Check out this picture below, posted by WFTS’ Ashely Glass, as one of the station’s microwave/sate vans catches fire. According to Glass, the Dodge Sprinter ENG unit became engulfed in flames for no apparent reason. Photojournalist Tony Jacobson and reporter Ryan Raiche were able to get out in time and no one was hurt.
(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….
(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….
(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.
(from BroadcastingCable.com) – Meteorologists from across the country will compete against each other for charity on Thursday, Nov. 8, on Warner Bros.’ Let’s Ask America, which currently airs on 14 Scripps-owned TV stations.
WMGH Denver’s Lisa Hidalgo, WFTS Tampa’s Denis Phillips, WCPO Cincinnati’s Steve Raleigh and WRTV Indianapolis’ Ashley Brown all will play to raise money for the American Red Cross and those in need due to Hurricane Sandy.
Hosted by Kevin Pereira, Let’s Ask America airs weekdays and weekends in Tampa and Cincinnati and on weekends in Denver and Indianapolis. The show features contestants playing from home via Skype. To win, players have to correctly predict the majority response to various poll topics….
(from BizJournals.com) – Starting Oct. 15, CBS-owned WBBM-Channel 2 will have one more newsman reporting on the street. Jeff Kiernan, the station’s new director, said he has hired Chris Martinez as a general assignment reporter.
Since 2003, Martinez has been a reporter and substitute anchor for WFTS-Channel 28, the ABC affiliate in Tampa, Fla. While in Tampa, Martinez was lucky enough to cover many high-profile national news stories, including the Space Shuttle program, the Terri Schiavo case and most recently, the shooting death of Trayvon Martin….Cont….
(from WFTS Press Release) – WFTS has named Bill McFarland news director for the Tampa Bay area multimedia news provider. McFarland joins the ABC Action News team from WABC-TV, the ABC owned television station in New York City where he is the assistant news director.
McFarland has held key leadership positions in newsrooms around the country, including New York City, Washington D.C., Hartford, and Philadelphia. He has also lectured at top American universities on topics such as multimedia newsgathering, storytelling for journalists, ethics and news operations. (from WFTS Press Release)
McFarland replaces Doug Culver, who left the station this past June. Assistant News Director Susan D’Astoli has been running the show since Culver’s departure. However, now that the Republican National Convention is over, she is leaving the station to become News Director at KJRH-TV in Tulsa, OK.
(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.***
Viewers in the Tampa market may have noticed several changes on WFTS. The station debuted a new graphics and news music package on Friday this week. The new graphics/music are the same that ones that were introduced at WFTS’ sister station, WPTV late last month. Sources tell us to keep an eye out for minor (potential) set changes to correspond to the new graphics package. Will this new graphics package filter down to other Scripps owned stations around the country? Only time will tell.
Check out the new graphics/music below and the new newscast intro c/o of FNC on YouTube…
