West Palm Beach, Florida, saw a hearty influx of residents during the pandemic and the new arrivals just keep coming. Out-of-state driver’s licenses exchanged for ones in the southeastern Florida counties of Miami-Dade, Broward, Palm Beach and Martin were 12.7% higher than they were in 2019, according to Miami Realtors, with former residents of New York, New Jersey and California leading the way.
Stations are eager to get the Florida newbies to watch their programming. “It’s a huge opportunity for us,” Caroline Taplett, president and general manager of WPBF, said. “It’s also a great opportunity for sales folks — new people, new housing, new construction.”
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A decade ago, Scripps-owned WPTV was the ratings beast in West Palm Beach-Fort Pierce. These days, it’s Hearst Television’s WPBF. Taplett mentioned winning weather (Cris Martinez is chief meteorologist), long-term anchors and a dedicated sports department as things that set the station apart. She also mentioned the long-running “Live, Local, Late-Breaking” brand and “an urgent and aggressive” approach to news.
WPBF is an ABC affiliate and WPTV is aligned with NBC. Sinclair has CBS outlet WPEC, along with The CW affiliate WVTX and MyNetworkTV station WTCN. Gray Television owns the Fox station WFLX. Univision owns WLTV.
West Palm Beach’s main pay TV operator is Comcast.
WPTV won the 6 a.m. household race in January, according to Nielsen numbers from a West Palm Beach source, and WPBF won in viewers 25-54. WPBF took the 5 and 6 p.m. contests, with WPTV in second. At 11 p.m., WPBF had a 2.5 household rating, ahead of WPTV’s 2.0 and WPEC’s 1.6, while WFLX scored a 1.4 at 10 p.m. In the late news demo, WPBF and WPEC both had a 0.5, WPEC with the advantage in impressions, while WPTV had a 0.4, as did WFLX at 10.
WPTV produces news for WFLX. Bill Siegel came on board as WPTV VP/general manager two years ago. He did not return calls for comment.
In January, Diana Wilkin was named VP/general manager of WPEC-WVTX-WTCN; she previously ran Sinclair’s West Palm stations in 2007-2008. She did not speak for this story due to just starting as GM.
Jaime Kawaja was named VP and general manager of WFLX in December 2022; she’s also the general sales manager. In September, the station launched the noon weekday show South Florida Daily. Megan Hayes and Kate Monahan host. “They do what’s to love and eat and see in West Palm Beach,” Kawaja said.
A recent episode saw Hayes and Monahan at the PGA National Resort in Palm Beach Gardens, talking up the Cognizant Classic golf event, which went down February 29-March 3. South Florida Daily has some paid inserts. Station management is considering extending the show to an hour.
WPBF had a busy September, too, launching a 10 p.m. newscast on MeTV, expanding the noon newscast to an hour, and debuting public-affairs program On the Record. A 4 p.m. weekday newscast debuted in 2022.
Taplett said West Palm Beach has more news than its market size might suggest. There is weather, and the new arrivals, and whatever might be happening over at Mar-a-Lago. “This market has a plethora of breaking news,” she said.
The other West Palm stations feature sports stories in the body of a newscast, Taplett said, not as their own segment, while WPBF is the only one with a dedicated sports department. She also touted a dedicated traffic anchor.
Speaking of sports in West Palm, drama series Apples Never Fall, featuring Annette Bening and Sam Neill as a couple behind a giant tennis academy in the area, debuts on Peacock March 14. The novel that inspired it was set in Australia, but the show was shifted to West Palm Beach, as it is home to many major tennis training facilities.
Boom Town
West Palm Beach is about 90 minutes north of Miami. The market is in strong economic shape. Downtown West Palm has a lively financial scene and tourism is hot.
“The economy is really good, it’s booming,” Kawaja said. “Automotive has come back. We’re not seeing any hiccups.”
Stations keep trying to connect with the new viewers. WFLX recently grabbed equestrian network Equus for its dot-two. Kawaja said polo and other horse activities are big in the market.
WPBF had nine specials in 2023, most airing in prime, their focus ranging from Black History Month to hurricanes to the Florida Atlantic men’s basketball team earning a spot in March Madness. (They went all the way to the Final Four.)
Taplett said the West Palm Beach stations play like Top 20 outlets. “The market has very good competitors,” she said. “It’s so competitive every single day. Everybody brings it.”
