Florida News Center

(from OrlandoSentinel.com) – WKMG anchor Matt Austin suffered a severe concussion and required 10 staples in the head last month after his car was totaled by a texting driver.

On the 11 p.m. Monday news, Austin issued a call to action about texting, reported that the driver didn’t receive a ticket and highlighted that penalties in Florida are light. Because the officer didn’t see the other driver texting, that information wasn’t in the accident report, Austin said.

The anchor said it was his mission to drive change about an “impotent texting law.” Read the rest of this entry →

It is still a slow news week in FL TV, so watch the video below as WKMG’er’s yack it up in the video below. The WKMG crew is talking about how anchor Matt Austin was named as a finalist in People magazine’s “Sexiest Anchors in America.” The honor finally went to Mike Woods of WNYW-TV in NY, NY.

Worth noting, former WFTS’er Bob Kendrick was also a finalist in this list. Kendrick now anchors at WSYX-TV in Columbus, OH.

(from OrlandoSentinel.com) – WKMG-Channel 6 has hired a morning anchor from Kansas City, Mo.

David Hall will join the CBS affiliate on June 23 and start co-anchoring with Bridgett Ellison from 5 to 7 a.m. weekdays after June 30.

He has worked as a weekend anchor and reporter at KMBC, the ABC affiliate in Kansas City. Hall has worked as reporter in Savannah, Ga.; Pittsburgh; and Secaucus, N.J. He also has worked in Philadelphia, where he provided color commentary for the Philadelphia Phoenix, the men’s ultimate team there….Cont….

(from OrlandoSentinel.com) – Longing to be with his family in Seattle, WKMG-Channel 6 anchor Gaard Swanson (right #1) is departing the CBS affiliate after three years. Swanson said a short farewell on the 5 p.m. news Friday.

“I counted up my round trips. I think it was 73 from Orlando to Seattle,” Swanson, 52, told me Friday. “It was quite the trek, but worth it. I had a good run in Orlando. I’m in love with the city and the weather.”

Starting Monday, morning anchor Matt Austin (right #2) will replace Swanson at 5, 6 and 11 p.m.

Swanson said he talked to WKMG General Manager Skip Valet a long time about leaving. “He totally understood my situation,” Swanson said. “I asked for a Christmas present. I wanted to be home with my children.”

He has four children, ages 22, 16, 6 and 5….Cont….

(from OrlandoSentinel.com) – WKMG-Channel 6 anchor Laura Diaz said farewell to viewers this morning. She’s leaving the business.

But the business goes on, and come Monday morning, WKMG viewers will see a new anchor team.

Matt Austin is joining the station from KOKH in Oklahoma City. He replaces Erick Weber, who left the station to take a morning anchor job at New England Cable News in Boston….Cont….