Florida News Center

(from OrlandoSentinel.com) – As the beleaguered church leader was whisked away from journalists outside the Lake County Jail, WFTV-Channel 9 reporter Kenneth Moton yanked his cameraman from the rolling wheels of the getaway vehicle and WESH-Channel 2 newsman Bob Kealing shattered the pickup truck’s windshield with his fist.

Documented by shaky video and court depositions, the chaos surrounding Laura Maria Caballero’s release from jail Feb. 18 after she was accused of taking a 2-year-old girl without her parents’ permission helped prosecutors decide they couldn’t prove the nun’s driver broke the law.

“He committed no crime,” said Ron Fox, a Umatilla lawyer defending Andrew Hendrick, 33, who was scheduled for trial this week on a felony charge of leaving the scene of an injury accident. “He had no idea anyone was hurt.”

Louis Bonnell, a photojournalist with WFTV, and Angel “Ray” Cordero, a photojournalist with WOFL-Fox 35, were both struck by the pickup truck and injured. They were treated at the scene by the jail’s medical staff….Cont….

(from OrlandoSentinel.com) – Marc Middleton made a bold move in late 2005 when he quit his anchor job at WESH News Channel 2 after working there more than 15 years.

The 58-year-old Altamonte Springs resident said he realized broadcast journalism was becoming less about storytelling and more about short, event-driven sound bites.

And that drove him to create The Bolder Media Group that year, focusing on a market mostly ignored by media: people age 50 and older.

That decision now is paying off for The Bolder Media Group, whose The Growing Bolder TV Show, which has aired in Orlando for the past two years, is going national this fall. That’s thanks to a new deal inked with American Public Television, the major distributor of content for PBS affiliates nationwide. (from OrlandoSentinel.com)

(from OrlandoSentinel.com) – The Florida Department of Transportation watched television coverage  of an I-4 accident Friday morning — and didn’t like what it saw.

Steve Olson, a spokesman for the department’s District 5, issued a release cautioning the stations. He sympathized with the station’s difficulties in covering such stories — Olson used to report for WFTV-Ch. 9 — but he reminded reporters and their bosses about the dangers.

Olson wrote: “Please keep your distance from the travel lanes, especially on the Interstates. Please don’t have lights shining toward oncoming traffic. Please don’t be a distraction.”

And he had this warning: “We don’t want to resort to law enforcement, if we do not have to — since they are busy trying to clear the road and maintain traffic order/flow.”

Olson listed specific complaints – from the district construction engineer — about Friday’s coverage. They were:…Cont….

(from OrlandoSentinel.com) – Those repetitive and negative political commercials have been mighty annoying to viewers slogging through a recession.

But the campaign spending has been awfully good news for local TV stations rebounding from hard times.

“It’s been much bigger than other political years,” said Shawn Bartelt, general manager of WFTV-Channel 9 and WRDQ-Channel 27. “This has been the most active primary season I’ve ever experienced in all my years in television.”

Aubrey Jewett, a political science professor at the University of Central Florida, concurs. “For a primary election season, it is the biggest volume of ads and the largest amount of negative ads that I have seen in my 23 years of living in Florida,” he said. “It’s negative ads on steroids this particular primary season.”

Station bosses say spending started earlier than usual this year, and they cite two races for making the big difference this primary season: the Democratic one for U.S. Senate and the Republican one for Florida governor….Cont….

(from OrlandoSentinel.com) – ABC affiliate WFTV-Ch. 9 is crowing that it’s “Central Florida’s News Leader,” and the ratings for July back up the claim.

The ratings period ended Wednesday,  and the results released this morning reveal that WFTV has the edge in the 25-to-54 age group most important to news advertisers. NBC affiliate WESH-Ch. 2 ran second in most other news time slots.

WFTV’s lead was evident at 6 p.m., when it averaged 37,000 viewers in the crucial age group. WESH placed second with 17,500 viewers. CBS affiliate WKMG-Ch. 6 drew 9,900 with its hour newscast. Fox-owned WOFL-Ch. 35 pulled in 9,600….Cont….

CFN13 is a ratings player

(from OrlandoSentinel.com) – Where does Bright House Networks’ Central Florida News 13 figure in the ratings?

Readers often ask, and here’s a look at how the cable news channel competed with the broadcast stations in the July ratings period, which ended Wednesday.

These ratings for the 25-to-54 age group were released Thursday:

6 a.m.: WFTV-Ch. 9 averaged 28,000, WESH-Channel 2 averaged 15,500 (and the same news drew an additional 2,800 on WKCF-Ch. 18), Central Florida News 13 averaged 12,400, WKMG-Ch. 6 averaged 10,300, WOFL-Ch. 35 averaged 8,400….Cont….

(from OrlandoSentinel.com) - The July sweeps ratings period starts today. Maybe you’ve noticed the increased promotion for special reports.

The news for the June ratings period, which ended Wednesday, echoed the results in other recent months. ABC affiliate WFTV-Ch. 9 was tops in morning, at noon, in early evening and in late news. NBC affiliate WESH-Ch. 2 ran second in most news time slots.

WFTV highlighted its dominance in time slots. WESH said it was edging closer to WFTV and pulling away from WKMG-Ch. 6 and WOFL-Ch. 35. WESH also said its 4 p.m. had pulled ahead of “The Oprah Winfrey Show” in total viewers — Winfrey was in reruns.

These results are based on the 25-to-54 age group, which is most important to advertisers. Here’s how the stations placed in some important time slots….Cont….

(from OrlandoSentinel.com) - Although he has a major role in the headline-making Casey Anthony case, Judge Belvin Perry revealed today that he doesn’t watch TV news. 

He isn’t alone. During May, Central Florida’s four 6 o’clock weeknight newscasts were seen in an average 17 percent of the market’s homes. Even more startling: The broadcasts reached only 5.3 percent of the 25-to-54 age group, the one most sought by advertisers.

At 11 weeknights in May, the newscasts averaged 16 percent of households, yet drew only 7.2 percent of the 25-to-54 age group.

Those numbers may be meager, but local TV executives champion their business with several explanations, including changing technology, new methods of measuring viewership and even the weather.

WFTV-Channel 9 General Manager Shawn Bartelt says figures for earlier newscasts need to be added to the 6 p.m. numbers to give a more accurate picture, because viewers don’t watch news nonstop.

“You just can’t look at 6 o’clock, because people tuned at 5, 5:30,” she said. “Some people were watching the 4 p.m. news.”….Cont….

WESH reporter Amanda Ober and photographer Scott Pisczek got more than they expected, when the Wizarding World of Harry Potter opened its doors to the public at Universal’s Islands of Adventure on Friday. Ober and Pisczek were covering the inagural day and were treated to quite the scary ride on the “Foribben Journey” roller coaster. Read on below (edited) c/o WESH.com….

There was at least one minor glitch at the new World of Harry Potter, and WESH 2 News had a front-row seat.

Reporter Amanda Ober and photographer Scott Pisczek were on the new ride, “Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey,” when the ride stopped as the passengers were left in an awkward position.

 ”Help! We are totally stuck,” Ober could be heard saying in cell phone video. “The ride has stopped, and we’re in an upside-down position.”

They were stuck on their backs for about five minutes until the ride started back up.

Universal said the Forbidden Journey experienced some minor glitches, but no one was hurt. 

(edited from OrlandoSentinel.com) – WFTV was the news ratings leader in early morning, at noon, in early evening and in late night.

The station’s strength was particularly evident at 6 p.m. on weeknights; it averaged 128,500 households. WFTV was far ahead of WESH-Channel 2 (68,300 homes), WKMG-Channel 6 (27,400) and WOFL-Channel 35 (23,900).

WFTV also had a clear edge in reaching the 25-to-54 age group at 6. WFTV averaged 40,100 viewers in that age group to WESH’s 15,700, WKMG’s 11,300 and WOFL’s 10,800.

At 11 weeknights in the 25-to-54 age group, WFTV pulled in 42,200 viewers. It had a healthy lead over WKMG (27,900), WESH (21,200) and WOFL (15,500).

WOFL was tops at 10 weeknights in the 25-to-54 category. The Fox station drew 27,700 viewers. The WFTV news on sister station WRDQ-Channel 27 was the choice of 16,500. The WESH news on sister station WKCF-Channel 18 had 8,700 viewers.

(from OrlandoSentinel.com) – WFTV-Channel 9 was the victor in most news time slots. WESH-Channel 2 was No. 2 most of the way, although WKMG-Channel 6 took the silver medal several times, including at noon.

The race was tight in late news, when network lineups are crucial in delivering viewers. WESH was at a disadvantage because NBC’s prime time ran fourth locally in total viewers and in the 25-to-54 age group.

CBS on WKMG was easily the most-watched network. But Fox-owned WOFL-Channel 35 was the favorite of the 25-to-54 age group, thanks to the strength of “American Idol.”  In both counts, ABC on WFTV placed second, bolstered by “Dancing With the Stars,” the market’s favorite TV show.….Cont….