The Orlando Sentinel from Orlando, Florida • Page 53

Orlando Sentinel FRIDAY, APRIL 27. 2001 E3 What happened to Chapman, Salt and more er than be demoted from the anchor chair. She will continue doing the er kinds of work," Hamill said of leaving anchoring. "I wanted to know more about the business side. I had to get out of a broadcasting company to learn about the business side." from 1987 to 1995, left, then returned in 1998 for a year at WFTV-Channel 9.

His family just built a log house in Banner Elk, N.C., and he owns By HAL BOEDEKER SENTINEL TELEVISION CRITIC In the competitive world of local TV news, anchors have come and gone through the years. Where are they now? Here are some answers. Robin Chapman The WESH-Channel 2 anchor was in the market five A I morning show at Magic 107.7 FM (WMGF) for the next several months. Gale, her husband and their 4-year-old son have a farm in she says she's "blissfully happy." She lives in Houston and owns an information-technology company with her husband and parents. Grace Rabold for a time, she has remarried and is Grace Hargis Carter.

What of Orlando? "It's a good television news market," she said. "I don't think it's the best, but the truth is news disappoints me anymore." Andrea Coudriet She left WESH in 1996 after nearly 15 years to spend more time with her dotou, live in Satellite Beach with their three sons, who are "I'm very thankful for the opportunities to satisfy my natural curiosity," she said of anchoring. Does she miss it? "I kind of miss working with adults." Carole Nelson She was an anchor from 1976 to 1990 in Central Florida. She started at WFTV, then moved to Channel 6 in 1983 for four years, then went back to WFTV for three years. Nelson lives in Deltona and owns a communications company RONDINARO MartieSalt She left Central Florida in 1994 after 15 years in the market (two at WESH, 13 at WFTV).

She now is known as Martie Tucker GALE years, 1989-94, and in the TV business for 22. She left the Walt Disney Co. in January after five years there as an executive. "I am i DeLand. "I'm so committed to Orlando," she said.

"I'm not going anywhere." Mary Hamill She worked at Channel 6, then WCPX, for 10 years, from 1985 to 1995. three radio stations. Rondinaro said he missed space reporting, which drew him to Orlando from Miami. Would he ever come back again to Central Florida television? "I learned the last time never to say never," he said. "I feel good about being able to leave on my own terms twice." Grace Hargis From 1995 to 1998 she was an anchor at and anchors the 5, 6 and 11 p.m.

newscasts at the ABC affiliate in Tampa. "I was amazed at the amount of crossover be through which she does semi husband, political consultant Dick Batchelor, and their three sons. They live in Orange County. "I loved my work," she said. "I was I SALT nars, speeches and TV programs.

"I was lucky to be on the air when I was on the air," she said. "It was a COUDRIET She and her husband, Matt, started a company, Global News Entertainment, out of their home in Longwood. It has produced chil CHAPMAN relaxing and thinking about what I want to do next," she said. "I'd love to stay in Orlando." Her take on Orlando television? "This market is very competitive," she said. "Because of the huge tourism market, the ad revenues are high so the stations are very successful financially.

That's why they're drawing good talent." Steve Rondinaro He worked in the market 10 years overall. He was at WESH Channel 6, then known as WCPX. She worked for a year at CN8, a regional cable news outlet in Philadelphia, and tween Central Florida and the Tampa Bay area," she said. "I just got an e-mail from someone yesterday: 'I used to watch you in Orlando. It's great to see a familiar Jill Bazeley She anchored the 5:30 and 1 1 p.m.

newscasts at Channel 6 and left in 1988 after three years at the station. She and her physician husband, Basil Theo- HAMILL fa e' -1 Ll treated beautifully in an industry that doesn't always treat people well. I thought I would miss it, but I don't miss it at all." Leslye Gale She worked at WKMG-Channel 6 from 1995 to early 2001. She decided to leave rath NELSON very exciting time. We had great leadership." What does she think of Orlando TV news now? "I feel extremely sorry for the people on the air," she said.

"With all the acquisitions and emphasis on the bottom line, everyone runs scared." dren's programs, religious shows and public service films for companies like Honda and Subaru. "It was time for me to do oth- HARGIS co-hosted Live With Regis for a day. Now out of television news, For first time, WFTV is being challenged in news ratings 1NCH0RS FROM El Wittman, 51, has said station anagement led him to believe last month that his contract will and nearly lost my complete position," Opsahl recalled. "But there was community support and the station kept me." Now Opsahl and Weech are the top survivors. But he understands the harsh reality of what happened to his competitors.

"I just hope it isn't contagious, because it seems to be," Opsahl said. Nancy Imperials Wellons can be reached at nimperialeor landosentinel.com or 407-6504323. Hal Boedeker can be reached at 407-420-5756 or hboedeker la ndosentinel.com. ager David Lippoff. "That's just a huge asset.

"They are very well-accepted, not just by people who watch WFTV," he added. "According to research, they're very much accepted by a lot of people who have a favorite TV station that is something other than WFTV." For now, Bob and Maria break the mold, confounding those who contend the message is more important than messenger. But with so many changes occurring, Opsahl and Weech understand the risks of anchoring and what has happened to Wittman and O'Connor. "The competitive aspect aside, you hate to see the side of the business where people are let go," Weech said. "They were keen competitor if." Opsahl remembers when he was pushed aside in the mid-1980s for several years.

"The new owners decided they wanted a bigger-city look in anchors and brought in Bud Hedinger," he said. (Hedinger now anchors the 10 p.m. news on WKCF-Channel 18.) "I was essentiality bumped Former v'k-L Editors New Chapter To 1 -t life Story hot be renewed when it expires In December. "I leave here with my head held high," Wittman said earlier this not pleasant; not something I'm pleased about," he said. "It's kind of puzzling, but it's their television station." WESH anchor O'Connor, 45, was yanked from the newscast Monday after being informed in February that the station was jnot renewing his contract, "They didn't allow me to sign ioff," O'Connor said Tuesday.

"I was disappointed they didn't give me the opportunity to say, The changing scene The fate of anchors can be sealed by many factors. Maybe they're considered too old. Or ithey don't click with test audiences. Or they can't get along with top station brass. Or they've Ibecome too expensive.

Some of these issues may be at play. I But beyond personality or pay is a larger force at work: The jbrlando television landscape is (Changing. WFTV-Channel 9, the 900-pound gorilla of local TV news, has been losing its decadelong stranglehold on the market. The station's steady decline in the Ratings, coupled with gains by the other two stations, has for jthe first time in modern history Surned this into a real ballgame. I The other stations, especially JWESH, can smell victory.

They imay be willing to create a little turmoil on the field say, replace their star player to win the game. "We're paid to make decisions about whether we have the right players in place," said SWESH-Channel 2 General Manager Bill Bauman, who called jO'Connor's departure a "business decision" but refused to discuss specifics. "This market is growing. This lnarket is becoming more competitive," he added. "We're here to win.

WeVe got to put together a product, and market that product, to beat Channel 9." O'Connor said he thought had made the decision long ago and that audience research contributed to it. I Management at WKMG, the age of households watching, or "share," has declined. "Viewership is way down for all newscasts," said WESH anchor Wendy Chioji. "If you can get a 20 share, you're kicking butt. Channel 9 would get 36, 33 shares on a regular basis 13 years ago when I was first in the market.

Now we're all seeing shares in the teens and occasionally in the 20s. People are just changing the way they watch news." The economic downturn also will affect the TV business, which is bracing for a huge hit should writers and actors go on strike later this year. "Stations are not filling positions" said Chioji. "I haven't seen people just get laid off for being higher-paid. You hear about that in other markets, where people are renegotiating for no raises or less money.

It's definitely happening. But we have such a healthy economy here." An anchor's security can also depend on audience testing, which takes several forms. In focus groups, 14 people are selected, put in a room, shown tape and asked to discuss the anchors. In dial studies, 50 to 1,000 people can sit in a movie theater, watch clips of anchors and react by dialing up (they like it) or dialing down (they disapprove). In telephone studies, 400 people are called and asked basic questions.

All such forms of audience research have, been used in Central Florida, said Brian Greif, a vice president at Frank N. Magid Associates, a consulting firm in Marion, Iowa, that has done research for WFTV. "I've been in the business for 15 years," Greif said. "It's more intense than ever before, and the intensity is going to get worse. People are looking for the right combination.

Some people change personalities. Others tweak content." Reign of Bob and Maria Some argue that the tossing of older, veteran anchors in favor of younger, cheaper models results in a brain drain that robs newscasts of their intelligence and is responsible for the decline in viewers. "If you don't give viewers something compelling and meaningful to their lives, how can you expect to hold onto them for the long term?" wrote Stu Nicholson of Columbus Media Talk, an Internet news gossip site that focuses on Ohio stations. "How can they provide something beyond the superficial or shallow, when few people in the newsroom have been in the community for more than two years, and will likely leave for the next TV news job by that time?" There is value in having an anchor who knows how to pronounce Kissimmee or who can identify the mayor of Apopka. "There are people who've never met Bob and Maria but who really think they know them," said WFTV General Man Lisa Colagrossi, who will leave the station later this year to join her husband in New York.

"The reality of it is there's no job security. It's a very volatile business, with the economy shifting as it is, and television stations making less money. That impacts all of us." O'Connor concurs. "It's the message and not the messenger. There are now so many of us out there giving you information, the pool has been watered down." And the pond has gotten much larger.

Local TV news operations are increasingly being purchased by large parent corporations looking to maximize profits. Hearst-Argyle owns WESH, Post-Newsweek has WKMG and Cox Broadcasting controls WFTV. Even wildly successful operations are squeezed by corporate belt-tightening, and anchor salaries, which fall in the low six-figure range, are under scrutiny. A. station, might part with an anchor and suffer a brief viewer backlash rather than continue to pay top-dollar.

Unless that station is winning in the ratings. "Does an anchor become more vulnerable the longer they're on the air and the more money they make? I think they become more vulnerable, but also more valuable," said Joe Ro-vitto, a former longtime news director and current partner in Clemensen Rovitto, a Connecticut-based TV consulting firm. "To use a sports analogy: If a ballplayer is making millions, it's because he produces. The minute that goes sour with ratings, you start to question everything. And the thing that pops to the top of the radar scope is the thing that's the most expensive." More news choices Even anchor Bob Opsahl, a local institution with 23 years at WFTV, acknowledges that his station is being squeezed like the others.

"We look at one of our strong points as longevity of anchors," said Opsahl, whose co-anchor, Maria Weech, has been at the station since 1985. "But it's tougher for us in recent years. It has to do with the number of choices." Those choices include Web sites and the 24-hour Central Florida News 13, a cable operation co-owned by Sentinel Communications and Time Warner. WESH also produces a 10 p.m. newscast for WKCF-Channel 18, and WFTV produces a 10 p.m.

newscast for WRBW-Channel 65. Then there's WOFL-Channel 35, the Fox affiliate that produces its own morning show and 10 p.m. news. Lots of news, but with fewer viewers than ever. Eight years ago, more than two-thirds of TVs turned on at 1 1 p.m.

in Central Florida were tuned in to the news. In the latest ratings period, about 46 percent of TV-viewing households in the area were watching news at 11. For each station the percent nurses are on call, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. And, should their health care needs change, they are entitled to use of the Village Medical Center. "It's a wonderful life at John Knox says Bob.

"Nette and I take long walks around the Village or go to Stetson University to attend one of its fine music or arts programs." Author your own retirement story. Call or write for a free color brochure and video, today, and be assured of a Robert H. "Bob" Kirkpatrick, retired editor-in-chief of the Palm Beach Post and Times, and his wife, Nette, former fashion editor of the Palm Beach Daily News, were living on Singer Island when they decided to write a new chapter in their life story. The subject: Finding the best continuing care retirement community. They traveled across Florida, visiting many communities.

Carefully they read each facility's balance sheet. The chapter came to an end when they arrived at John Knox Village. They found a peaceful, small town community situated on 155 rolling acres with attractive garden style cottages, a lake and mature oak trees. The large Village staff takes care of housekeeping and home and yard all at an affordable price. Best of all, they discovered John Knox Village has life-care.

Life-care means happy ending, Waterfro I Bedroom 2 Bath 2 Car Garage (i JOHN KNOX VILLAGE of Central Florida, Lie It's a wonderful life! 1-800-344-4504 www.johnknox.com perennial third-place station in nost newscasts, did not want to interviewed for this story. I LIKE TO KNOW MORE ABOUT AFFORDABLE VUCf I JLAJi JOHN KNOX VILLAGE I Mall coupon to: John Knoi Village 18A Florabunda Grde, Orange Gty, FL 32763 I Name. Ko job security I Modern TV viewers increasingly value information above all Seise. On cable stations, such as iCNN, ESPN or CNBC, the news takes precedence over who presents it. That trend is moving to the local level, where stations strive to attract viewers as young as 18 who have never heard of Walter Cronkite and prefer mu-1 sic videos to headlines.

1 "Some stations don't feel anchors are as important as they used to be," said WKMG anchor 1 i I Address, I City Phone State Zip 101219 mtim (Rcquiral fat framing) i mm i I.