Florida News Center

(from MediaLife.com) – As one of the largest cities in the swing state of Florida, Miami is seeing a huge amount of political advertising. It is sold out on TV and radio ahead of the Nov. 6 election.

Even after the election the market will remain strong throughout the remainder of 2012 and into next year as advertisers who have been shut out of the cluttered and expensive political landscape return to the market

“This amount of political has caused many advertisers to look at inventory post-election, so demand will continue to be strong afterwards as well,” says Caitlin Zellmann, broadcast buyer at Haworth Marketing + Media…..Cont….

(from Sun-Sentinel.com) – Today’s forecast calls for heat and humidity, but look closer, there’s another weather trend developing: the rise of morning women meteorologists.

Of the six network-affiliated, English- and Spanish-language TV stations in the Fort Lauderdale-Miami market, five feature women meteorologists who design and deliver weather forecasts from predawn through noon in the country’s 16th largest market. WPLG-Ch. 10 has the lone male on the morning weather shift: Scott Padgett.

Although men still hold the key evening weather slots, the local morning dominance of female meteorologists reflects a steady increase in the number of women studying atmospheric sciences nationally….Cont….

Our friends at SFLTV.com report that Miami’s WTVJ 6 has decided to join in the helicopter sharing agreement that has already been in place with WFOR 4/WPLG 10/WSCV 51 since Jan 2010. One helicopter (formerly WPLG’s “Sky 10″) will now feed aerial video to all four stations. No details were given on how much say WTVJ has in aerial coverage provided.

WSVN is now the only station in the market to have its own helicopter, “Sky Force 7″.

Tampa stations WTVT 13, WTSP 10 and WFTS 28 have had a similar sharing agreement since Aug 2009, using WFTS’ helicopter (formerly known as “Action Air 1″). The “local news service” agreement first started with WTVT and WFTS in June 2009, with WTSP joining later in August.

(from TVNewsCheck.com) – The FCC’s approval of Comcast’s $13.75 billion takeover of NBCU requires the O&Os (including Miami’s WTVJ and WSCV) to air “thousands of additional hours of local news and information programming.” In addition, the agency said, some of the stations must enter into cooperative arrangements with locally focused nonprofit news organizations and they must provide free, on-demand local programming.

According to an FCC source, NBC and Telemundo stations must also air a fourth hour of children’s programming each week….Cont….

(edited from Yahoo.com) – The Federal Communications Commission and the Justice Department have voted to approve Comcast’s merger with NBC Universal, giving the cable and ISP giant majority ownership of NBC and its media properties (including Miami’s WTVJ NBC 6 and WSCV Telemuno 51) , including a piece of Hulu.

By a 4-1 vote, the FCC approved Comcast’s deal with General Electric, the current majority owner of NBC Universal. The Justice Department issued a similar statement declaring that the merger did not violate U.S. antitrust laws.

Under the deal, Comcast will acquire 51% of NBC Universal from General Electric Co. for approximately $13.75 billion. The deal, which has been in the works for over a year, should close before the end of the month….Cont….

Watch Brian Williams’/NBC’s response to the merger below

(from BroadcastingCable.com) – In some markets, the goal for a Spanish-language station is to beat the other Spanish-language station. In Miami-Fort Lauderdale, they aim for the overall No. 1 spot. Univision’s WLTV won Miami’s primetime, total day, early evening and late news in May—its 6.2 household rating/10.8 share at 11 bested Telemundo outlet WSCV’s 5.3/9.2. “Univision 23 stands firm in its commitment to inform, educate and entertain the Hispanic community in South Florida,” says Luis Fernandez-Rocha, Univision Southeast senior VP/regional director. “WLTV prides itself in being ‘the station of record’ for the Hispanic community in Miami.” The market is 46% Hispanic, according to BIA/Kelsey. Post-Newsweek’s ABC outlet WPLG won evening and late news among English-language stations, while Sunbeam’s Fox affiliate WSVN took overall mornings and was the top revenue earner with $89.2 million in 2008, per BIA/Kelsey….Cont….