WFTS Adds Fresh Face, Weekend Programming

WFTS, Channel 28, is expanding. The station plans five hours of "ABC Action News" on weekends beginning April 4.

Ellen McNamara, daughter of legendary CBS correspondent Bob McNamara, has been hired as the co-anchor.

McNamara, who has been a traffic and general assignment reporter at an Austin, Texas, TV station, graduated from Texas Tech University in 2003 with a degree in political science.

She will be teamed with WFTS veteran John Thomas, who currently anchors the weekend 6 and 11 p.m. newscasts. Longtime Tampa area reporter Bill Logan will handle weather.

The newscasts will run from 6 to 8 a.m. Saturdays, followed by the weekend edition of "Good Morning America" and then another hour of "ABC Action News."

On Sundays, the news program will run from 7 to 8 a.m., followed by the Sunday edition of "Good Morning America" and then another hour of the local newscast.

General Manager Rich Pegram says that even though the economic downturn has resulted in cutbacks at many TV stations, WFTS will "continue to find opportunities in this market to invest and expand."

He says McNamara is a very smart, likeable young anchor the viewers will embrace, and Thomas brings a fun personality to the weekend newscasts. "And Bill Logan is a very spontaneous, genuine person," Pegram says.

Thomas has been with WFTS since 1999. Logan has been in the Tampa-St. Petersburg market since 1987.

WFTS News Director Doug Culver says the weekend newscasts will be slower paced than the weekday morning newscast, and there will be more focus on events happening in the area.

"It is fortunate that our company is expanding, and we're excited about the possibilities," Culver says. The Sunday morning edition will incorporate anchor Brendan McLaughlin's "Flashpoint" public affairs program, which will lead into the ABC political talk shows.

"Flashpoint," which had been a half-hour, will be cut down to a single segment within the newscast, Culver says.

REDNECK NUPTIALS: An Auburndale couple, George "Gator" Meredith and Kathy Flint, tie the knot in the mud at 8 p.m. Saturday on "My Big Redneck Wedding" on CMT.

The series recently returned for a third season with host Tom Arnold. Meredith and Flint say they are proud of their redneck status and that they have been in love for 14 years.

They also love mud-bogging, and that's the theme of their down and dirty shindig. He wore overalls and she wore pink and white, but before it was over, both where wearing mud. Their chocolate "mud bog" wedding cake was covered in toy trucks to represent Bubba's Mud Ranch in Auburndale where the event was held.

DOG SHOW HD: An Ybor City company is involved in the production of five national dog shows that will air this year in high-definition on ESPN and ABC.

Tampa Digital Studios is producing "The 2009 ESPN Show Dog Championship" (from Detroit), presented by Purina at 4:30 p.m. Sunday on ESPN2.

Coming up this summer is a Purina dog show from Oklahoma City, followed by "The Purina Incredible Dog Challenge," now in its 12th year, and Purina's "Dog Show" national finals, which will air on ABC and repeat on ESPN.

"This is the first year all of the show dog programs are being produced in HD, and the first time any show dog program will air in HD on ESPN," says Jim Kopcik, a producer at Tampa Digital Studios.

TUNE IN TONIGHT

"My Name is Earl," 8 p.m., NBC

TV legend Betty White guest stars as a "witch lady" who is on Earl's list. Later tonight, things get dicey on "The Office," when Michael throws himself a 15th anniversary party.