WJXT wins big at Suncoast Emmy Awards

WJXT took home several awards at the Suncoast Chapter of the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences annual Emmy Awards Ceremony in December of 2016.  Including wins in the spot news category In the Spot News Category, executive producers Josh Beauchamp and Stacey Readout, producers Robert Brown and Tiffany Anthony along with anchor of The Morning Show, Bruce Hamilton, won for our coverage of the FSU shooting.

Reporters Vic Micolucci and Heather Leigh, Managing Editor of Special Projects Jodi Mohrmann and News4Jax crime & safety analyst Gil Smith were awarded an Emmy for a special series of reports titled Shoot, Don't Shoot.

Jacksonville Viewers make News4JAX dominant #1 again in all News Areas

The Local Station is again the most watched news in Jacksonville for the November 2015 Nielsen ratings period in the Jacksonville television market, winning in local and national news time periods for the month in key demographics.  Outside of news, WJXT was #1 in key demos in the 10am-11am time period with Dr. Oz.  At 930pm, WJXT also beat out the NBC, ABC and FOX M-F Primetime averages with Big Bang Theory for key 25-54 demos and People 18-49.

River City Live Launches on WJXT Channel 4

WJXT Channel 4 premieres a new daytime lifestyle and entertainment show called River City Live.  River City Live will showcase the energetic lifestyle of Jacksonville and surrounding areas. From 11am – 12pm weekdays, River City Live will highlight everything from live music, unique LOCAL stories, amazing restaurants & recipes, to steals and deals, fashion, fun contests, and anything in between.

River City Live will be driven daily by hosts Eden Kendall and Mark Payton. Viewers will recognize Eden as the long-time host of the morning show on 99.9 Gator Country. Mark is new to Jacksonville, but not new to television. He has held positions in local news, entertainment shows, and recently co-hosted the national morning show The Daily Buzz. “There are so many inimitable and wonderful things happening in the Jacksonville area,” said Vice President and General Manager Bob Ellis. “The First Coast is re-defining itself and who better than The Local Station to connect viewers to this great vibe and incredible local stories in a fun and entertaining way,” he continued.

River City Live will not be your typical studio broadcast. The show is live on location every day at its new home inside Unity Plaza.  This area, in the heart of Jacksonville’s Brooklyn neighborhood, is quickly becoming the epicenter of all things new & exciting in our city. “Unity Plaza was designed to encourage the celebration of the people and causes that make our city great,” said Unity Plaza Executive Director, Jennifer Jones.  

In addition to co-hosts Mark and Eden, reporters Elizabeth Campbell and Rance Adams will be helping to tell great stories from our area. Elizabeth started her career at The Local Station and was most recently a reporter for The Morning Show on Channel 4. Rance Adams comes to Jacksonville from Charlotte, North Carolina where he most recently hosted the primetime talk show “The Edge”.

“River City Live is up for anything and we hope you join us for what’s sure to be an exciting ride” said River City Live Executive Producer Stuart Boslow. “From life hacks, to ‘It’s Made Here’ this show will be truly local.”  

 

Jeff Hoffman named VP & General Manager of WKMG-TV Orlando

Graham Media Group announced that Jeff Hoffman has been named Vice President and General Manager of WKMG, the CBS affiliate in Orlando.

Emily Barr, President and Chief Executive Officer of Graham Media Group, said: “Jeff has been a passionate and successful broadcaster for more than 30 years. He has held a variety of demanding roles at stations across the country, starting as a sports producer and moving through news departments to progressively larger station and general manager positions. I am delighted to welcome him to our station group.”

For the past seven years, Hoffman was President and General Manager of WTKR/WGNT, the CBS/CW duopoly in Norfolk, VA, transforming WTKR into a winning operation and creating the market’s fastest growing duopoly.

Prior to Norfolk, he spent two years as Vice President and General Manager at WAFF, the NBC affiliate in Huntsville, AL. For five years, Hoffman was Station Manager at WAVE, the NBC in Louisville, KY, and WIS, the NBC in Columbia, SC, helping both stations achieve significant ratings and revenue growth. 

Hoffman began his career as a Producer at WRC-TV, the NBC affiliate in Washington, DC. He moved through the ranks as a Sports Producer, Executive Producer, Assistant News Director and News Director at a number of stations, including WJZ in Baltimore, KNBC in Los Angeles, KING in Seattle and WCAU in Philadelphia, before moving into senior management. Under his leadership, two stations he managed won an Edward R. Murrow Award, for Best Website at WAFF and for Breaking News Coverage at WIS. 

A graduate of the University of Maryland, Hoffman holds a BA in Communications and Political Science.

WDIV-TV Local 4 Honored With MAB Station Of The Year Award

WDIV-TV Local 4 is honored to be recognized as Station of the Year and for broadcasting excellence in 22 categories by the Michigan Association of Broadcasters (MAB). The station won 13 best and nine merit awards for Market 1.

"Being honored for Station of the Year is a humbling and amazing achievement. I’m so proud of our talented news team here at Local 4. We pledge to continue bringing Metro Detroiters the quality journalism and community service they’ve come to expect from us,” said Vice-President and General Manager Marla Drutz.

First Place/Best In Category

  • Breaking News: Local 4 News won top honors for its comprehensive team coverage during metro Detroit’s massive flooding in August 2014
  • Investigative Story: Local 4 Defender Hank Winchester’s Unpaid Water Bills Exposed investigation revealed who owed the City of Detroit money and who wasn't paying up
  • Newscast: Local 4 News at 5 p.m. - coverage of the Bob Bashara Verdict
  • News Special: Devin Scillian’s reports from Rome - Crossroads: The Francis Factor
  • Community Involvement: Seeing & Stopping the Problems, Being a Force 4 Good
  • News Reporter: Local 4 Defender Kevin Dietz
  • Photojournalist: Jacob Nagel
  • Mini-Documentary or Series: Domestic Violence: See It. Stop It.
  • Feature: Six Seconds, Five Words, One Wish (Caden’s Story)
  • Weathercast: Chuck Gaidica’s Massive Floods coverage
  • Special Interest Programming:  WDIV’s magazine show, First Block, was #1
  • Marketing Materials & Promos: Local 4 garnered the highest kudos for its station image promo New Things
  • Use of New Media: Best Webcast for Climate Change

Merit Awards

  • Breaking News: Detroit Power Outage
  • Investigative Story: Karen Drew’s investigation on football helmets - Protecting Players On The Field
  • Mini-Documentary or Series: Local 4 Defender Kevin Dietz’s undercover homeless investigation - Real Life on the Streets
  • News Special: Defenders: Inside the Investigations
  • Newscast: Local 4 News at 11p.m. - Exit From Bankruptcy
  • Feature: Local 4 reporter Roger Weber’s story on Their Youth
  • Sports: Bernie Smilovitz’s reports on Jim Harbaugh Hired
  • News Reporter: Local 4 Defender Hank Winchester
  • Photojournalist: John Pompeo

The Broadcast Excellence Awards program recognizes outstanding achievement in broadcasting by Michigan radio and television stations each year.

 

WJXT-TV HONORED WITH NATIONAL EDWARD R. MURROW AWARD FOR BEST NEWS WEBSITE

WJXT Channel 4 has been honored with a national and regional Edward R. Murrow Award for best news-affiliated website.  The award recognizes News4JAX.com as best overall website  providing timely news and information to its core audience. News4JAX.com is the online companion to WJXT, reaching users when they're away from television, and providing additional resources while watching newscasts.

 "News4JAX has done an incredible job of serving the Jacksonville market through its on-line and mobile sites as well as it's many apps created specifically for this vibrant, growing community," said Emily Barr, President & CEO of Graham Media Group.  "I am enormously proud of the efforts of everyone at WJXT who have put countless hours into the on-air and on-line delivery of news, weather and information designed to keep people safe, aware and informed whether they watch television or access our sites and apps on the go."

News4JAX.com is the most visited website in the Jacksonville market, drawing more local users and page views than the local daily newspaper or any other local broadcaster. 

"Our news department has worked extremely hard to extend our news4JAX brand to all our platforms -- TV, online and mobile," said Bob Ellis Vice President & General Manager of WJXT. "We care about our viewers. So our team has worked relentlessly to serve our community 24/7.  To be recognized nationally for this is extremely gratifying."

WJXT wins web audience with breaking news coverage, enterprise stories, weather, sports, community events, consumer news, politics and online-only database content for the web, smartphones and tablets such as Restaurant Report Card, Sexual Offenders and Adopt-A-Pet.

The Radio Television Digital News Association has been honoring outstanding achievements in electronic journalism with the Edward R. Murrow Awards since 1971. Award recipients demonstrate the spirit of excellence that Murrow set as a standard for the profession of electronic journalism.