WPLG & ABC Parting Ways

[MediaZone4K 2664]

3 hours ago, Georgie56 said:

Here it is...the open to the first newscast of WPLG's independent era.

 

 

Local 10 looks almost naked without the ABC bug at the side. I'm surprised they kept it this late, and didn't phase the ABC out of the logo a lot earlier.

 

Meanwhile Sunbeam continues to pull out all the steps to promote ABC Miami with the Guitar Hotel in Hollywood being a giant billboard.

[l_miro 245]

5 hours ago, MediaZone4K said:

Interesting image posting by a WPLG employee on LinkedIn.

 

Ch10 logo dude looke like he's about to swing a sword at the abc

[TheRolyPoly 3510]

2 hours ago, mre29 said:

 

Having to air World News Now their last overnight as an affiliate is one thing, but having to also air Good Morning America First Look (which is basically an early morning show)? How'd that happen?

 

 

Ironically enough, the first program on ABC Miami is... GMA First Look at 4:30am.

[TheRolyPoly 3510]

The switch is now official. WPLG is now an Independent station, and WDFL 18.1/WSVN 07.2 is now ABC Miami.

 

No grand sendoff to ABC from WPLG. GMA First Look straight to the expanded Local 10 Morning News. Today promises to be an interesting and historic day in my market.

[l_miro 245]

29 minutes ago, TheRolyPoly said:

The switch is now official. WPLG is now an Independent station, and WDFL 18.1/WSVN 07.2 is now ABC Miami.

 

No grand sendoff to ABC from WPLG. GMA First Look straight to the expanded Local 10 Morning News. Today promises to be an interesting and historic day in my market.

They probably got tired of  people asking where to watch ABC

 

Early report from a viewer says Breezline moved WPLG to ch19 and put ION on ch10. Kind of a dickish move

Edited August 4, 2025 by l_miro

[TheRolyPoly 3510]

6 minutes ago, l_miro said:

Early report from a viewer says Breezline moved WPLG to ch19 and put ION on ch10. Kind of a dickish move

 

Daaammmmnnnn. Wow. Putting WPXM there instead of WPLG? That makes no sense.

[Georgie56 3661]

13 hours ago, TheNewsTV said:

What will the morning anchor lineup be like from 5am to 11am?

 

Eric Yutzy & Michaila Hightower

 

Andrew Perez & Alex Finnie

 

 

Meanwhile, the first moments of ABC Miami:

 

 

Edited August 4, 2025 by Georgie56

[l_miro 245]

36 minutes ago, Georgie56 said:

 

Eric Yutzy & Michaila Hightower

 

Andrew Perez & Alex Finnie

 

 

 

Yes. Each team anchors for 1 hour then switches. It's actually nice, they can take almost a whole hour off for a nap

[MediaZone4K 2664]

36 minutes ago, l_miro said:

 

Yes. Each team anchors for 1 hour then switches. It's actually nice, they can take almost a whole hour off for a nap

I figured they'd opt for the alternating hours anchoring like they do on their evening shows.

 

I've noticed this being the latest trend on marathon morning shows like WANF/WPCH, and WOFL. Swapping every hour instead of Team B 4:30-7, and Team A: 7-10/11am.

 

It looks (so far) like they'll be doing an all headlines style newscast like Today In Florida, and not a soft morning show.

 

New screen bugs per Craig Stevens

Edited August 4, 2025 by MediaZone4K

[TheRolyPoly 3510]

No surprise... ABC Miami is getting the star treatment from GMA.

 

Sam Champion is in Miami all week for the program and Victor Oquendo gives Craig and Belkys some national exposure.

 

https://www.instagram.com/reel/DM7x41zvc0W/?igsh=d2NnY3R5cjFrMzFx

[nathannah 2792]

Sadly, ABC didn't get so petty on this morning's Kelly and Ryan that they drew a Miami resident to do travel trivia so WPLG had to advertise their competitor on day one; just some gal from Michigan.

[mre29 1967]

12 hours ago, TheRolyPoly said:

 

Ironically enough, the first program on ABC Miami is... GMA First Look at 4:30am.

 

So, it was on both stations?  

 

[TheRolyPoly 3510]

19 minutes ago, mre29 said:

 

So, it was on both stations?  

 

Yes it was! Hahaha. It became the last one on WPLG and the first one on WSVN.2/WDFL.

Edited August 4, 2025 by TheRolyPoly

[mre29 1967]

15 minutes ago, TheRolyPoly said:

Yes it was! Hahaha. It became the last one on WPLG and the first one on WSVN.2/WDFL.

 

I wonder if anyone at WPLG noticed.

 

 

[Georgie56 3661]

Here’s the open to Local 10 World News.

 

 

[johnothy 53]

So basically people will have to switch from channel 10 to 18 on their TV service to get ABC programming. I’m sure a lot of viewers will be mad they can’t find Wheel of Fortune and Jeopardy! anymore if WPLG isn’t carried. Other than that, I don’t think many will be upset or even notice ABC is from a different station. 

[CraigViewer 107]

32 minutes ago, Georgie56 said:

Here’s the open to Local 10 World News.

 

 

This has heavy "World News Tonight with David Muir" vibes to it.

[MikeBucc 37]

8 minutes ago, CraigViewer said:

This has heavy "World News Tonight with David Muir" vibes to it.

It really does and what’s the purpose of doing world/national news when that’s what is being aired on every other station at 6:30…especially if you’re trying to say you’re a “local station”? 

[MediaZone4K 2664]

4 hours ago, Georgie56 said:

Here’s the open to Local 10 World News.

 

 

 

3 hours ago, CraigViewer said:

This has heavy "World News Tonight with David Muir" vibes to it.

Agreed. It screams ABC WNT from "as we come on the air tonight", to the intro tease, to the date posted above the red headline graphic. This might be a stretch but Louie seemed to be deepening his voice to emulate David Muir. Even the background behind Louie (which I like) looked like Peter Jennings era WNT.

3 hours ago, MikeBucc said:

It really does and what’s the purpose of doing world/national news when that’s what is being aired on every other station at 6:30…especially if you’re trying to say you’re a “local station”? 

I suppose they're hoping viewers find this similar enough to World News Tonight and don't bother to switch the channel.

 

Perhaps World News Tonight LITE might be more distinct if it focused on issues relevant to the Latin American and Caribbean communities which dominate South Florida.

Edited August 5, 2025 by MediaZone4K

[CraigViewer 107]

5 minutes ago, MediaZone4K said:

 

Agreed. It screams ABC WNT from "as we come on the air tonight", to the intro tease, to the date is posted above the red subject headline. This might be a stretch but Louie even seemed to be deepening his voice to emulate David Muir. Even the background behind Louie (which I like) looked like Peter Jennings era WNT.

I suppose they're hoping viewers find this  similar enough to World News Tonight and don't bother to switch the channel.

 

Perhaps World News Tonight LITE might be more distinct if it focused on issues relevant to the Latin American and Caribbean communities which dominate South Florida.

If Muir already has not laughed heartily after seeing video clips from this newscast, I would imagine it's imminent.

[Hometown News 127]

13 hours ago, MediaZone4K said:

New screen bugs per Craig Stevens

 

That looks like it was thrown together 5 minutes before the station went on air.

[JRyan 694]

The new ABC Miami ident lists only "WSVN ABC".  I'm not sure why they didn't decide to include the WDFL call sign alongside WSVN.  Someone can correct me if I'm wrong.

 

 

[Encore 323 79]

I guess I can now say that this historic day in South Florida television history (Aug 4, 2025) is in the books and hopefully NO MORE affiliation switches happen but never say never because people thought that 1995 would be the last time this would happen but here we are 30 years later. If Local 10 were to be affiliated with a network again, The CW would be the best choice because they don’t have much programming outside of primetime (8-10pm) and weekend sports, plus it allows the station to continue it’s local-first vision that they clearly want to do now.

Edited August 5, 2025 by Encore 323

[WhoCares2 22]

38 minutes ago, Encore 323 said:

I guess I can now say that this historic day in South Florida television history (Aug 4, 2025) is in the books and hopefully NO MORE affiliation switches happen but never say never because people thought that 1995 would be the last time this would happen but here we are 30 years later. If Local 10 were to be affiliated with a network again, The CW would be the best choice because they don’t have much programming outside of primetime (8-10pm) and weekend sports, plus it allows the station to continue it’s local-first vision that they clearly want to do now.

Affiliations will be a thing of the past in the next 5 to 7 years.

[Jase 1164]

1 hour ago, TheRyan said:

The new ABC Miami ident lists only "WSVN ABC".  I'm not sure why they didn't decide to include the WDFL call sign alongside WSVN.  Someone can correct me if I'm wrong.

 

 

 

Isn't WDFL a virtual channel? Wild guess, but that could be the/a reason why it's not featured. Aside from WSVN being the more 'known' brand, if you will, of the two.