watching WFTV’s Eyewitness News on Monday night, I was more concerned about the safety of reporter Jodie Fleischer than what she was reporting. For a story about a plan to relieve traffic woes on the Turnpike and U.S. 192, Fleisher did a…