Florida News Center

(portions from WWSB.com) – ABC 7 (WWSB-TV) is pleased to announce the appointment of broadcast executive Steven Soldinger as Vice President & General Manager.

Soldinger, who has managed several television stations and owned and operated a radio station, comes to ABC 7 from Norfolk, Virginia, where he served as Vice President & General Manager of WGNT, Norfolk; WUPA, Atlanta; and WTOG, Tampa, all CBS Television stations. His appointment at ABC 7, the Suncoast’s top-ranked news station, is effective immediately.

“I am delighted to join the team at ABC 7 and make the move to the Suncoast,” said Soldinger. “WWSB is a dynamic, progressive television station with an excellent news operation and deep commitment to serving the Suncoast community. I look forward to working with the staff and leading the station to exciting new heights.”…Cont…

Soldinger fills the void left by former VP/GM Jeff Whitson. As Florida News Center reported back in August, Whitson left the station to join a local broadcasting company. What changes will Soldinger bring to WWSB? Stay tuned to Florida News Center for the latest.

Florida News Center has learned that VP/general manager, Jeff Whitson is leaving Sarasota’s WWSB-TV. Whitson informed station staff via an e-mail last week (read on at the bottom of the story), that he is leaving to become Vice-President of broadcasting at TelAmerica Media. He will stay on at the station until Aug 15th. Until a replacement is found, Ken Long will assume the role as acting VP/GM.

As Florida News Center reported at the time, Whitson joined WWSB in April of 2010. He came from Jacksonville duopoly WTEV/WAWS. Stay tuned to Florida News Center for future details.

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(from MediaBistro.com) – Hayley Wielgus made her WWSB debut on Monday, joining the Sarasota ABC-affiliate’s morning and noon newscasts. Wielgus, who comes to WWSB from KYTX in Tyler, TX, will anchor the station’s daytime newscasts alongside veteran meteorologist John Scalzi, who recently renewed his contract.

“I am delighted to welcome Hayley to the Suncoast’s #1 news team,” exclaimed Jeff Whitson, WWSB’s vice president and general manager, in making the announcement. “I know that she and John will make a great team, and I’m very excited and optimistic about the future of our morning, and noon, broadcasts.”

Wielgus is replacing Linda Carson, who anchored WWSB’s morning and noon newscasts for the past year. Carson is now working as a senior reporter and fill-in anchor with the station….Cont….

Kimberly Curth moves to a reporter at WSMV in Nashville. She was previously a weekend anchor and reporter at WKRG in Mobile, AL.

Erin Guy will leave KOCO in Oklahoma City to be a reporter for WPBF in Palm Beach.

KYTX in Tyler, TX, will say goodbye to Hayley Wielgus, who was a weekend anchor and reporter. She moves to WWSB in Sarasota, FL.

Miguel Amante, a former anchor and reporter at KXTX-39-Telemundo in Dallas, is joining Central Florida News 13 in Orlando as a multi-media journalist and producer for the cable channel’s CFN13 En Español. He starts July 5.

//hattip to MediaBistro

Viewers watching Sarasota’s WWSB today may have noticed a few changes. The station unveiled a new graphics package and slogan, “We’re here for you” (which yours truly finds slightly creepy for whatever reason).

Astute readers of Florida News Center quickly guessed that the new graphics are from Florida TV broadcast graphics house, Giant Octopus. Check out the new graphics below.

Meredith Garofalo is the new weekend meteorologist and reporter at Sarasota’s WWSB. She comes to WWSB from WTOL-TV in Toldeo, OH. Her first official day at WWSB was Feb 28th.

(edited from WWSB.TV) – WWSB ABC 7 Sports Director Don Brennan is currently appearing in the “webisode” series for ABC’s hit comedy, Cougar Town. The series is called “Andy’s Dreams” and is now on ABC.com. Brennan will also appear in an on-air episode of Cougar Town that is scheduled to air nationally on Wednesday, April 27th.

Because Cougar Town takes place in the fictional town of Gulfhaven in Sarasota County, the show’s producers contacted ABC 7 executives about using the station’s sportscaster for an upcoming on-air episode and webisode. In each of these, Brennan plays a sports anchor who covers the disastrous golf outings of Bobby Cobb (played by Brian Van Holt), the former semi-pro golfer and ex-husband of Jules Cobb (played by Courteney Cox). Brennan taped both the on-air episode and webisode for Cougar Town in ABC 7′s Sarasota news studio on January 27th. “It was a kick playing a sportscaster—a role that wasn’t too much of a stretch for me,” Brennan joked. “In all seriousness, shooting this footage for Cougar Town was great fun for me and our crew. We’re very happy that we didn’t end up on the cutting room floor!” Vice President and General Manager Jeff Whitson said, “We are delighted that ABC gave us the opportunity to tie in with one of their top-rated sitcoms—particularly since Cougar Town takes place in a fictional town on Florida’s Suncoast.” He added, “The show’s producers said Don did a great job with this, and we’re looking forward to his appearance in the on-air episode of Cougar Town, which is scheduled to air nationally on Wednesday, April 27th.”….Cont….

(from WECT.com) – Max Winitz is headed home.

The reporter and weekend anchor is taking a similar job at WWSB-TV in Sarasota, Florida. His last day at WECT is Thursday.

The Miami native began his broadcasting career with WECT in June 2007. Since then, Max has worked on many memorable stories. His favorites include: Covering the Inauguration of Barack Obama in Washington, traveling on board the USS Gravely from Jacksonville, Florida to Wilmington, and being a part of the 1st Southeastern North Carolina Honor Flight to our Nation’s Capital….Cont….

(from TampaBay.com) - Included as part of the Tampa/St. Petersburg TV market, it’s a tough region to cover continuously without a specifically assigned reporter. And many news outlets don’t have the resources to send one reporter south.

But St. Petersburg CBS affiliate WTSP-Ch. 10 seems to have found a way around that problem, announcing a news partnership with Sarasota ABC affiliate WWSB-Ch. 40 that involves sharing breaking news stories.

According to their release, “WWSB, the ABC affiliate serving Sarasota and Manatee Counties, will stand ready to provide 10 News with immediate coverage of important breaking news within their viewing area.  10 News, located in St. Petersburg, will reciprocate, providing ABC 7 News with immediate coverage of breaking news within the Tampa/St. Petersburg area that would be of interest to viewers in Sarasota and Manatee Counties.”….Cont….

(edited from WWSB Press Release) – Jeff Whitson, Vice President and General Manager of WWSB-TV, announced today that Gene Ross has been hired as News Director of ABC 7.  Ross will join the station on June 15th, 2010.  Gene Ross brings a wealth of television news experience to ABC 7, having been a News Director in Jacksonville, FL, Albany, NY, Las Vegas, NV, Fresno, CA, Bakersfield, CA, and Assistant News Director at KGO ABC 7 in San Francisco during his 30 year news career.  
 
Ross has been credited with successfully improving news operations and ratings at a number of the news departments under his management, including KLAS-TV CBS 8 in Las Vegas and WXXA-TV FOX23 News in Albany, NY where Ross and Whitson worked together.  Whitson said, “I have all the confidence in the world in Gene Ross and his ability to take ABC 7 News to the next level.  We share the same vision and commitment to serving the community with quality news and weather coverage on-air and online.”
 
Ross said, “I’m excited to be joining WWSB-TV where covering local news is a top priority, and I’m looking forward to living and working on the Suncoast.”