The Weather Channel

[Tony Laubach]

Couple things... I thought TWC did a pretty good job covering this as they typically do with Hurricanes, yet I did find myself switching over to CNN and MSNBC quite a bit as well for more in depth coverage. What's everyone's opinions on that?

Also, the big question? The jingle which has been played on Local on the 8s through this; am I the only one who thinks that's catchy? :lol: What is it??

 

[Benjamin Sipprell]

Am I the only one who thinks you're messed up?

No seriously, I was flipping over to FOX and CNN just to watch them make horrible mistakes without checking over facts and information ... National Weather Center ... commenting about how misleading tornado warnings are just prior to the hurricane making landfall when the hurricane had winds of a F3 ... comon'

As for TWC ... I've been informed that they are doing a complete overhaul ... note the new logo ... I think there's a place on the TWC website which notes the music over the years ... and there's junkies out there too ... I know of old college roommates who would utilize search engines to find the music ... sorry, but I'm all about "The Price is Right" music database

 

[Bill Hamilton]

The "Weather on the 8's" is what I found most annoying about their coverage last night.
You would figure in a potentially disastrous situation like this morning they would devote all available airtime to covering the hurricane.
Many people look to The Weather Channel as their sole source of information.
I found better coverage on the Fox News Channel or CNN.

 

[Aaron Kennedy]

Drop weather on the 8s? Lord forbid someone might want to know what the weather is doing at THEIR home.

Aaron

 

[Benjamin Sipprell]

I'm sorry to say this ... but I help out at nursing homes from time to time ... and sometimes the ::ahem:: old folks get a bit upset if they miss a "local on the 8's" or people such as Jenetta Jones, Jennifer Lopez, etc ... and if you change the channel ... you better run ...

 

[Bill Tabor]

I'll say this about The Weather Channel. Sometimes in the past I've criticised them pretty severely for their severe weather coverage etc. However I will say that when it comes to hurricanes TWC does a major public service. As far as I know there is no other source or channel that covers potential landfalling hurricanes with possible effects to the public as well as public education and awareness like TWC. If people switch over then a week in advance they see what storm is on it's way. You get the commentary from people like Cantore, etc in the field about the issue of evacuation along with suggestions for which way to go. All this long before other news stations take it seriously.

I'd have to stand up and give them a pretty big applause for providing the public with this often life saving information. Consider what a major landfalling disaster might be without them as a source - if only initially. Bravo!

 

[Bill Hamilton]

Drop weather on the 8s? Lord forbid someone might want to know what the weather is doing at THEIR home.

Aaron

Every 8 minutes is too much IMO. They can use a scrolling banner to do the same thing and it not be as annoying.
Wonder why TWC is losing more and more viewers.

 

[Aaron Kennedy]

There's your problem. TWC isn't for the weather weenies (granted they do cater to them)... it's for the casual viewer who wants to flick on the tv and see their local forecast within 5min... or a travel forecast.

Aaron

 

[Andrew Khan]

Yes, I too think that every 8 minutes is too much...sometimes I even become quite frustrated with how frequent Local on The 8's are.

 

[Benjamin Sipprell]

TWC use a scrolling banner? That means they would only hit the cities and not the local areas ...

If they could devise a new program that can be utilized by cable companies to have specialized "local" banners that would be sweet ... otherwise one of the divine inventions by TWC would be lost ....

 

[Bill Hamilton]

There's your problem. TWC isn't for the weather weenies (granted they do cater to them)... it's for the casual viewer who wants to flick on the tv and see their local forecast within 5min... or a travel forecast.

Aaron

For most situation I would agree but during historic events like this they could change it.

 

[Jeff Snyder]

TWC use a scrolling banner? That means they would only hit the cities and not the local areas ...

If they could devise a new program that can be utilized by cable companies to have specialized "local" banners that would be sweet ... otherwise one of the divine inventions by TWC would be lost ....

They actually started regional broadcasting this past winter. In areas of a significant weather event, TWC would keep with the weather story while the rest of the country goes to Atmospheres or Storm Stories. The only time that I think they've done this, however, was during the big blizzard in the northeast this past winter. This change was, supposedly, in response to folks complaining that TWC would go to trivial programming during serious/inclement weather.

 

[Benjamin Sipprell]

TWC use a scrolling banner? That means they would only hit the cities and not the local areas ...

If they could devise a new program that can be utilized by cable companies to have specialized "local" banners that would be sweet ... otherwise one of the divine inventions by TWC would be lost ....

They actually started regional broadcasting this past winter. In areas of a significant weather event, TWC would keep with the weather story while the rest of the country goes to Atmospheres or Storm Stories. The only time that I think they've done this, however, was during the big blizzard in the northeast this past winter.

Yes that's right ... I remember seeing that at the height of something ... anyway I seriously believe my suggestion could bring back more viewership and allow TWC more extensive coverage and discussion ... but is that necessary and warrented?

 

[Warren Eckels]

Commercials, thinking the public's stupid

Generally, I hate the lifestyle sections, commercials on the 6s, 7s and 9s, and Storm Stories reruns. These days, that's about half of the programming on TWC. TWC anchors also don't spend enough time discussing the whys of weather, the structures that weather weenies use to make sense of it.

Maybe it's just that Chicago's full of weather nuts who select newscasts on the basis of the weather report, but here we get more indication that there are processes behind the advances of pretty blobs on the screen representing temperature and precipitation. There's even a meteorologist on Channel 7 using (and defining) words like "baroclinic" and "advection". And around here, with CLTV's weather on the 1s (imported from sister station WGN, where Tom Skilling rules), why bother with TWC?

 

[B Ozanne]

I was going to start a thread about this. It seemed like it was constant commercials compared to the other news stations. While they were in breaking news mode and dropping some commerical breaks TWC didn't change a thing.

While TWC was providing a valuable public service with relevant information, I also found myself on the other networks for all the gossip and speculation.