For Sale: TWC

[Jon Person]

...P Allen Smith can grow tulips out his #$% for all I care...

Thanks, Shane, I need some brain bleach now. I can't stand P. Allen Thmith. Anyways, I think The Weather Channel is finally admitting that it has been replaced by the Internet. TWC was wonderful before the mid-nineties when it really was the fastest weather source available. All we had before then was the evening news. TWC couldn't ever hope to monopolize weather data, plus they dropped the ball when they should have been first-to-market on the Internet for weather, and now all the science channels are encroaching on their Storm Stories territory. I honestly can't think of what anyone would do with TWC if they bought it. The only thing really of value would be TWC's weather-localizing technology for local cable providers. If that technology were to be recycled into something more general like localized news content, then it might be reborn and also have a solid business plan.

Still, count me in for five bucks...

 

[George Tincher]

I use to think TWC was great up through the 1990's. I was a fan of Dr. John Scala and thought he did terrific work at the severe weather desk, as did Dr. Greg Forbes once he replaced Dr. Scala. I don't really think TWC catered to storm chasers or enthusiasts in those days at all. But they did focus on what really mattered.......WEATHER FORECASTS. Back then, you could turn TWC on at any hour of the day, 7 days a week and at least know that you would be able to see regular radar updates and local and national forecasts. I would think people in general, including chasers as well as the general public would be better served if they went back to that approach. After all, if you flip on TWC, what do you go there for? Of course! You wanna know what the weather is going to be like within the next 24 hours or the next several days. And you don't want to have to wait on the 6 o'clock news to get that info.

But what has TWC become since the 1990's? Now you never know what you are going to find when you go to that channel. But you know it probably won't have much to do with weather or the current forecast. Instead, it will be some goofy documentary done about an event a year old or more. And it will suck compared to any decent documentary done by the likes of The Discovery Channel, TLC, National Geographic or other such outlets that are experienced in creating such programs and make that their bread and butter. Or it will be P. Allen Smith telling you how to plant flowers. Or it will be Dr. Anna Marie giving you tips about allergies. Or it will be Dr. Heidi Cullen doing her Chicken Little routine about global warming and telling us all the sky is falling. Enough already!

Frankly, I don't give a damn about any of that stuff. I'm not interested in seeing it. If I want to see any of the above mentioned things, I will go with a different source that will do a much better job than TWC can do in creating such projects.

TWC needs to get back to basics here and go back to doing what made them successful in the first place. That's giving frequent weather updates and forecasts. They need to stop trying to be the damn Discovery Channel. They will always fail miserably when trying to compete with channels dedicated to that type of programming. They should just stick to showing the local forecasts, the 5 day forecast, travel info, cover breaking weather situations, show some radar updates and leave it that. Or if they insist on showing all of those crappy programs like Storm Stories, Atmospheres, Heidi Cullen's show, whatever it's called, P. Allen Smith, Dr. Anna Marie, etc, they should create a second spin-off channel in which to host all that stuff like other networks do when their programming schedules grow too large for one channel. That would leave the other channel for actual weather info. If they'd do that, I would actually watch, just like I use to do. But I have no interest in seeing the circus that TWC has become recently. It's a joke. And it's a total waste of time. Don't get me wrong, I think they have some excellent people who work there. So I am not blaming them. Truthfully, many of them probably feel much the same as we do. But the management there is pathetic.

I'll also agree with what other posters have stated, in that CNN, Fox, etc do a much better job handling breaking weather situations than TWC these days. CNN will break in during outbreaks to update tornado warnings and share pertinent info with viewers. I've seen them do this many times over the past few years, while TWC is busy airing some one hour long documentary about a weather event of long ago that's already been aired about a dozen times. Unreal.

 

[Craig Maire II]

I'll throw 50$ and 10$ in pop cans into the TWC kettle...

 

[Mike Peregrine]

I don't think anyone wants TWC to cater to chasers or become The Chase Channel. They just want it to be The Weather Channel again. Let's keep in mind that what made it successful in the first place was not it's current business model. I agree ... TWC is in serious trouble and Landmark knows it.

 

[Marcus Opitz]

As long as Dave Schwartz stays, I am all for it!​

 

[David Draun]

I used to be glued to TWC when I was younger. Geez, I would hum local forecast tunes on occasion! The last time I had it on for a lengthy period of time was the Greensburg night. I thought Greg Forbes and the rest of the staff did pretty well at keeping everyone updated at what was going on. At least during the time I was watching, they didn't break away from coverage to do some stupid tangential subject. I also watched on the 8/22/07 Chicago outbreak day, and their coverage was pretty good as well. But I think back to 5/4/03 and the following days when Storm Stories was playing in the evenings, and all they showed was a crawler talking about severe weather and tornadoes in the Plains states. They may have broken away to update a warning or two, but it was only for 30 seconds or something. But overall, the weather coverage has slipped. I can't remember the last time I saw TWC badass, Jim Cantore on location somewhere, but then again I haven't been watching as much. I remember he was on location during the multi-day outbreaks back in 2003, it was pretty cool watching his crew get overrun by supercells on mulitple days. Anyway, I digress, but that's the kind of coverage TWC needs to have, and more frequently too.

I'll throw in a $5 for the StormTrack bid to buy TWC, lol.

 

[Forrest lambert]

well for me i grew up with the weather channel, if it wasnt for TWC i wouldnt like weather, in some way i am sad to see it go but on the other hand like the rest of you are saying its true that its gone down hill in a big way, how about all of us pitch in and turn the weather channel into the storm chase channel?? throw my $100 in for that

 

[Stephen Levine]

I agree with you, Forrest..
I'm game for storm chase channel.. Positioning for and intercepting if possible- tornadoes, lightning shows, monster squall lines, MCC's, blizzards, hurricanes, tropical depressions, etc. With lots of time for radar updates, breaking news, etc.
Be visual. Show the clouds, give the sense-based descriptions. Bring out the excitement.
Act dramatic but keep it safe.
Imagine "Supercell Season '08 or '09" being weather's TV version of the Superbowl.

 

[Kem Poyner]

TWC should have had their own team of skilled chasers and their own tornado intercept vehicles. Live broadcasts from supercells and hurricanes would have been a huge draw of viewers. They could have even had a red team and a blue team competeing against each other. ....viewers could vote chasers off the show...Ok I went overboard.

 

[Dan Cook]

After their poor performance tonight who'd want them? Major tornado outbreak going on and they're showing "When Weather made History".

 

[John Olexa]

I still watch it. But I'll tell you, whens there a weather event going on here at home. I'm turning to my local channels or weather underground on the computer.

 

[Damon Poole]

TWC For Sale

I've gotten to where I just watch long enough to check radar. I get my warnings from NOAA Weather Radio, and use the net to get my basic data.

 

[Terry Tyler]

After their poor performance tonight who'd want them? Major tornado outbreak going on and they're showing "When Weather made History".

i know it, i couldent believe what i was watching!

i just checked TWC for a minute yesterday, and they had abrahms and bettes running talking about some bull* while killer tornadoes were tearing across the country...after watching for a good 5-10 mins, i had to get to the local on the 8s, and wait through that to even see the warnings...when they come back, they showed the radar for about 3 or 4 mins and did a call in...but then it was back to the same old thing...

i couldent believe it! i thought the weather channel was supposed to focus in on those things!

im afraid it looks like the TWC is already sold...sold the hell out!

i couldent help but think about someone watching that silly stuff waiting for a warning...all the way until the power went out, and the roof and walls flew off!

 

[Justin E. Reed]

Hey, with them being worth about $5 billion dollars alone, they can do whatever the f they wanna do, but they need to focus more, and hire more pretty women to look at, lol.

 

[Terry Tyler]

Hey, with them being worth about $5 billion dollars alone, they can do whatever the f they wanna do, but they need to focus more, and hire more pretty women to look at, lol.

i agree...

but maybe theyd be worth a little bit more then $5billion if they revolutionized weather television instead of investing in these lousy TV series and talk shows...

i used to remember a commercial for the weather channel...there was this guy, and he was like all on the edge of his seat...goin whoaaaaa!! and all that, lol...and his wife come in the room, and she said..."honey what are you watching?" and he was like, "the weather channel"...

personally, i believe thats how it needs to be...