WSFL, Newspaper to Launch Joint Program

Tribune’s WSFL Miami and its daily paper South Florida Sun-Sentinel will launch a morning program early in 2009, according to the Sun-Sentinel. The station recently moved into the newspaper’s headquarters, and is managed by Sun-Sentinel publisher Howard Greenberg. It stands to reason that Tribune will study the partnership with an eye on trying it in other markets where it owns a station and a newspaper, such as Los Angeles. 

Writes Tom Jicha:
The goal is for the new show to be a fast-paced, personality-driven, nontraditional news and information format. The emphasis will be on local content, much of it supplied by the Sun-Sentinel editorial staff. A substantial Internet component is planned. It will be broadcast from the Sun-Sentinel newsroom in downtownFort Lauderdale.

The show looks to air from 5 to 9 a.m. weekdays. WSFL airs just one daily newscast, a 10 p show produced by WTVJ. The CW outlet’s Website features news from the paper.

Michael Malone

Michael Malone is content director at B+C and Multichannel News. He joined B+C in 2005 and has covered network programming, including entertainment, news and sports on broadcast, cable and streaming; and local broadcast television, including writing the "Local News Close-Up" market profiles. He also hosted the podcasts "Busted Pilot" and "Series Business." His journalism has also appeared in The New York Times, The L.A. Times, The Boston Globe and New York magazine.