Come July, you’ll see a new face weekends on the WFTV Eyewitness News anchor desk. But could he ultimately be Bob Opshal’s replacement? The newcomer is Josh Benson, who is currently morning anchor at KVOA-NBC 4 in Tucson, Ariz. According to AZBiz.com, Benson will be leaving Arizona at the end…
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).
Space shuttle Challenger anniversary: Video from 1986
Today, Jan. 28, marks the 24th anniversary of space shuttle Challenger’s explosion during liftoff. Just like the Sept. 11 terrorists attacks years later, the Challenger accident was one of those “where where you when it happened” moments in our history. Besides being national news, the shuttle accident as big news locally. The…
Weather forecast for WFTV: More Tom Terry
You may watch him or you may not — but you most certainly know about WFTV chief meterologist Tom Terry. The man who helped Central Floridians “hunker down” during the historic hurricane season of 2004 is going to be with Channel 9 through at least another six storm seasons. Sentinel TV…
Nancy Grace is coming to Orlando
Nancy Grace, the caustic and controversial HLN talk show host, will be coming to Orlando … in the fall of 2010. Her new syndicated show, “Swift Justice with Nancy Grace,” has been cleared for 90 percent of the country, including O-Town. The show is being distributed by CBS Television Distribution….
WFTV preparing for Bob Opsahl’s retirement
Tom Brokaw, Peter Jennings and Dan Rather were iconic anchors for their networks. But Bob Opsahl has them beat. Opsahl has been anchoring the news at WFTV-Channel 9 for more than 30 years — even before Rather, Brokaw or Jennings took over the lead roles on their network newscasts. Granted,…
Casey Anthony: WESH analyst blasts WFTV analyst
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…
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…
Without American Idol, Fox 35 falls behind WRDQ
Catching up on some Orlando TV News after taking a short blogging break… Yes, it’s really true. For the first time since its launch in 2002, WRDQ’s 10 p.m. newscast knocked off the No. 1 early-late news in town: Fox 35 News at 10. According to a WRDQ news release,…
WFTV’s West back in news with Biden visit
With Vice President Joe Biden due to visit Orlando on Wednesday, Sentinel TV Guy Hal Boedeker revived the discussion about WFTV anchor Barbara West’s controversial interview with Biden during the 2008 campaign. Boedeker asked WFTV News Director Bob Jordan if West would cover Biden’s visit for Eyewitness News. “Just for…