Orlando ABC Affiliate WFTV has signed a deal to air Spanish language TV network MegaTV on its 9.2 channel beginning Monday, January 28.

“We are excited about our new partnership with MegaTV and pleased to be able to offer Hispanic viewers in Central Florida a fresh alternative, as a new and unique source of Spanish-language programming which includes terrific shows produced daily in Puerto Rico,” said Miguel Rivera, WFTV station manager and general sales manager. “Mega’s innovative brand of entertainment programing added to the credibility and resources of WFTV 9, the local television news leader is indeed a powerful combination.” Read more

Allyson Meyers has been named vice president and general manager of WOFL, the Fox O&O in Orlando.

In her new role, Meyers will oversee WOFL as well as WRBW, the MyNetworkTV affiliate in Orlando, and WOGX, the Fox affiliate in Ocala. She begins at the stations on January 17.

“Allyson’s tenure with FOX has proven she has what it takes to think differently, produce results and be an effective leader. I am confident she is the ideal person to take on this expanded role within our group and lead these stations,” Fox Television Stations CEO Jack Abernethy said in a statement.

Meyers moves to Orlando from Philadelphia, where she is the vice president and general sales manager for Fox O&O WTXF. She replaces Dennis Welsh, who recently took over as VP-GM of WFLD, the Fox O&O in Chicago.

The Orlando Sentinel’s Hal Boedeker is reporting both Robin Smythe, vice president and general manager of Central Florida News 13, and Rod Gramer, vice president and general manager of cable news station Bay News 9, have been let go due to a reorganization.

Elliott Wiser, vice president of local programming for Bright House Networks, announced the changes in a staff memo Monday. “Through careful analysis, we became aware there was redundancy in our organizational structure,” he said. “Therefore, effective today, the VP/GM positions at Bay News 9 and Central Florida News 13 will be eliminated.”

Smythe had been with the station since its inception in 1997. She started as news director before working her way up to the front office.  Gramer joined Bay News 9 in July of 2011 after 13 years at Portland, OR, NBC affiliate KGW. Read more

Anthony DiLorenzo‘s move to Orlando’s ABC affiliate WFTV as a general assignment reporter brings him closer to his fiancee, Kala Rama. But they won’t get too close. Rama is a reporter at the rival CBS affiliate WKMG.

“Kala and I have been working hard on getting into the same city for two years,” DiLorenzo told the Orlando Sentinel. We got engaged this past September, so we’re thrilled to finally be able to work together in Orlando — even though we’re friendly competitors now.”

“Anthony often vacations in Florida and knows this news market well,” Rama told the Sentinel. “He is ambitious and aggressive, so he will fit in well. I am so excited to finally be living in the same city as my best friend.”

DiLorenzo, who has been working for the Hartford, CT FOX affiliate since 2010 as a general assignment reporter and fill-in anchor, starts at WFTV on Wednesday January 2.

George Waldenberger will join Orlando ABC affiliate WFTV as the weekend meteorologist beginning January 16.

Waldenberger comes to Orlando from Kansas City NBC affiliate KSHB.

WFTV news director Matt Parcell told the Orlando Sentinel, “He’s exceptionally bright with excellent forecasting skills.”

Waldenberger previously worked for KMEG in Sioux City, IA, and KJRH in Tulsa.

Lorena Inclán begins today as a general assignment reporter at WTEV-WAWS in Jacksonville, according to MediaMoves.

Inclán moves to Jacksonville from Orlando, where she has spent the past year as a multimedia journalist for Univision’s WVEN. Her last day there was November 20.

“I’m very excited to be making a crossover into English news,” she told MediaMoves. “Crossing over into English news will be a big change for my journalism career and I’m definitely looking forward to it. However, I will miss my friends and colleagues at Univision Orlando.”

Orlando CBS affiliate WKMG presented its much-hyped report of “uncovered evidence” in the case against Casey Anthony Tuesday night.

The piece was reported by Tony Pipitone, a veteran investigative reporter who has covered the Anthony story for WKMG since it broke. Pipitone’s report focuses on computer evidence “showing Anthony researched how to kill with poison and suffocation on the same on the same afternoon her daughter, Caylee, was killed by poison and suffocation.” Anthony was found not guilty in June 2011.

The Orlando Sentinel‘s Hal Boedeker, who saw the report before it aired Tuesday night, reports Pipitone’s investigation began while he was reading Jose Baez‘s book over the summer. Boedeker calls the report a “bombshell”:

In reporting, the glory is in the details, and Pipitone supplies them. Pipitone, one of the best reporters in town, reminds you that investigative reporting requires digging. Read more

Former WFTV reporter Gustavo Almodovar is back in the limelight after leaving the industry four years ago.  His enduring legacy?  The way he says his name in his sign off.

According to Yahoo! News, the video above was originally uploaded to youtube when Almodovar left the Orlando ABC affiliate in 2008.  Yahoo! spoke to the former reporter after the clip found life again on reddit.com last week.

“I’m not so sure it’s worthy of the attention it has received,” Almodovar, 46, now a marketing brand manager at Florida Hospital in Orlando, told Yahoo News on Monday. “Aside from friends and a few co-workers teasing me about the video, life has been quite ordinary. It’s like bubble gum. People will chew it for a little while, toss it and move on.”

As of this writing, the clip had nearly 736,000 views.

[FishbowlLA]

Fox Television Stations has named Dennis Welsh the vice president and general manager of WFLD-WPWR, the Fox-owned stations in Chicago.

Welsh is a longtime Fox executive who has been general manager of WOFL-WOGX, the Fox-owned stations in Orlando, since 2010. He replaces Mike Renda, who has been named general manager of WJBK in Detroit.

After announcing Renda’s appointment in Detroit Friday morning, Renda returned to Chicago with Fox Television Stations CEO Jack Abernethy. The pair are announcing Welsh’s WFLD appointment to members of the station at 2:30pmET/1:30CT and are expected to address the newsroom later this afternoon.

“It’s a privilege to join a FOX duopoly that is home to top-rated syndicated brands, the Chicago Bears and an aggressive news team,” Welsh said in a statement. “The station has accomplished a great deal over the last few years but there is still much we can achieve and I can’t wait to get started.”

Before working in Orlando, Welsh spent eight years as vice president and director of sales for Dallas Fox O&O KDFW. He has also worked as vice president and director of sales for Fox Station Sales in New York and as VP-GM of WJW in Cleveland, which was owned by Fox when he worked there.

“Dennis brings an impressive range of sales and local news experience,” Abernethy said. “He has done a tremendous job in Orlando and I am confident his leadership will elevate FOX Chicago to the next level.”

Welsh will begin at WFLD on January 7. The release from Fox is after the jump. Read more

Charles Greene, the attorney for Casey Anthony, has filed notice he wants to depose Kathi Belich, a reporter for the Orlando ABC affiliate WFTV, and Michelle Meredith, a reporter for the Orlando NBC affiliate WESH, in a defamation suit against Anthony.

Anthony is being sued for defamation by Zenaida Gonzalez who claims her reputation was ruined when Anthony blamed the disappearance of her daughter, Caylee, on a nanny named Zenaida Gonzalez. Read more