Orlando NBC-affiliate WESH is shaking up its anchor lineup starting next month, according to the Orlando Sentinel‘s Hal Boedeker.

Syan Rhodes, who anchors from 4:30 to 7 a.m., will shift to the 10 p.m. newscast on WKCF, the CW-affiliated sister station to WESH. Rhodes will be replaced on the morning newscast by Meredith McDonough, the weekend evening anchor.

News director Bob Longo told Boedeker that the move was made so Rhodes could ease the workload of evening anchors Jim Payne and Martha Sugalski, who anchor more than three hours daily between the two stations. The changes will go into effect August 6. Read more

President Obama sat down with anchors from WTVF, WXII, and WESH on Thursday, trying to sell his new jobs bill.

WTVF’s Vicki Yates, WXII’s Cameron Kent, and WESH’s Jim Payne all got seven minutes with the President and, even though each interview had a local focus, Obama’s message appeared to be the same throughout all of them: things are bad but will get better, as long as my jobs bill is passed.

One notable exchange, though, came when Payne wondered whether his children would have the same opportunities as generations past. Obama responded by saying he feels that America has gotten “a little soft.” Read more

President Obama invited contingents from three local stations to the White House today for interviews focusing on his new jobs bill.

This morning the President sat down with Vicki Yates of WTVF in Nashville; Cameron Kent of WXII in Greensboro-Winston-Salem, NC; and Jim Payne of WESH in Orlando.

According to the White House, Obama wants to communicate “the need for Congress to pass the American Jobs Act now to put more people back to work and more money in the pockets of working Americans.”

WTVF, WXII, and WESH will begin airing portions of their interviews, which were limited to seven minutes, this evening. Read more

Orlando stations honored the final mission of legendary space shuttle Discovery on Thursday afternoon, providing with live coverage from nearby Kennedy Space Center. NBC-affiliate WESH was well-positioned for the launch, originally scheduled for 4:50 p.m., since it fell within the station’s hour-long 4 p.m. newscast. WFTV, WKMG, and WOFL all preempted regularly scheduled programming to bring viewers coverage of the launch.

Anchor Jim Payne joined veteran space reporter Dan Billow at the Kennedy Space Center for WESH’s 4 p.m. newscast.

ABC-affiliate WFTV cut from “Oprah” around 4:35 with Kevin Oliver reporting live from KSC and Melanie Holt stationed in Cape Canaveral, where she spoke with excited spectators.

CBS-affiliate WKMG began its live coverage at 4:30 with Lauren Rowe anchoring a special news report from KSC.

Fox-affiliate WOFL had Sonni Abatta and Bob Frier anchor its special report from the studio beginning at 4:30, relying on reporter Steve Gehlbach, as well as NASA’s radio feed, for live updates from KSC.