(from TVSpy.com) – Meteorologist Bay Scroggins has joined WPTV, the NBC-affiliate in West Palm Beach.
Scroggins began his career at WNCT in Greenville, followed by WZVN in Fort Myers and KSTP in Minneapolis. He also worked briefly at WFOR, the CBS O&O in Miami, as an assignment editor. He most recently worked as a meteorologist at WeatherNation in Minneapolis….Cont….
(from TampaBay.com) – Former Bay News 9 anchor Jennifer Holloway was charged with driving under the influence Sunday night in Fort Meade.
Holloway, 41, was stopped after police received reports of a black Volvo driving recklessly.
An officer stopped her car after watching the vehicle run off the shoulder of 
the road and weave around, according to the police report.
Upon exiting her vehicle, Holloway stumbled and had trouble completing the field sobriety tests, the report said….Cont….
(from NewsHerald.com) - There has been a shake-up in the broadcast media industry in Bay County over the past few weeks.
Raycom Media, owner of WPGX Fox 28 in Panama City, laid off eight workers last month in a downsizing move.
Jeff Rosser, of Raycom Media, said the eight include six full-timers and two part-time employees. Rosser said “the hub” for the Dothan, Ala., and Panama City Fox stations would be located in Birmingham, Ala.
“There have been changes,” Rosser said. “Our industry got reset in 2008 and we are adjusting.”….Cont….
Sources tell Florida News Center that huge changes are looming for Sarasota’s 24hour cable-only news outlet, SNN6. The channel has been exclusively carried on Comcast cable systems since its inception. That exclusivity with Comcast will change, as Verizon’s FiOS cable will begin offering SNN6 to its local customers.
Sources go on to tell Florida News Center that with the carriage of FiOS, expect to see changes at channel itself. Look for a rebranding from the current “SNN6″ to “SNN Local News.”
So far there is no word on if Verizon will offer SNN to the rest of the FiOS Tampa-St. Petersburg-Sarasota media market. Currently SNN is only seen on Comcast in Sarasota & Charlotte counties. Stay tuned for further information…
(from TampaBay.com) – Why was meteorologist Stephanie Roberts fired by WFTS-Ch. 28?
The one thing officials at Tampa’s ABC affiliate and a representative for Roberts will say is that she no longer works at the station, effective last Friday.
But they will not say why she was fired, declining to reveal whether an arrest for driving under the influence in October had anything to do with it.
Her picture and biography are gone from the station’s website, and weekend forecaster Wayne Shattuck has stepped in to cover weekday mornings for her….Cont….
(from TampaBay.com) – Bill Ratliff, a former morning anchor at WFLA-Ch. 8 who retired in 2009 after 27 years at the station has died at age 63.
According to a member of his family, Ratliff passed away today after complications from surgery.
Ratliff left WFLA after a 40-year broadcasting career, unwilling to accept a pay cut for reduced hours on air. He returned to TV briefly in 2010, offering political commentary on the midterm election cycle for CBS affiliate WTSP-Ch. 10.
WFLA morning anchor Gayle Guyardo, who worked with Ratliff from 1994 until his retirement and kept in touch with him, said the anchor kept his health problems even from friends….Cont….
(from News-Press.com) – Krista Fogelsong is joining our team of outstanding journalists!
Krista has most recently been working at WBND in South Bend, Indiana as the station’s 6pm, 7pm and 11pm news anchor. However, many likely remember her as one of the main anchors at WFTX from 2002-2007. Her flair, energetic personality and steadfast involvement in our community positioned her as a top anchor in the market.
During her time here, she covered the health beat, hosted live telethons and volunteered for multiple non-profit organizations. Twice she received the honor of being voted Southwest Florida’s Best Anchor in a local paper’s readership poll….Cont….
(from WWSB.TV) - The founder and original owner of WWSB ABC 7 has died.
Robert Nelson believed the Suncoast deserved its own television station and in 1971, the FCC agreed awarding Nelson Channel 40 on the UHF dial.
The station went on the air with the call letters WXLT-TV. The XL represented the roman numerals for 40.
“We were able to raise the capital and get the local support, and we went ahead. The total staff when we went on the air with Channel 40 from Clark Road, Lawton Drive, was 13 stalwart, ambitious, hard-working, young men and women,” says Nelson….Cont….
(from News-Press.com) - WINK-TV has a trio of new reporters joining their ranks.
Stephanie Susskind is already on the job. The University of Florida grad returns to the Sunshine State from WMAZ-TV, the CBS affiliate in Macon, Ga.
Coming in mid-May is Sarah Robarge, who’s leaving a position at TV3, an ABC station in Winchester, Va. Robarge is likely good at gathering information and keeping sources confidential, considering she worked as an intern at the Central Intelligence Agency’s museum.
Finally, we’ll soon welcome Kristen Skovira to the WINK reporting lineup. Previously, she has reported in several communities, including for station KGWN-TV in Cheyenne, Wyo. Interestingly, it’s a station where both her mother and father also worked in the past.
Over at NBC2, another round of changes have caught viewer’s eyes.
Chief meteorologist Haley Webb has jumped back to mornings, handling weather duties from 5 to 10 a.m. Meanwhile, meteorologist Robert Van Winkle has moved back to the evening news and can be seen at 5, 5:30, 6 and 11 p.m….Cont….
(from TVSpy.com) - Michael Garber has been hired as news director at West Palm Beach’s WPTV-WFLX, the stations confirmed to TVSpy today.
Garber has been news director of WTLV-WJXX, the Gannett duopoly in Jacksonville, since 2008. Prior to that, he was news director at WLTX in Columbia, SC and assistant news director at KGUN in Tucson.
Garber begins in West Palm Beach on May 29. He replaces Jeff Brogan, who was promoted to senior director of news strategy and operation for Scripps in March….Cont….
