FTVLive

View Original

Anchor Shake Up in O-Town

WFTV in Orlando is shaking up the anchor ranks at the station.

The Orlando Sentinel reports that the station will pair Jorge Estevez (pictured) and Nancy Alvarez and bring back market veteran Ken Tyndall, the station announced Friday.

Estevez and Alvarez will be teamed at 6 and 11 p.m. Sundays on WFTV. They also will anchor at 10 p.m. Sundays through Thursdays on sister station WRDQ-Channel 27. (Martie Salt and Greg Warmoth will anchor at 10 p.m. Fridays on WRDQ.)

Tyndall will anchor on Saturdays, doing the 6 and 11 p.m. telecasts on WFTV and the 10 p.m. newscast on WRDQ.

The changes will happen in early February, news director Matt Parcell said.

Alvarez has earned the promotion from anchoring on weekends, and she will continue to report in addition to her new duties, WFTV General Manager Shawn Bartelt said. The Alvarez-Estevez team has great potential, Bartelt added.

"Both are great anchor-reporters," Bartelt said. "We want two watchable anchors who have great chemistry."

Parcell explained that chemistry. "They're close friends, and it shows on television," he said. "They present the news in a personable way."

Estevez has been anchoring at 10 p.m. on WRDQ with Salt. He won a local "Dancing With the Stars" contest for charity in September.

Alvarez and Estevez could be the first Hispanic anchor team on an English-language newscast in this market, the station noted.

"For us, the priority is to put the best talent in the seats, and we've accomplished that," Bartelt said. "But another priority is to reflect the marketplace."

Tyndall, who works at radio station WDBO, has been reporting for WFTV on Saturdays since 2011. (Both WDBO and WFTV are part of Cox Media Group.) Tyndall left WFTV in 1996 after 14 years.

"Ken and I talked about him getting back on the anchor desk," Parcell said. "He's good."

In other WFTV changes:

***Bianca Castro has resigned, but has not said where she is going. "We're sad to see her go," Parcell said. "She's a great person to have in the newsroom. We're happy for her. We haven't set her end date."

She joined WFTV in October 2010.

***Meteorologist Marina Jurica will join WFTV on Jan. 20. She is coming to the station from KMSP in Minneapolis.