Did Meteorologist Quit Florida Station After Being Passed Over For Chief?

Dave Cocchiarella
(Courtesy: News13)

Meteorologist Dave Cocchiarella, a familiar face in many Orlando households for more than a decade, left Central Florida News 13 last week, according to Florida News Center.

The cable-only station, owned by Bright House Networks, released this short statement:

“Dave Cocchiarella chose to no longer be with News 13. We wish him the best in his future endeavors.”

Speculation about why he left continues, though.

ND-Like Position Wanted at Orlando Station

In what is fast-becoming the race to figure out what newsroom management titles should consist of (thank you, consultants), Central Florida News 13 has announced it’s looking for a Senior Director of News, according to industry firm Rick Gevers.

There’s no word from the station as to where Stephen Chavarie, the station’s current senior DN, will go from here. He was promoted to this position a year ago, and had been with Central Florida News 13 for the better part of a decade. Will he stay?

Everything You Wanted To Know About Florida’s Broadcast Television Markets

The Sunshine State certainly has its share of TV stations/personnel. Along with California and Texas, it has more media markets than any other state in the U.S.: ten in all.

• At the top of the list, Tampa-St. Petersburg (Sarasota), ranked #13 from this year’s Nielsen compilation. Stations include:  WFLA (NBC), WTSP (CBS), WTVT (FOX), WFTS (ABC) and Bay News 9 (IND). Both WTVT and WFLA compete heavily for the number one newscast in the Tampa market. All major affiliates have high-definition newscasts.
• Second in line: Miami-Ft. Lauderdale, at 16th. Stations include: WFOR (CBS), WTVJ (NBC), WSVN (FOX), WPLG (ABC) and WSFL (CW). All major affiliates’ newscasts are broadcast in high definition.
• The state’s third Top 25-rated market is Orlando-Daytona Beach-Melbourne, at #18. Stations in this market include: WESH (NBC), WKMG (CBS), WFTV (ABC), WRDQ (IND), WOFL (FOX) and Central Florida News 13 (IND). Though heated, WFTV typically wins the ratings war in central Florida. Only WKMG’s newscasts are not in high definition, instead broadcasting in 16:9 standard definition.
• West Palm Beach-Ft. Pierce is #38 on the list, according to Nielsen. Stations in this market include: WPTV (NBC), WPEC (CBS), WPBF (ABC), WFLX (FOX), WTVX (CW) and WTCN (MyTV). WPTV regularly wins the ratings war as the highest-rated station in the market.  All stations air newscasts in high definition.
• Jacksonville follows the list at #48, the fifth Top 50 market in the state of Florida. Stations here include: WJXT (independent), WTLV (NBC), WCWJ (CW), WJXX (ABC), WAWS (FOX) and WTEV (CBS).  WJXT has consistently been first in the ratings war since 2008. All stations have newscasts in high definition.
• Next on the list is a market that is shared with south Alabama: Mobile-Pensacola (Ft. Walton Beach). The hyphenated market ranks 59th among Nielsen markets nationwide. Stations include: WEAR (ABC), WKRG (CBS), WALA (FOX), WPMI (NBC) WFGX (MyTV) and WFNA (CW). All stations air newscasts in high definition.
• Slide down three spots, and you come to Ft. Myers-Naples, #62. Stations in this market include: WINK (CBS), WBBH (NBC), WZVN (ABC), WFTX (FOX) and WXCW (CW). WINK has been the dominant ratings leader in the area for decades. Only WFTX does not air newscasts in high definition.
• Tallahassee-Thomasville shares its market with southeastern Georgia. It’s market No. 106, according to Nielsen statistics. Stations in this market include: WCTV (CBS), WSWG (MyTV), WTLF (CW), WTXL (ABC), WTWC (NBC) and WTLH (FOX). WCTV, WSWG and WTXL broadcast newscasts in high definition.
• Panama City comes in at No. 154 in the Nielsen rankings. Stations here include: WTVY (CBS), WJHG (NBC), WMBB (ABC) and WPGX (FOX). WTVY leads the ratings war because of a larger coverage area. None of the stations in this market airs high-definition newscasts; WJHG airs newscasts in 16:9 enhanced standard definition.
• Gainesville is the last market in Florida, at #162. Stations include: WNBW (NBC), WCJB (ABC), WMYG (MyTV), WOGX (FOX) and WGFL (CBS). WCJB leads the market in ratings. WCJB, WNBW, WGFL and WMYG have newscasts airing in high-definition; all of the newscasts are produced by the Independent News Network based in Davenport, Iowa.

(Above updated February 1, 2015)

That covers another one of several states we’ll be covering. If you work for one of these affiliates and have news about new hires, on-air graphic updates, HD overhauls, or anything that would be of interest to this local news blog, please let us know.. I’m not necessarily talking about station gossip, but that works, too. If someone uttered a profane word on-air, for example, that’d be something. Station sales, downsizing, things like that are also newsworthy. You can do so anonymously, of course, but have to prove you work for the station in question for credibility purposes by sending us an email to southtvnewser@gmail.com.

Report: Two Florida TV Stations to Get New NDs

Indiana-based firm Rick Gevers & Associates reports in its weekly newsletter that Stephen Chavarie will replace Sean McNamara as news director for Central Florida News 13 in Orlando. McNamara had been the ND at the cable news channel for the last four years.

Farther north in Jacksonville, WJXT-TV is gaining a news director as well. Kathryn Bonfield, currently assistant news director of content for WFLA-TV in Tampa, will replace Maureen Ruddy-Baker.