WINK News is a CBS affiliate News channel that offers breaking news, local news, investigative reporting, Florida news, national news, and more. It is licensed to Fort Myers Florida and provides coverage to Naples, Cape Coral, and the surrounding area. It is one of the few local TV channels today with local ownership, operated by the McBride family and their Fort Myers Broadcasting Company. WINK-TV is available to cover the news, weather, and traffic on many cable networks, satellite services, and IPTV devices. On Cable, WINK News appears at CH 5 on Comcast Xfinity in HD. However, it also appears on digital CH 433. Additionally, viewers can access WINK’s live stream over a Live News Globe or the official website. The channel uses the branding WINK News for its newscast.
WINK News Fort Myers local news, national news, WINK News weather, investigations, coronavirus updates, lifestyle, and more. Its news section includes Top Stories, Cost of Care, Lee County, Charlotte County, Collier County, sports transmission, Campaign Central, and Most Wanted Wednesday. WINK News Weather section includes Radar, Hurricane Central, and Dog of the Day. In the investigations category, you can find PolitiFact and Trust & Verify. Making Ends Meet, Inspiring People, and Health & Medical are featured in the Lifestyle category.
WINK News Live Stream
You can watch WINK-TV’s live stream here in 1080p pixels without buffering if you are unable to access the channel via cable/satellite, or if you are away from home and want to watch the local news, weather, traffic conditions, and investigative stories. There is no charge for streaming and the video loads in seconds.
General FAQs
WINK News Team
WINK News features the best team of news anchors and reporters in Fort Myers Florida. They are the best in their respective field and offer the most accurate and timely news service in the neighborhood. It is their dedication and commitment to each news story that makes them top-notch in the industry. Chris Cifatte, Amanda Hall, Russ McCaskey, Nicole Gabe, Theresa O’Shea, and Miryam Villareal are the most prominent WINK News anchors. Among the prestigious reporters are Dannielle Garcia, Joly Mendes, Michelle Alvarrez, Zach Oliveri, Val Simpson, and Gail Levy. The station also features some personalities for special projects and investigations that include Peter Fleischer, Rich Kolko, Stephanie Byrne, Andryanna Sheppard, Amy Oshier, Celine McArthur, Lisa Hutson.
Chris Cifatte: WINK News Anchor
Chris Cifatte is an award-winner news anchor at WINK News at 5 and 6 pm weeknights with Lois Thome. He also anchors WINK News at 11 along with a co-anchor Amanda Hall. Cifatte joined the news team in July 2002 and still works here as it is his own home. This makes him one of the oldest personalities at WINK News Fort Myers. Chris has conducted many significant stories over the years including Hurricanes Charley, Irma, and Wilma. Furthermore, he was part of the investigation team that looked into FEMA underpaying Hurricane Charley flood victims.
After these stories hit the air, multiple families received funding in full. As part of a briefing at the White House, these series were used as evidence to support the victims. When a deadly tornado struck the residential neighborhood in 2016, Cifatte was one of the first news reporters on the scene. In the wake of the damage assessment and clean-up, he hosted the coverage for two consecutive days. Additionally, he helped the families who were experiencing issues receiving their insurance amounts. Moreover, he stood up for the families when contractors refused to honor their promises.
Chris' Experience
In addition to WINK News, Chris is an Instructor at Florida Gulf Coast University since August 2006, where he instructs in Public Relations and Public Speaking. From 1998 to 2002, Chris was an Anchor and Reporter at WYFF News. He served there as a news anchor, investigative reporter, and consumer reporter. He also worked at WMDT News as a News Director/News Anchor from 1995 to 1998. His responsibilities as a news director were to oversee a 30-person team and to anchor the evening news. Furthermore, Chris helped the newsroom grow and achieve sustained growth throughout a time of sustained achievement which made it a content competitor in the market. Cifatte started his career in the news as a Director of Program Development Senn Delaney leadership Consulting Group.
Nicole Gabe: News Anchor at WINK Fort Myers
Nicole is an Asian-American US TV broadcaster that started working at WINK TV as a Reporter and Multimedia Journalist in June 2019. Eventually, she was promoted to Morning News Anchor and Reporter in August 2020 and started anchoring more than 4 hours of continuous news. Ultimately, Gabe became a senior anchor at WINK News in August 2021. Following her position as executive news editor, she began anchoring weekday newscasts of 12 pm and 3 pm, solo anchoring 12 pm newscasts on weekends, and co-anchoring the evening newscast.
Nicole completed her graduation in 2019 from after completing various summer internships at Whitewall Magazine, IMG Virginia Tech, WFXR Sports, and WABC 7 On Your Side. As a journalist, she sees her job as serving the public by depicting both sides of the story that have the truth, meaning, and the ability to impact others.
Gabe’s Work Experience
Before WINK News Fort Myers Fl, Gabe was a Moderator at Virginia Tech for a month. Her responsibilities there included moderating the 2019 Virginia Tech Reunion Weekend Communication Panel. Before, this she completed an internship at IMG Media as a Virginia Tech ACC/ ESPN Network Intern from August 2018 to January 2019. As an internee, Nicole served directly under the head of IMG at Virginia Tech weekly on sideline reporting, anchoring, and preparing the interviews for live segments. Additionally, Nicole Gabe shadowed IMG Broadcaster, Andrew Alleggretta, doing both play-by-play and pre-game work.
Gabe also completed a 4-months Internship as a WABC 7 On Your Side Intern on Disney ABC Television Group from May 2018 to August 2018. Her duties at that internship included overseeing the news desk hotline to announce noteworthy stories to 7 On Your Side. Also, Nicole worked directly under the supervision of Nina Pineda, a reputable reporter, on multiple assignments including interviews, stand-ups, scriptwriting, and live shots. Meanwhile, she also conducted one-on-one interviews with rappers during a surprise donation to the Renaissance School of the Arts.
Some More Information on Nicole’s Experience
Gabe worked as a Sports Intern at WFXR News from August 2017 to December 2017. During the five months of her internship, she was responsible for producing highlights for the Friday Night Blitz broadcasts and Friday Night Show with the sports director. As well, she assisted other reporters with setting up one-on-one interviews with Virginia Tech teammates on-air. Additionally, Gabe edited and filmed various LIVE telecast sports segments for local and national television.
Nicole completed a 4-months internship at Brunch Bous-NYC Food Lifestyle from June 2017 to September 2017. She was an Anchor and Reporter at VTTV Limited from August 2016 to September 2017. Her responsibilities there included being a lead anchor on the Entertainment Broadcast, which provided her with considerable on-air experience. Gabe started her career as a Seventeen Magazine Model at Hearst Magazines from 2012 to 2014.
The Weather Authority
The weather gets the utmost attention in most parts of the United States because it is often subjected to some of the worst conditions. WINK News Weather team puts a lot of resources and keeps a close eye on Fort Myers’ weather conditions. A wide range of news coverage is available on WINK News Weather, from regular weather forecasts to severe weather updates. The Weather Authority includes a 6-person team of meteorologists including Dylan Federico, Matt Devitt, KC Sherman, Nash Rhodes, Amanda Pappas, and Greg Rule. Also, the team operates one of the highly-interactive weather radars WINK News Radar in the country that presents the most accurate, most dependable weather coverage to the viewers. Their ability to read the weather radar is highly efficient and beyond their comprehension.
Nash Rhodes: Weather Personality at WINK News Weather
Rhodes is a Nashville-born weather anchor who started working at the WINK Weather as a Morning Weather Anchor in June 2021. In a short time, the young talent has got himself quite a name. While experiencing some worst tornado shelters in the nearby streets, the Nash family held a variety of severe weather gatherings, which eventually led to Nash being passionate about storms. Nash Rhodes has claimed his degree most recently in the year 2021 at The University of Oklahoma in Journalism, Meteorology, and Business. At college, Rhodes received his degree in Intelligence Studies for his work analyzing meteorological intelligence to communicate with people.
Nash’s Work Experience
Prior to joining WINK News Fort Myers, Nash used to serve as the Radarscope Partner at DTN from July 2020 to June 2021. He worked there for almost a year and learned how to read the radar data accurately and precisely. Before that, Rhodes was a WNKY Weather anchor at Marquee Broadcastig, Inc. from June 2020 to August 2020. Though it was just a 3-months period, he learned a lot of skills.
In July 2018, Nash started working at Weather Decision Technologies Inc. as a Radarscope Partner. He left the company in January 2020 after serving it for more than 1 year and 7 months. Rhodes was also a World Weather Intern at CNN from June 2019 to August 2019. From May 2018 to September 2018, he worked at Nexstar Media Group, Inc as an intern at WKRN News.
WINK Mobile Apps
WINK News App
The station operates a news app CBS Fort Myers app that offers all the latest news coverage, WINK news breaking news, weather transmission, and top stories while on the go. You can stay in the know with Southwest Florida News-Leader through the trusted WINK News app.
WINK News app offers the following features:
Detailed news coverage in Fort Myers, Cape Coral, Naples, and Port Charlotte regions
- Breaking News Alerts
- Latest News Headlines
- WINK News Weather Updates
- Local Prep, FGCU & Pro Sports
- Investigating Reporting
- Ability to submit the news tip
WINK Weather App
The station’s weather app WINK Weather has it all for you under the same name. You can find the latest forecasts for Fort Myers, Punta Gorda, Naples, and all of Southwest Florida at the Weather Authority. Live WINK News radar and detailed forecast analysis are available from expert meteorologists in the app.
WINK News TV Listing
WINK News offers a complete CBS schedule from CBS Overnight News to Let’s Make a Deal, The Talk, The WINK Noon News, The Bold and the Beautiful, and more. Let’s take a look at the TV listing table.
| Bob Hearts Abishola Cats in a Bathtub | NCIS: Hawai’i The Game | The Neighborhood Welcome to the Knockout | The Late Show With Stephen Colbert |
| NCIS All Hands | The Late Late Show With James Corden | CBS Morning News | The Drew Barrymore Show |
| Daily Mail TV | The Drew Barrymore Show | Live With Kelly and Ryan | CBS Mornings |
| The Price Is Right | Let’s Make a Deal | The Bold and the Beautiful | The Young and the Restless |
| Inside Edition | CBS Evening News | FBI: International | FBI: Most Wanted |
| The Amazing Race | Good Sam | The Talk | United States of Al |
| Young Sheldon | B Positive Louisville, Bubbaroo and Sully | Ghosts The Vault | Bull Family Matters |
| Magnum P.I. Angels Sometimes Kill | Undercover Boss The Vitamin Shoppe | Blue Bloods The Reagan Way | Made in Hollywood |
| Music Mix | Open House | Animal Rescue | Missing |
| Hope in the Wild | Mission Unstoppable | The Henry Ford’s Innovation Nation | Lucky Dog |
| The NFL Today | Inside College Basketball | NFL Football | To Be Announced |
| Castle The Final Nail | The Listener Cold Storage | House Smarts | Ready, Set, Renovate |
About WINK News
The channel first started airing on 23 March 1954 under the ownership of Mickey Mcbride, the taxicab maghnate family and founder of Cleveland Browns. WINK-TV was the 5th oldest TV channel to survive till today and the first one to air Fort Myers local news and breaking news in Southwest Florida. WINK News along with its three siblings networks shares studio space in the northeast side of Fort Myers on Palm Beach Boulevard. While the transmitter lies on the north side of Fort Myers Shores, close to the county line of Charlotte-Lee.
Website: https://www.winknews.com/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/winknews
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/WINKNewsTV/
Tower Location: North of Fort Myers Shores, near the Charlotte–Lee county line
Brand Name: WINK-TV
Coverage Map
