Florida News Center

(from TampaBay.com) – Once upon a time, local NBC station WFLA-Ch. 8 and Fox affiliate WTVT-Ch. 13 duked it out for supremacy in local TV ratings, with the Fox-owned station slowly growing more dominant as NBC’s ratings woes multiplied.

But February’s “sweeps” ratings period confirmed a transition which hit home in November, as ABC affiliate WFTS-Ch. 28 has risen to compete with WTVT among key viewers aged 25 to 54, winning early evening and late night news time periods.

Last month, Fox 13 ruled the mornings, with the advantage tipping to ABC Action News in early evening and at 11 p.m. Fox also won at 4 p.m. and in prime time, due to the strength of Judge Judy and American Idol….Cont….

(from MediaLifeMagazine.com) - As a large market in a swing state, Tampa’s media economy enjoyed a strong 2012 boosted heavily by political ad spending. First-quarter spending was especially strong last year because of the early Florida primary.

And so, like many other cities with strong election spending last year, this post-election year has started more slowly for Tampa.

Still, buyers say spending will begin to pick up in March and last through at least early summer. Media people hoping to get their clients on the air during those months should move quickly.

Demand and pricing on Tampa TV are down slightly so far in 2013, which was expected….Cont….

Sources tell Florida News Center that both of the VP/General Manager’s for Tampa’s Bay News 9 and Orlando’s Central Florida News Center, Robin Smythe and Rod Gramer will depart the cable news channels. Elliott Wiser, VP of Local Programming for Bright House Networks, made the announcement yesterday via internal E-mail.

This moves comes as Bright House has made efforts to further merge  (reduce costs) its Tampa Bay and Central Florida (Orlando) news and programming resources. “Through careful analysis, we became aware there was redundancy in our organizational structure,” Wiser stated via E-mail. “I want to thank Robin Smythe and Rod Gramer for their service and wish them success in their future endeavors. This was a difficult decision, but it makes the most sense for our business moving forward.”

Not included in yesterday’s “redundancy” elimination, was the job of Bright House Sports Network General Manager, Paul Kosuth. That local sports station serves both the Tampa and Orlando markets simultaneously. Stay tuned to Florida News Center for further information.

For the eleventh year, Tampa’s Bright House Cable news channel Bay News 9 and Orlando’s Central Florida News 13 will be offering their “Yule Log” for OnDemand customers. Bay News 9 will air the Yule Log on its news channel from 8pm-midnight, on Christmas Eve.

For 2012, Bright House offers four versions of the Yule Log with differing fire places, music selections and one with only the sound of the crackling fire. Bright House customers can watch the fireplace anytime by going to Tampa Bay OnDemand ch 340 or Central Florida OnDemand ch 300.

2012 sees a return of the OnDemand channel’s “Chimenea Navidena” – the “Yule Log” with Christmas music en Español. Also new for 2012 are select local high school band performing Christmas music and select readings of stories like “Frosty The Snowman” and “Twas the Night Before Christmas.”

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(from TampaBay.com) – It was an odd November “sweeps” period, kicked off by the impact of superstorm Sandy in the world’s biggest media center and concluding one day before the Thanksgiving holiday.

But the biggest upset may have come in results for the Tampa Bay area TV stations, as ABC affiliate WFTS-Ch. 28 rose to take the top spot among viewers 25 to 54 at 5 p.m., 5:30 p.m., 6 p.m. and 11 p.m., notching increases in ratings ranging from 40 percent to 113 percent.s….Cont….

(from TVSpy.com) – Melissa Sogegian Beckman is the newest general assignment reporter at WFLA, the NBC affiliate in Tampa.

Beckman spent five years as a general assignment reporter at Bay News 9 in Tampa. She left in 2011 to work in South Korea, where she taught English at a private academy in Seoul for a year….Cont….

//hattip to NewsBlues.com

(edited from WFTS Press Release) – WFTS-TV won the 5 p.m., 5:30 p.m., 6 p.m. and 11 p.m. M-F news competition in the highly sought after Adult 25-54 and Women 25-54 demographics for November 2012. November marked the first time WFTS won all three early evening newscasts in A25-54.

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(from TampaBay.com) - As local broadcasters prepare to cover what may be the biggest story they’ll see in many years, the preparations for the Republican National Convention in Tampa are reaching a fever pitch.

One TV station, Tampa ABC affiliate WFTS-Ch. 28, gave staffers riot training and hired a former journalism professor from the University of Tampa to focus specifically on arranging it’s RNC coverage. Other stations are considering how to beef up security for the staffers, perhaps hiring guards to watch their vehicles and people while considering advice to de-emphasize station logos while out where protesters may target journalists.

Tampa Fox affiliate WTVT-Ch. 13 has de-emphasized the logos surrounding it’s Kennedy Blvd. headquarters, with black rectangles placed over some signs featuring the Fox 13 logo and a sign touting its Skytower radar placed over the big station logo in the building’s front yard….Cont….

***NOTE: The image above is from the 1996 St. Peterburg riots. A microwave van from WTOG (who had a news department at the time) was torched by rioters. We here at FNC thought the image above complimented this story perfectly.***

(from TVNewsCheck.com) – The Republican National Convention in Tampa, Fla., is three weeks away, but covering it is already shaping up to be the biggest undertaking for Don North in seven years as news director of Media General’s WFLA, the market’s NBC affiliate.

The 2009 Super Bowl pales in comparison, North says. “We are going to cover this as aggressively as anything we do. One way or another, everyone is going to be involved,” he says.

The 14th largest TV market’s other network affiliates — Scripps’ WFTS (ABC), Gannett’s WTSP (CBS) and Fox-owned WTVT — are also gearing up for maximum coverage of the four-day event  (Aug. 27-30)  that will center on the Tampa Bay Times Forum, but also include other venues around the market.

“It’s mind boggling,” says WFTS GM Rich Pegram. To prepare, he says, the station has done everything from survey stations in previous convention host cities to contract additional employees so that it will be able to explain “how [the convention] is going to impact … lives,” he says….Cont….

(from OrlandoSentinel.com) – Departing Orlando: Reporter-anchor Adam Longo, who logged many hours on the Casey Anthony saga at WKMG-Channel 6, then Central Florida News 13.

Longo is taking a job at KPHO, the CBS affiliate in Phoenix. He starts there Aug. 27 and will be a weekend evening anchor and a weekday reporter.

His last day at News 13 will be Aug. 3. But he teases: “I still have some big things cooking.”

That’s not just boasting: He is a fine reporter….Cont….