Florida News Center

(from OrlandoSentinel.com) – April ratings underscore just how tight the race for Central Florida viewers has become and how the competition is challenging longtime leader WFTV-Ch 9.

The numbers in this story, unless otherwise noted, reflect viewers in the 25-to-54 age group, which is most important to news advertisers.

In the April ratings period that ended Wednesday, WESH-Channel 2 and WOFL-Channel 35 overtook WFTV in the 5 p.m. half-hour. (But WFTV was ahead of WOFL at 5:30.)

WESH was tops at 5 and 5:30 and came close to WFTV at 6. WESH was also reaching the most 25-to-54 viewers with its 4 p.m. newscast….Cont….

(from TVNewsCheck.com) – Orlando is a real Mickey Mouse place. Except when it comes to local TV news.

Then it’s a real dog-eat-dog fight for ratings supremacy between heavy hitters like Cox Media Group, Post-Newsweek, Hearst and Fox.

The top dog is Cox’s ABC affiliate WFTV. In November 2012, WFTV boasted a 40% share of the market’s news broadcasts (adults 25-54, Mon.-Sun., 5 a.m.-11:30 p.m.), says Bob St. Charles, who’s been the creative services director at the station since 2002. “It’s been the overall news leader … in every daypart since 2004,” St. Charles says.

Each station brings a distinctive marketing approach to the battle, says  Hal Boedeker, longtime TV writer for the Orlando Sentinel.

“WFTV stresses that it has connected with viewers by having everyday people on camera,” he says. “WESH [the Hearst-owned NBC affiliate] plays up a magazine poll as the market’s best….Cont….

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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.

(from OrlandoSentinel.com) - WFTV-Channel 9 was easily the big winner in the November ratings race.

In December, WFTV was the main victor, but some contests were mighty tight. WESH-Channel 2 came on strong in the early evening, and WKMG-Channel 6 was right behind WFTV in the 5 a.m. half-hour.

The stations concentrate on the 25-to-54 age group, which is most important to news advertisers. In that count at 11 p.m. Monday-Friday, WFTV averaged 27,300 viewers to WKMG’s 23,700, WESH’s 22,900 and WOFL-Channel 35’s 12,800. In a Monday-Sunday count, WFTV was the leader, but WESH edged WKMG by just 100 viewers….Cont….

(from OrlandoSentinel.com) - The folks at WFTV-Channel 9 can start spreading the news:  They were the big winners in the November ratings period known as sweeps.

WFTV said it had won every news time slot in the 25-to-54 age group, which is most crucial to news advertisers. The ratings period ended Wednesday.

WFTV General Manager Shawn Bartelt said the November news competition was fierce because of Hurricane Sandy and tight election results in Florida. But she added, “Our news product is unequalled in Central Florida. That is our promise and we intend to keep it.”….Cont….

(from OrlandoSentinel.com) – Breaking news: WFTV-Channel 9 was the big winner in October news ratings.

The ABC affiliate won at 11 p.m., held off WESH-Channel 2 at 5 p.m. and emerged as the clear leader in the morning. The October ratings period ended Wednesday; the November sweeps started Thursday.

Fox-owned WOFL-Channel 35 was the winner in 10 p.m. news. WFTV was tops in other crucial time slots. The ratings race is measured on the 25-to-54 age group, which is most important to news advertisers.

At 11 p.m. weekdays, WFTV averaged 30,800 viewers. The rest: CBS affiliate WKMG-Channel 6 with 26,000, NBC affiliate WESH with 21,900 and WOFL with 13,200….Cont….

(from OrlandoSentinel.com) - NBC affiliate WESH-Channel 2 is claiming victories in late and early news for the September ratings period that ended Wednesday.

WESH won in late news last month, thanks to a lift from the Olympic Games in London. WESH got support this month from a strong NBC prime-time lineup that included football, “America’s Got Talent” and “The Voice.”

The ratings victories in news are calculated on the 25-to-54 age group, which is most important to news advertisers.

At 11 p.m. Monday through Sunday, WESH averaged 26,700 viewers in the age group to WFTV-Channel 9’s 22,300 and WKMG-Channel 6’s 14,900….Cont….

(from OrlandoSentinel.com) – John Allan Handiboe, senior managing editor at Central Florida News 13, was arrested early Thursday and charged with driving under the influence. Handiboe, 36, is one of the top managers in the News 13 newsroom.

He was arrested at West Amelia Street and Hames Avenue. According to the arrest report, Handiboe said he had been at a birthday party and had three drinks, which he described as “Jack and diet.” - (from OrlandoSentinel.com)

(from OrlandoSentinel.com) – Central Florida News 13 has hired Joel Schipper from WNDU in South Bend, Ind., as a weekend anchor.

Schipper joins News 13 in late August and replaces Adam Longo, who has left the station.

Schipper will anchor Saturday and Sunday evenings and report during the week, News 13 General Manager Robin Smythe said.

He announced via Facebook that this Saturday will be his final day at NBC affiliate WNDU and that he had accepted an anchoring job in Orlando. He didn’t name the station, however….Cont….

(from OrlandoSentinel.com) – The ratings for rerun-heavy June aren’t as significant as those for May, when broadcast networks load up on big programs.

But there are still winners for June. The headline: ABC affiliate WFTV-Channel 9 won in many time slots, but competitors WOFL-Channel 35, WKMG-Channel 6 and WESH-Channel 2 had reasons to rejoice.

WESH almost pulled even with WFTV at 5 p.m. weekdays. WKMG actually beat WFTV at 5:30 a.m. and nearly tied at 5 a.m. after WFTV split up longtime anchor team Vanessa Echols and Greg Warmoth. And WOFL remained the leader at 10 p.m.

The stations focus on the 25-to-54 age group, which is most important to news advertisers.

WFTV was the leader in the crucial 6 and 11 p.m. time slots in the age group….Cont….