For Sale: TWC

[Mike Peregrine]

Landmark Communications is announcing plans to sell TWC along with its newspapers, etc. Asking price is $5bn. Maybe we could all pool together, buy it and make into a network that actually shows the weather again. Lately I've been watching the NBC local weather channel on cable a lot.

 

[Benjamin Smith]

I can throw in $10 to the cause initially.

 

[afischer]

I'll put in $10 if they bring Rick and Marny back.

And another $10 if they kick Cheryl Lemke off permanently.

 

[Kevin Crawmer]

I'll give $20 if they KEEP Stephanie Abrams, Heather Tesch, Hillary Andrews, and Jennifer Carfagno!

 

[Scott Taylor]

Heck, I'll throw in 20! But only if we go back to the format used in the 80s... where the weather really was covered, and without the on-screen personalities getting cut-off at the end of every segment with the next #*&$ commercial.

Otherwise, just let it die in peace.... RIP TWC.

Scott

 

[Kevin Crawmer]

While we are dreaming, can we replace gardening tips for educational segments pertinent to the season?

 

[Shane Adams]

This is excellent news. Either someone buys it and changes the name of the channel to reflect gardening & life on the east coast (so we're no longer mislead that it covers actual weather), makes it about weather again, or it dies altogether.

Now all we need is the same thing to happen to Money Television, aka "MTV".

 

[Kevin Crawmer]

LOL, NO! That is sick and wrong. I can enjoy a little eye candy presenting me with the weather though.

On a serious note, I do miss the old days. I also miss the days growing up in SW MO and turning the antennae on the house to the SW and catching all of Tulsa's severe weather coverage. Oh the good ole days in tornado alley.

 

[Mike Peregrine]

I really think the local weather channels have this figured out at this point. A channel for each city that has nothing but it's weather, 24/7. I know I can turn there anytime I want, see radar/satellite, a forecast map and hear an actual forecaster making an actual forecast.

 

[Terry Tyler]

Asking price is $5bn. Maybe we could all pool together, buy it and make into a network that actually shows the weather again.

i got $5 on it, mike...

 

[Bill Hark]

Now all we need is the same thing to happen to Money Television, aka "MTV".

I have a vague memory of MTV from over 20 years ago. Wasn't it something cool back then.

Except for Storm Stories, I'd can all those extra shows especially the extreme sports and gardening junk. I wish TWC will get back to the weather, real severe weather updates (and use more stringer footage and less crap from local stations).

Since it is so bad at present, a change of owners can only make it better.

Bill Hark

 

[James Siler]

i got $5 on it, mike...

Grab your bowl lets get keyed.... oh wait sorry. Thought we were singing that! I have personally come to hate TWC and it's website. And the bad thing is for the longest my office would determine it's actions during severe weather based of that website and it's OMG delay on radar. I kept complaining about it so now they at least use KFOR or KOCO for more local weather. I'll give $50 for TWC to help out though!

 

[Brian Stertz]

I really do not pay too much attention at media...and as a former TWC addict...it was not hard to get off the stuff. They've had some tremendously talented people on there through the years and many have been let go for some real dog-faced and weak weather "talent". This turned me off as did their shift to a wussified brand of gardening and feel good/global warming crap. TWC had their chance to keep me a loyal viewer and that did not happen. Now if it's 2-3 times a month thats a miracle.
Horrible weather coverage and they have shot blanks for Hurricanes the last 2 years...and sure that smarted.

 

[Mike Peregrine]

lol - well I'm tabulating and looks like we have $115 contributing toward the cause at this point. We're almost there, folks ... we only need $4,999,999,885. I'm not sure, but I think we might need to investigate our financing options.

What happened with TWC is simple ... they divide the country into markets with highest viewer ratios. So the eastern seaboard, Chicago and Florida all get top billing. TWC knows that even if the weather is totally uninteresting in Boston, it is going to get a ton more viewers there than in L.A., where the masses of people couldn't care less about another day of sunshine. So even if there are prime weather stories in other places in the country, Boston, Miami and Atlanta will still win out every time. Kansas City is number 30 in TWC's nationwide market, even though we get some of the most interesting, extreme and varied weather on the entire planet, so you're just not going to see us a whole heck of a lot anymore.

IF TWC could come up with a way to keep each pocket of viewers happy nationwide while still providing some interesting weather content, it would have something good. I think it is seriously in trouble, however, due to the rise in alternate methods of obtaining genuine, helpful weather information. Even online, my current preference is to check the local NWS site.

 

[Susan Strom]

I look at it particularly when traveling. Airport news is useful. I also like to see local forecasts. It used to be that they were too Atlanta-centric, but they seem to be spreading coverage nationwide a bit more now. Still there is a lot of focus on the Southeast (usually while someone stands in front of the Southwest...even though Phx is the 5th largest city in the country, and is very interesting weather wise during monsoon). My favorite feature programs are Epic Conditions and Weather Ventures, and fall foliage reports. My least favorites are allergy & gardening news, and Forecast Earth. It would be cool to cover a bit more space weather as well, offering aurora, eclipse, and meteor shower forecasts as well, and to show the lunar phases on the local forecasts more often, with sunrise and sunset times. Interestingly, they don't go into lightning trackers too much either, even though lightning trackers are shown all over my local news.