Florida News Center

Sources tell Florida News Center that WWSB general manager Steve Soldinger announced that he was resigning his post at the Sarasota station. The announcement came during a staff meeting last Thursday. No reason was given for Soldinger’s sudden departure.

Soldinger joined WWSB in Oct 2011, replacing former VP/GM Jeff Whitson. Whitson left WWSB in Aug 2011 to join a local area broadcasting company.

There is no word in who will replace Soldinger. Stay tuned to Florida News Center for the latest.

(portions from WWSB.com) – ABC 7 (WWSB-TV) is pleased to announce the appointment of broadcast executive Steven Soldinger as Vice President & General Manager.

Soldinger, who has managed several television stations and owned and operated a radio station, comes to ABC 7 from Norfolk, Virginia, where he served as Vice President & General Manager of WGNT, Norfolk; WUPA, Atlanta; and WTOG, Tampa, all CBS Television stations. His appointment at ABC 7, the Suncoast’s top-ranked news station, is effective immediately.

“I am delighted to join the team at ABC 7 and make the move to the Suncoast,” said Soldinger. “WWSB is a dynamic, progressive television station with an excellent news operation and deep commitment to serving the Suncoast community. I look forward to working with the staff and leading the station to exciting new heights.”…Cont…

Soldinger fills the void left by former VP/GM Jeff Whitson. As Florida News Center reported back in August, Whitson left the station to join a local broadcasting company. What changes will Soldinger bring to WWSB? Stay tuned to Florida News Center for the latest.

Florida News Center has learned that VP/general manager, Jeff Whitson is leaving Sarasota’s WWSB-TV. Whitson informed station staff via an e-mail last week (read on at the bottom of the story), that he is leaving to become Vice-President of broadcasting at TelAmerica Media. He will stay on at the station until Aug 15th. Until a replacement is found, Ken Long will assume the role as acting VP/GM.

As Florida News Center reported at the time, Whitson joined WWSB in April of 2010. He came from Jacksonville duopoly WTEV/WAWS. Stay tuned to Florida News Center for future details.

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(edited from WWSB Press Release) – Jeff Whitson, Vice President and General Manager of WWSB-TV, announced today that Gene Ross has been hired as News Director of ABC 7.  Ross will join the station on June 15th, 2010.  Gene Ross brings a wealth of television news experience to ABC 7, having been a News Director in Jacksonville, FL, Albany, NY, Las Vegas, NV, Fresno, CA, Bakersfield, CA, and Assistant News Director at KGO ABC 7 in San Francisco during his 30 year news career.  
 
Ross has been credited with successfully improving news operations and ratings at a number of the news departments under his management, including KLAS-TV CBS 8 in Las Vegas and WXXA-TV FOX23 News in Albany, NY where Ross and Whitson worked together.  Whitson said, “I have all the confidence in the world in Gene Ross and his ability to take ABC 7 News to the next level.  We share the same vision and commitment to serving the community with quality news and weather coverage on-air and online.”
 
Ross said, “I’m excited to be joining WWSB-TV where covering local news is a top priority, and I’m looking forward to living and working on the Suncoast.”

Our friends at NewsBlues.com report that General Manager Jeff Whitson has been abruptly fired from Jacksonville’s WTEV/WAWS.  No reason was given for Whitson’s dismal from the duopoly. In a recent article by the Times-Union, Whitson commented that WTEV had seen a recent decrease in ratings. However, WTEV and WAWS had won the 10pm and 11pm times slots for the first time since their news departments were created/combined in 2002 (as we reported in November). Stay tuned for information on who will take over the GM position.