Florida News Center

(from News-Press.com) - WINK-TV has a new reporter on staff. Lauren Pastrana is coming from WIOD-AM News Radio 610 in Miami, where she was an anchor and reporter. Football fans may be jealous to learn that Pastrana also has worked as a sideline reporter for the Miami Dolphins. At WINK, she’ll eventually take over as bureau chief in the station’s Charlotte County newsroom.

Over at WBBH NBC2, morning and noon anchorwoman Michelle Burdo is leaving to take a reporting and anchor position with WOFL-TV, the Fox station in the Orlando market. Her last day is set for Sept. 17.    —–      WBBH morning meteorologist Haley Webb made an exciting announcement on a recent 6 a.m. newscast. She and her husband, John, are expecting a baby boy in January. Congratulations to the happy family.

Former WINK-TV main anchorman Jim McLaughlin is returning to the fold in September when he takes a position with the new WINK News Radio. Starting Sept. 13, McLaughlin will anchor the 3 to 6 p.m. news on the new all-news radio station. WINK News Radio is found on 1200 AM and 1460 AM. The job came about after McLaughlin took a group of college students to the WINK studios. It was his first time back in five years and while his old friends Lois Thome and Jim Farrell were talking with the students, McLaughlin got talking with the station manager….Cont….

(edited from News-Press.com) - Good news for Katie LaGrone. The former WBBH NBC2 and WZVN ABC7 reporter recently moved to West Palm Beach after her husband, former NBC2 anchor Paul LaGrone, took a morning anchor job at WPBF.

Now comes word that Katie has landed a new TV job herself. She’s been hired as an investigative reporter at WPTV-TV, the local NBC station. The couple will find themselves competing against each other, but between his early a.m. hours and their toddler son, Jacob, this likely won’t be a problem.

(edited from News-Press.com) - One of the biggest changes on the horizon involves “Live! with Regis & Kelly.”. After many years on WZVN ABC7, the show will hop to WINK-TV later this month in the 9 a.m. time slot. WZVN is replacing “Live! with Regis & Kelly” with a new hourlong 9 a.m. newscast also premiering Aug. 23. Anchored by Chad Oliver and meteorologist John Patrick, the show aims to carry over the news audience that has been watching “Good Morning, America.”

WINK-TV reporter David Bodden is back at work after an extended sick leave. Earlier this summer, Bodden was at Disney World with his children when he fell ill. According to WINK managers, doctors discovered a previously unknown congenital heart defect. Bodden underwent open-heart surgery to replace an aortic valve. His recovery went well and we wish him smooth sailing now that he’s back on air.

Also at WINK, reporter Max Turnier has left the station to follow his wife to St. Louis, where she had a great career opportunity.

Finally, ABC7 weekend anchor Kelly Imrick is leaving to take a full-time teaching position at Fort Myers High School. She’ll be teaching television production, a fitting role indeed.

(from News-Press.com) - WZVN ABC7 is scheduled to launch an interesting experiment next Monday as well. Station managers are tweaking the way they present their morning news, known as ABC7 Gulfshore News.

The show runs from 5:30 to 7 a.m. and is anchored by the jovial Chad Oliver and meteorologist John Patrick. However, starting next Monday, the duo may play second fiddle to the graphics that appear on the screen.

Taking a cue from cable outlets such as CNBC, ABC7 is going to present a constant stream of information though the use of an “L-bar.” While the regular newscast will continue, it will be squeezed smaller on the screen so information such as breaking news, local headlines, county-by-county weather forecasts, traffic reports and national news can also appear….Cont….

(from News-Press.com) - Nearly everyone has heard of television ratings, but very few people are ever asked to participate in the polling that comes up with those magic numbers.

 That’s been a big beef for many in the TV industry — the small sampling size of the audience — and that’s about to change in Southwest Florida and across the nation.

In August, a company called Rentrak is preparing to launch a new television audience measuring service that will include some 55,000 households in our area. That’s the approximate number of homes here that use the Dish Network satellite system.

 Through Dish, Rentrak will be able to tell what shows are being watched in homes as well as other valuable information. The results are community-wide and anonymous.

“Not only will they know what channel is on, but it’s second-by-second tracking,” said Wayne Simons, the general manager at WINK-TV, which is subscribing to the new service. “We’ll be able to see when they are coming to WINK, where they are coming from and when they leave, where they are going.”….Cont….

(from News-Press.com) - Summer is normally a time to take it easy and relax, but managers at Waterman Broadcasting have shuffled staff around and given some folks new duties.

According to Darrel Lieze-Adams, who is the news director for WZVN ABC7 and WBBH NBC2, anchor Len Jennings (left) will fill in on the NBC2 4 p.m. newscast all summer. Meanwhile, anchor Craig Wolf (right) will fill in on the station’s 11 p.m. newscast.

These gentlemen are taking over the shows hosted by former NBC2 anchor Paul LaGrone, who recently left for West Palm Beach.

On top of that, Jennings will now solo anchor the ABC7 6 and 11 p.m. newscasts. His co-anchor, Stacey Deffenbaugh (left), has been moved to weekend mornings where she will anchor the ABC7 and NBC2 morning newscasts….Cont….

(from News-Press.com) - The May television ratings period has come and gone and in its wake, one station is rejoicing while another wonders what the heck went wrong.

WBBH NBC2 had a dominating performance in the news ratings, while the numbers fell off a cliff for arch-rival WINK-TV. The numbers are so bizarre that some are crying foul.

NBC2 wins the morning news, WINK wins the noon, NBC2 wins 5, 5:30 and 6 p.m. WINK takes the 7 p.m. and 11 p.m. Fox4 is strong at 10 p.m.

On the face of it, those numbers aren’t that remarkable. Sure, NBC2 winning the 5 and 5:30 p.m. news is a little unusual, considering WINK’s news has “The Oprah Winfrey Show” as a lead-in, but all in all, pretty typical.

Things get really strange only when you look at the “demo numbers,” meaning the demographics. These are the numbers that reflect viewers between the ages of 25 and 54. These are the viewers that advertisers target, so if you “win” the demos, you can sell commercial time for more than your competitors. It’s the true measure of who’s “winning” the news battle.

In the demos, NBC2 won or tied in every single newscast where they go head-to-head with WINK. While NBC2’s demo numbers were more or less steady or grew from a year ago, WINK’s fell sharply — down 35 percent at 5 p.m., 39 percent at 5:30 p.m., 32 percent at 6 p.m. and down a whopping 40 percent at 11 p.m….Cont….

(from News-Press.com) - The long static 6 p.m. news battle among WZVN ABC7, WBBH NBC2 and WINK-TV is getting a new contender come August. That’s when WFTX Fox4 jumps into the fray with an hourlong newscast anchored by main anchors Patrick Nolan and Amy Wegmann. Jim Syoen will handle weather duties.

For years now, WBBH NBC2 and WINK have gone back and forth as the leader at 6 p.m., with WZVN ABC7 in third. The addition of WFTX Fox4’s uniquely styled newscast into the mix could spice things up and jumble the ratings.

Fox4 has branded itself as a consumer advocacy station – “In Your Corner” – meaning its reporting is often focused on speaking up for viewers and helping them with their issues….Cont….

(from News-Press.com) - A familiar face is returning to the local television market – former WBBH NBC2 reporter and traffic anchor Chad Oliver is coming back as the new solo morning anchor on WZVN ABC7. NBC2 and ABC7 are sister stations, operating out of the same headquarters in Fort Myers. His arrival means anchorwoman Stacey Deffenbaugh can quit working a split shift and focus on ABC7’s evening newscasts.

(from News-Press.com) – Winter’s chill has come and gone, and so too has the annual February sweeps, when television audiences are measured. The final ratings are out for local stations and here’s a look at how local newscasts stacked up against each other.

Most ratings periods, there is little movement year after year. But this time around, there are a few interesting things to note.

 At 6 a.m., WBBH NBC2 still maintains a strong lead over second-place WINK, which saw a sudden drop from a year ago. The main difference I can think of compared to last year is the departure of anchorwoman Sarah Augusthy.

 In the 5 p.m. hour, NBC2 beats WINK, something that has rarely happened over the past decade or more I have been watching these numbers….Cont….