CNN Digital Producer Hired As Orlando Weekend Anchor

Mark Joyella (Courtesy: standupkid.com)

Until June, Mark Joyella will continue to work as a digital producer for CNN’s Erin Burnett OutFront in New York.

But once that’s over, he’s trading the Big Apple for sunshine and hurricanes.

Orlando Traffic Reporter Leaves After Almost 10 Years

Courtesy: WSYR

Courtesy: WFTV

Orlando ABC affiliate WFTV-Channel 9 has a new face for those morning traffic reports. Gone is Bob Baxa, who helped commuters with congestion information for nearly 10 years.

Orlando Sentinel‘s Hal Boedeker reports the decision was based on the fact that Baxa wasn’t actually an employee of the station.

Orlando ABC Affiliate Grabs First in February Despite Lackluster Primetime

WFTV

In the race to win first among television stations, February tends to be a fickle month. Depending on who gets the rights to the Grammys, the Super Bowl — even “NCIS” can sway primetime and local news viewership as well.

That DIDN’T happen in Orlando, though. WFTV, the ABC affiliate for the market, placed first in most local news categories, TV Guy Hal Boedeker reports.

From his Orlando Sentinel blog:

WFTV scored both in households and in the 25-to-54 age group, which is most important to news advertisers. WFTV did get some late help from Charlie Sheen, who appeared in a special “20/20″ Tuesday night.

The most intriguing race, at least to this observer, was 11 p.m. weeknights. In the 25-to-54 age group, WFTV drew 31,200 viewers to WKMG’s 26,800, WESH-Channel 2’s 22,000 and WOFL’s 16,100.

WFTV drew a higher margin of total viewers during its 6 p.m. newscast, but for household ratings, it nearly doubled WESH’s 53,700, reporting 96,500 viewers at 5 p.m.

And that’s in the midst of American Idol.

Not an easy feat.

Longtime Orlando Anchor Isn’t Going Anywhere Anytime Soon

Bob Opsahl (Courtesy: WFTV)

He’s been at ABC Orlando affiiate WFTV since the late 1970s, and according to the Orlando Sentinel, Bob Opsahl will still be there next year.

From Florida blogger Hal Boedeker:

“He will be here in 2012. He’s not retiring,” Jordan added. “It’s premature to speculate about his retirement.”

Opsahl’s been quite a mainstay in Central Florida, having anchored at WFTV for the last thirty years.

More as this develops.

WFTV Reporter Gears Up for Philly Move

Kenneth Moton (Courtesy: WFTV)

A reporter from Orlando is moving up the broadcast ladder, leaving Orlando for Philadelphia in late March, according to the Orlando Sentinel.

ABC affiliate WFTV told the newspaper about Kenneth Moton’s future plans earlier this week.

From the Sentinel:

In an e-mail, Moton wrote, “WFTV has been such a great experience. I’ve worked hard, the station has invested in me, and the team at Channel 9 is one of the best in the business. I’m thankful for Bob Jordan and this station for taking a chance on me four years ago. I’m going to miss Central Florida and its great weather!”

Moton will be working at WPVI, the ABC affiliate in Philly. As he said, Moton was a reporter at WFTV for four years.

WFTV Reporter to Switch Coasts

Reporter Eric Rasmussen is leaving Orlando ABC affiliate WFTV next month for a job in San Francisco.

From the Orlando Sentinel:

“My time at WFTV has been the best experience of my career,” Rasmussen said in an e-mail today. “I just couldn’t pass up an opportunity to return to the Bay Area — I grew up near San Jose.”

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Rasmussen joined the ABC affiliate in 2007. The Sentinel reports Rasmussen won an Edward R. Murrow Award in 2005.

Side note: my computer’s on the fritz, so I’m updating it from my phone. That’s my explanation for the lack of indents or other HTML formatting.

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.