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IN WHAT IS BEING HERALDED AS A MOMENTOUS DEVELOPMENT THAT WILL have a lasting impact on the greater Orlando region and economy, the University of Central Florida has been selected as the site of a new medical college. In March, the state Board of Governors approved building the college at UCF. The UCF Healthcare Campus will sit on 50 acres in Lake Nona in south Orlando, just east of Orlando International Airport.
Orlando, with some 50 million visitors each year drawn to attractions like Walt Disney World, SeaWorld and Universal Orlando Resort, is also seeing development elsewhere. In the vibrant Central Business District downtown that features bars, restaurants and nightclubs, along with residential high-rises and office towers, plans are underway to erect several condominium and mixed-use developments, for instance.
The tourism-dependent local economy hums along at a steady clip (with a 1.8 percent unemployment rate), but the same cannot be said of automotive industry advertising, a key barometer of the health of the local media, particularly the television marketplace. As is the case in many other markets, Orlando's spot TV market saw a dropoff in auto ads, leading the market to decline 4.7 percent to $304.3 million in 2005 from $319.5 million in 2004, according to BIA Financial Network.
However, the market is projected to rebound to $328.7 million in 2006, according to BIA. Part of that growth could be from an expected windfall in political ad dollars. Among the high-profile races is an open governor's seat, since incumbent Republican Jeb Bush is termed out this year. The Republican and Democratic parties each have two candidates who will face off in primaries on Sept. 5 ahead of November's general elections.
Cox Broadcasting's ABC affiliate WFTV remains the No. 1 news leader in the Orlando/Daytona Beach/Melbourne market, ranked 20th in the nation with 1.3 million TV households. In the May sweeps, WFTV ranked No. 1 for adults 25-54 in every news daypart except late news. Fox Television Stations' owned-and-operated VVOFL-TV just edged WFTV in the demo with a 4.9 rating for its 10 p.m. news (WFTV earned a 4.8 at 11 o'clock).
Cox's local duopoly includes WFTV and independent VVRDQ. WFTV produces a 30-minute 10 p.m. late news on WRDQ.
On June 29, WFTV became the...