Florida News Center

(from Examiner.com) – On Monday, January 14th, an administrator of the official Facebook page for WKRG-TV posted a message on the page welcoming Peter Albrecht to the news department of the station after he was rehired by the station recently. According to the professional Facebook page for Peter Albrecht, he was hired for the positions of investigative reporter and news presenter for the station’s 5:00 p.m. newscast.

Peter Albrecht was originally employed by WKRG-TV from 1990 to 2000. His primary jobs during his original tenure were presenting news and sports reports for the station’s weekend newscasts (from 1990 to 1996) and presenting news reports for the station’s 5:00 p.m. newscasts from Monday through Friday (from 1996 to 2000)….Cont….

With less than a week until the 2012 Ölympics (in London this year, for those who might be in a coma) begin, Florida NBC affiliates have dusted off and polished their own gold. Check out the NBC Ölympic custom affiliate logos below.

WFLA – Tampa	WTVJ – Miami	WESH – Orlando
WPTV – West Palm Beach	WTLV – Jacksonville	WPMI – Pensacola
WBBH – Fort Myers	WJHG – Panama City	WNBW – Gainesville
WTWC – Tallahassee

 ***This post is for educational, informational and archival purposes only. Florida News Center does not intend to infringe on any copyrights claimed by the International Olympic Committee, NBCUniversal/Comcast or NBC affiliates. This post is for educational, informational an archival purposes only.***

(edited from TVNewsCheck.com) – Confirming a Wall Street Journal story yesterday, Newport Television today announced that it is selling 22 of its 27 full-power stations to three buyers — Nexstar Broadcasting Group, Sinclair Broadcast Group Inc. and Cox Media Group — for a total of approximately $1 billion.

Providence Equity Partners, the private equity firm that owns Newport, announced last March it was looking to unload the station group. It bought the stations from Clear Channel Communications in 2007 for just over $1.1 billion

Cox Media Group comes out with four stations in two markets, including Jacksonville’s WTEV-TV and WAWS-TV, for an undisclosed price.

Sinclair Broadcast Group is getting six stations in five markets, including Mobile/Pensacola’s WPMI-TV and WJTC-TV, for $412.5 million….Cont….

(edited from RBR.com) – Providence Equity Partners formed Newport Television LLC and acquired radio giant Clear Channel’s television assets about four years ago for a bit more than $1B, and now it’s said to be exploring its options for the group (including Jacksonville’s WTEV/WAWS and Mobile’s WPMI/WJTV). Prominent among those options is selling it.

The group, guided by Sandy DiPasquale, consists of 56 stations in 20 markets. In the mix are affiliates of a full menu of national networks, including ABC, NBC, CBS, FOX, CW, MyNetwork and Telemundo. The group operates numerous digital multicasts, and also has SSAs with various stations which are under separate ownership. The possible sale was noted in a Reuters report.

According to the group’s 2008 release describing its transaction with Clear Channel, it paid $1.012B for the group, including $260M in equity….Cont….

(from Examiner.com) - WALA-TV has plans to begin producing local newscasts in high definition by April when construction on a new set for local newscasts is scheduled to be complete. Until then, all local newscasts from the station would be presented from a temporary set. The temporary set has been used for the newscasts since Saturday, March 3rd.

The plan to begin producing local newscasts in high definition was mentioned in several messages posted on the WALA-TV Facebook page in response to comments about the temporary newscast set from visitors of the page. The responses were attributed to Andrew Perez, a reporter for WALA-TV.

WPMI-TV has plans to produce local newscasts in high definition by the spring also. WEAR-TV and WKRG-TV have the ability to produce local newscasts in high definition all ready….Cont….

Florida News Center has learned that Bob Dunn, the general manager of Mobile’s WPMI-TV died suddenly Tuesday afternoon. Sources tell us that he suffered an apparent heart attack and was found dead in his office.

Dunn had been with the station for less than a year. He joined WPMI in April 2011, filling the seat previously held by Shea Grandquist, who was pulled from his GM duties in Feb 2011.

VP of operations, Michael DiPasquale tells TVNewsCheck.com:  “We are shocked and deeply saddened with Bob’s passing.  Bob was a valuable member of the Newport Television family but more importantly he was a wonderful person, an absolute gentleman and a great family man.”

Florida News Center received word that Dunn was very well liked at WPMI and had made great strides toward improving ratings at the station. Stay tuned for further information…

(edited from Lagniappe.com) – Insiders at WPMI-TV are saying Vice President/General Manager Shea Grandquest was removed on Wednesday from his position running the NBC affiliate.

Multiple employees at WPMI confirmed that they were informed by management this morning that Grandquest had been removed and was no longer employed by the station or by Newport Television. Insiders say they were not given a reason for Grandquest’s departure from WPMI and its sister station WJCT.

He was named VP and GM in October 2008 after serving as sales manager for the stations. Prior to that he held sales management positions in New Orleans, Nashville and Orlando….Cont….

(from Examiner.com) – On Wednesday, Angela Martin began her first morning newscast for WPMI-TV as a news presenter since the station hired her after advertising her position in places such as the jobs section of the World Wide Web site of the Alabama Broadcasters Association. Her fellow morning news presenter is Pat Greenwood, whose previous partner Varion Walton was terminated by the station for reasons undisclosed due to a policy against discussing personnel issues in public.

Sources tell Florida News Center that WPMI morning anchor and investigative reporter Varion Walton was fired Friday. No reason was given for her firing and her replacement has not yet been named.

Walton joined the Mobile station in 2006 from Huntsville’s WAFF-TV. Walton is a past recipient of the Edward R. Murrow Award for her series on WPMI, “Getting Out Alive.” Stay tuned for further updates.

Sources tell Florida News Center that the digital billboard “snafu” from earlier this week, has caused quite a stir at Mobile’s WPMI. Newport Television, the owners of WPMI, have suspeneded General Manager Shea Grandquest and News Director Wes Finley for one week, without pay. The picture below has circulated the Internet, after being posted on Twitter by a driver in the Mobile area. Stay tuned to FNC for any further updates.