Have Never Seen The Weather Channel Perform Worse

[Mike Johnston]

I understand it's a commercial enterprise and I'm a free market kind of guy. However, when their programming becomes so far removed from their core mission, they definitely deserve some raspberries. Last night's coverage was so negligent, it was - for all practical purposes - misinformation.

Now, I understand those of us who take a technical interest in weather have plenty of other higher quality outlets for information. That's not the point. The point is that the little lady or gentleman sitting in some hamlet in Kentucky, who by habit has come to rely on The Weather Channel, was done an absolute disservice. Oh sure, they got their amber scroll down on the bottom of the screen, but were they made aware of how widespread and serious the threat actually was? The Weather Channel used to actually be diligent, with far fewer technological and human resources, back in the 1980's. I just wonder if their management will even think to review this complete collapse of performance, or even if they are aware they dropped the ball?

 

[Mike Johnston]

Originally posted by Karen Rhoden


So - what is everybody else's count on the amount of tornado-hurricane blunders by FOX?

KR

Count MSNBC right in there with them. Earlier this morning - at exactly the same time a line of storms, with a TVS signature and forward motion > 60 mph was approaching Cleveland, under a severe thunderstorm warning, their made-for-tv met was assuring us that the line of storms (right behind her on radar, which the anchor called a satellite view) was no longer a threat, just some "showers", and "it's not as bad as it looks." Unbelievable.

 

[Brett Adair]

Originally posted by Karen Rhoden
I know this is a TWC thread.....but rather than post fodder I thought I'd just use this space for my morning rant.....

So - what is everybody else's count on the amount of tornado-hurricane blunders by FOX?

I've been watching for about an hour so far.......and I have counted no less than about five separate occasions on which FOX have totally confused tornadoes with hurricanes. It's really pretty sad that the lowest common denomination of basic media researching and accuracy no longer applies in today's media. Every one of them have truly been brainwashed by spending all their time this year on reporting hurricanes.....not that that's any excuse.

Their last blunder on this front was what spurred me on to post about this.......\"All this occurring well east of where you normally think of Hurricane Alley, of course....\". Arrrggghhhhhh!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

It's really quite painful to watch.....

Was nice to see Paul Sirvatka being interviewed as one of the only intelligible guests this morning, though.

KR

Thank you Karen for emphasizing that. I couldn't have said it better myself.

 

[rdale]

However if you search the forum here - we've already said it a countless number of times. Doesn't change the end result. Won't change anything.

Storm coverage in rural Indiana does not sell ad space.

Horse. Beaten. Dead.

 

[David Schuttler]

and I miss the MTV from the 80's ... What is the point here?

 

[Darin Brunin]

The only thing TWC has going for it is Dave Schwartz. By the way Karen....can I get twree fittay? Nice avatar

 

[Dick McGowan]

I'm gonna have to go against the majority here....... I like watching animal storm stories or sunshine in NYC.. during a major weather outbreak........ :roll:

R A T I N G S

I only watch it for Stephanie Abrams. If she leaves, I will no longer flip through.

Just look at the evolution of different channels such as TLC, TDC, A&E, etc, etc from what they were and what they are now.

Silly fads sparked by one broadcast company yields us the repetitious, duplicated televison we view today.

 

[nickgrillo]

Seriously, I've heard the SPICE channel gives better weather reporting

 

[Kurt Hulst]

Simply put TWC has been sold out for years, they suck and its all about profit.

 

[Kevin Bowman]

if you want good coverage of severe weather events go watch your local news station. THC has become more and more a moms forecasting station for parents who want to know what to know how to dress their kids.. They also cover hurricanes pretty good. Severe Weather events just dont have the ratings appeal a katrina would

 

[George Tincher]

As bad as TWC performed last night, I have seen them do worse. The date was November 10, 2002. While a major league tornado outbreak was underway, they aired Storm Stories (or maybe it was Atmospheres in those days) two times that evening while the outbreak was in progress.

As someone else mentioned already, I hope the average public knows better than to depend on TWC for breaking weather coverage and instead watch their local channels. Not only is the coverage and sense of urgency better with local stations, but they are also able to devote full attention to specific areas without having to cover multiple states in each update.

 

[Andrew Khan]

I hate TWC...they suck at forecasting Severe Weather Events (Excluding Hurricanes). They are more for the "Mom", as kevin noted, earlier. I personally HATE that channel, and I only watch it during Hurricane Activity. I do not know what there problem is. I guess, they have been over come by greed and profit.

 

[rdale]

The goal of a business is to make money. TWC makes money from advertisers. More people watch the gardening segment than storm coverage over Indiana. So therefore, to make money, you do more gardening segments than tornado hits.

They still run the crawls, they still give you the latest forecast and more... If they stop gardening and go out of business completely, then where are we?

 

[Andrew Khan]

We'll be in a better place, Rdale. I think they should stick to weather ,and not stray away into gardening. It's Called "The Weather Channel", keyword; Weather. I've never seen a company so bad at putting out warnings.

 

[rdale]

They do put out the warnings immediately, so I guess I'm confused as to what you are looking at. That red bar sits at the bottom of the screen all through the warning.

If TWC leaves, do you think they'll be replaced by someone with the old TWC format? That's insane. There's a reason they left that format...