The Weather Channel

[Mike Ridgeway]

Thank god for NWS websites. :-D

Boy you said it. Especially during times like these. I used to watch TWC diligently. Now I scroll past it most of the time, stopping only when Heather Tesch is on.

Mike Ridgeway

 

[Chris Carlson]

The Weather Channel is a good channel, however, it has some issues. First off, it's loosing focus. What does gardening have to do with weather? I want to see the latest weather events, not a guy giving tips on planting a flower. Several channels exist for that. Secondly, it seems they are trying so hard to keep a strict line-up in order. I don't know how many times the music has started playing and they have to cut off the weather guy talking. Finally, is it just me or do they show tons of commerials? I turned on the Weather Channel several times last night. Most of the time it was commerials and twice it was Local Forecast. Maybe I just caught them at bad times. Anyway, I like the Weather Channel, but I think they could change a few things.

 

[Robert Dewey]

Yep, definitely too many "Local on the 8's" for me during that event... So, I went with Fox News/CNN, as they were all about the hurricane, and nothing else. If you want coverage of a major event, weather or otherwise, it's best to stick with a station that actually deals in breaking events - a news station.

 

[Jonathan Whitehead]

well lets just put it this way....
I spent the weekend in Shreveport visiting my grandmother and great-grandmother to celebrate my great-grandmothers bday. Well Saturday a severe east-west line of storms came down straight south from NE TX and SW ARK. I experienced severe straight line winds along w/ torrentrial rains w/ this storm. Well my grandmother doesnt have internet and the local tv stations in Shreveport do not break into programming for severe weather. SO my only source of radar was local on the 8s. Nuff said.

 

[Joel Wright]

I found myself watching more CNN last night than TWC. The main reason was all the damn commercials on TWC. The local on the 8's didn't bother me too much, but all the damn commercials did. CNN was almost conitnually on the air.

Of all the reporters in the field, I did like to see Cantore and Morrow the best however.

 

[Bill Tabor]

Seems you folks have pretty much ignored my comments about the service to the public they offer. I often joke that they should actually be called 'The Commercial Channel' because we are so inundated with advertising. Like Jeff mentioned their target isn't the weather buff or severe meteorologist, but instead the general public that just wants a brief update on the general forecast and temps along with travel weather if they have to take a business trip, etc.

What I was talking about earlier is not the 'day before' reporting or the 'day of' reporting that the other news channels were covering as many mentioned ~ possibly better than TWC. What I am talking about is all those days in advance of the potential disaster such as Katrina before the storm is really on the radar of these other stations. It is here that TWC shines making people aware of a situation they otherwise not be aware of. That's why this is their biggest rating period because everyone knows that during hurricane season TWC covers it often intensely. I'm sure I agree with some that the format of this coverage could be improved. I particularly agree that their content and number of commercials could be improved. Then again they are in it to make money based on sponsors ads. You can bet they know their target market and what that market is expecting for weather coverage and content.

Also, I'm just saying whereas we can often complain about TWC, and we all get tired of 8's and commericals give them credit for the public awareness, education, and information they provide. I bet if TWC wasn't talking about this so much in advance and hyping it (well deserved) there would be many more people in danger or dead now. Think about this disaster event without TWC beginning a week or so in advance.