Tag Archive for 'WPLG'

Did NBCMiami.com Flop? A JustNews.com vs NBCMiami.com Comparison

Author admin on 6/25/2009 in Local Media.

I was reading the TVSpy.com forums recently and someone mentioned that NBC’s Locals Only sites were a flop and lost traffic after the switch from regular TV station branded sites.

So I decided to do some digging and compare how the Miami station web sites rank against each other, mostly for my own amusement.

This comparison is based on public data from Quantcast. Both NBCMiami.com and JustNews.com track their web traffic using a pixel on their sites and the analytics are publically available. However, from personal experience the numbers are probably a little lower than what the stations see with their private web analytics tools.

Right off the bat … JustNews.com wins quite handily. In total traffic terms, WPLG’s site has about 1.7 million readers monthly vs 417,326 for WTVJ.

Continue reading ‘Did NBCMiami.com Flop? A JustNews.com vs NBCMiami.com Comparison’

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WPLG’s Got One Angry Fire Alarm

Author admin on 6/23/2009 in Local Media.
Not Engine 27

Not Engine 27

Yesterday WPLG had a (depending on how you look at it) annoying problem with their fire alarm going off for no apparent reason.

@Newschasers tells me firefighters, not pictured above, had to visit the station’s new building 3 times to make sure something wasn’t burning.

According to one of his tweets BSO was trying to call the station when the fire alarm went off around 1am but no one answered the phone! Maybe they were busy putting make up on for when the boys showed up?! Or BSO dialed the wrong number.

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Michael Smith, New WPLG Meteorologist

Author admin on 6/4/2009 in Local Media.

WPLG meteorologst has added a new meteorologist on weekend morning newscast. He was introduced to the viewers on last night’s newscast when he filled in for Trent Aric, according to one of our alert readers.

Initially we weren’t sure who Michael Smith was but after asking the Google we found out he’s actually a familiar face. Smith comes to WPLG from WHNS, the FOX affiliate in Greensboro, North Carolina where he was the station’s chief meteorologist.

But before taking that job Smith it turned out freelanced at WFOR until sometime in 2002.

Michael Smith takes over for the suddenly departed Geneen Anderson on the weekend morning newscasts. Geneen Anderson joined WPLG in June 2008 from WCNC in North Carolina.

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Tom Doerr Considered for WTVJ News Director Job?

Author admin on 5/27/2009 in Local Media.

FTVLive Newsblues, says the now former WFOR VP and Station Manager Tom Doerr is being considered for the news director job at WTVJ which was recently vacated by Yvette Miley who left WTVJ for a gig at MSNBC

In November 2006 Tom Doerr moved to WFOR from the CBS-owned station in Dallas, TX where he was the news director as the network tried to revive WFOR’s sagging ratings. He replaced Shannon High-Bassalik who also left for a job at MSNBC.

In February of 2009, Doerr was canned by CBS after the network decided to get rid of all managers at their owned-and-operated stations, of which WFOR is one.

Doerr is University of Florida graduate and the last time he worked in the Miami-Ft Lauderdale market before coming to WFOR was from 1993 to 1998 when he was news director at WPLG.

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WFOR to Lose News Chopper Too

Author admin on 5/25/2009 in Local Media.

cbs4chopper4Chopper 4 will be no more. When WFOR’s contract with Helicopters Inc expires at the end of 2009 the station won’t be renewing it.

We have heard rumors though, about WFOR, WTVJ and WPLG possibly/maybe sharing a helicopter, but nothing we’re able to confirm yet just rumors and hear say.

So. Essentially, with Sky6 Chopper 6 already gone and Chopper 4 going away in about 6 months, Sky10 could end up being shared between WFOR, WTVJ and WPLG.

Our sources are telling us that WSVN has no plans of giving up on Skyforce.

The costs of operating a news helicopter are about $1million per year so 2 or more stations sharing a bird stands to save them quite a bit of money.

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WPLG’s Web Site Now With Comments

Author admin on 5/15/2009 in Local Media.

I just surfed in on WPLG’s web site justnews.com from one of their tweets and noticed that they have visitor commenting enabled on their stories.

Actually what really surprised me was that instead of being yet another site requiring me to fill out endless registration forms they’ve done something smarter and more convenient for their visitors. Their comment system is powered by Disqus and also use Facebook Connect.

So now anyone who reads and story on JustNews.com and decides to leave a comment can pretty much just click and opine. And if they don’t already have a Disqus account all they need to do is type in their email address, pick a password and leave a comment. Fast and easy.

Way to be geeky and with the times Channel 10.

justnewscomcommentsystem

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Vintage Video: WPLG Coverage and Tribute of Ann Bishop’s Passing

Author admin on 4/11/2009 in Local Media.

A video of WPLG from November 1997 covering Ann Bishop’s passing.

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WPLG Refreshes Site; Joins Facebook

Author admin on 4/10/2009 in Local Media.

wplglocal10justnewscom On Friday WPLG’s site JustNews.com got a minor refresh. Gone are the large top story image and thumbnails navigation in the ‘The top stories’ section. Now it’s a simpler vertical menu menu showing the image, headline and summary text. The change at least in my experience makes the page load faster. Not to mention that it looks a lot less like NBCMiami.com top stories navigation. However there is no more front page video player. You have to click on the story that has video icon, then click on the video tab.

The navigation menu was also tweaked. Which is good because the one before was a little janky. It had small white text, on pale red background which made it hard to read. Now, waving your mouse over a menu link will give you a nice drop down list of links that is much easier to not only see but to click on.

Local 10 is now on Facebook as well, joining WSVN and WFOR in the social networking fad.

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Watch WPLG and WSVN Tower as Its Built

Author admin on 4/3/2009 in Local Media.

wsvnwplgnewtowerlive Thanks to something called remote site monitoring everyone with broadcast tower fetish can eavesdrop as these things are being built. During the day you can watch as work is being done on WSVN and WPLG’s new broadcast tower. There are also a heap of time lapse AVI videos showing the construction process starting from day one as the tower is erected piece by piece and later antennas are attached etc.

The new tower will be 1042.3′ tall and will be finished sometime in June. The stations are sharing tower costs which is estimated to be around $7 million dollars

In addition to WSVN and WPLG, radio station WLYF 101.5FM will also be on the tower.

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Video of WPLG First Newscast from New Studios

Author admin on 3/28/2009 in HD Transition, Local Media, graphics and hdtv.

WPLG Local10 New OpenThanks to Frank for Youtubing this. An open from today’s debut of WPLG’s new studios.

They’ve kept the same music, the open is refreshed but overall the look remains the same. The time/temp bug is now animated, an animated cube. Not too bad but somewhat distracting.

HD Video after the jump
Continue reading ‘Video of WPLG First Newscast from New Studios’

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