Biggest offenders for interrupting programing for severe weather

[mbatchelor]

2, 4, and 5 in St. Louis are all bad. Also, this time of the year, they tend to show programs in a box to show constantly repeating school closings at the bottom of the screen, which is about as annoying as trying to watch a program on the TV Guide network with the guide rolling at the bottom. With HDTV, why not guide people to a sub channel for weather info instead of interrupting programs. Another reason I watch less and less network TV, and the network shows I do watch, I tend to watch on Hulu or the network's website...

 

[nomadcowatbk]

We're in a bind, because April-June is a heavy severe weather season for us, and most people outside the cities don't have an alternative to TV for severe weather information, other than looking out the window. Most radio stations in Kansas City don't even both with severe weather information.

What about KMBZ's Operation Stormwatch (as long as the storm isn't during a weekend or after business hours)?

 

[nomadcowatbk]

2, 4, and 5 in St. Louis are all bad. Also, this time of the year, they tend to show programs in a box to show constantly repeating school closings at the bottom of the screen, which is about as annoying as trying to watch a program on the TV Guide network with the guide rolling at the bottom. With HDTV, why not guide people to a sub channel for weather info instead of interrupting programs. Another reason I watch less and less network TV, and the network shows I do watch, I tend to watch on Hulu or the network's website...

4 in Kansas City lacks the ability do display snow closings in HD (except for the news, last in market to go HD)

 

[Mario500]

I'm interested in what people feel station policies on severe weather should be.

More stations should broadcast weather reports during commercial breaks only and display only small text of counties under storm watches or warnings at the bottom of the screen rather than maps highlighting the counties. Doing too much could make viewers and listeners lose interest, which could lead to danger in the distant future for some folks.

Interrupting commercial breaks may mean lost advertising revenue, but it shouldn't matter if the stations are willing to have long weather reports after interrupting other programs, including the flow of newscasts.

 

[kenglish]

I'm interested in what people feel station policies on severe weather should be.

Just put up a crawl that says, "Bad weather occurring. Tune in at ten, for details on where it happened and who was affected".
(Don't laugh. It's been suggested to me numerous times.)

Seriously, I believe that we should give the public as much information as is possible, to keep them safe. But, most people don't seem to care....especially when it gets in the way of their TV program.
Maybe a continuous logo "bug" that denotes the type of emergency, and tells people to tune to the weather sub-channel for details would work...except those sub-channels don't show up for satellite, and some cable subscribers.

 

[OhioMediaWatch]

In that case, doesn't the Time Warner system in Findlay carry WEWS?

Well, you learn something new every day. Sure enough, WEWS is on the Findlay TWC system, along with WUAB/43.

None of the other Cleveland stations are, everything else is Toledo, and the two full-power Lima stations (WLIO and WTLW).

My point still stands, though...Findlay is NOT in the Cleveland market, it's in the Toledo market. WEWS is there for some historic reason, but ABC viewers are watching WTVG/13 (and ABC-wise, only WTVG is in HD, WEWS is only SD). I've still never forgiven them for dumping CBET/CBC Windsor, tho.

And well, unless they have relatives over there, no one actually in the Cleveland market cares when Mark Johnson gets excited about a funnel cloud in Findlay.

The Lake Erie Islands? Sure, I can see that. They are just out of the market (which goes to Sandusky, basically), but there are a lot of people in Northeast Ohio who visit Put-in-Bay, Kelleys Island, etc. Findlay? Not so much.

 

[OhioMediaWatch]

Findlay is indeed in the Toledo market:

http://www.echostaruser.com/TVMarkets/City Maps/Toledo.gif

(Findlay is the Hancock County seat.)

 

[charlestondxman]

The stations here go crazy over severe weather. Last week, when we had our ice storm, all the stations preempted some part of their morning programming in order to show ice storm reports. WCSC even preempted part of the "Early Show".

When there's a tornado anywhere in the viewing area (stretching from Hardeeville, near Savannah to Myrtle Beach), the stations interrupt.

It wasn't until this year that WCBD got an HD weather crawl. All the stations have crawls, even for minor events like Lake Wind Advisories and High Wind Watches.

The final episode of the "West Wing" was airing, and WCBD preempted it in the middle in order to show a tornado warning for the Charleston area. They did air it the next Saturday, though. Many a sporting event has been preempted due to weather, even NBA and NHL playoff games.

 

[Goat Rodeo Cowboy]

Early in this thread, one of the locales mentioned was Sedalia, MO. I did weather a number of years ago (radio) in that area and my station owner sent me to the weather bureau in Columbia ON THE TIME CLOCK because he wanted us to be on a first name basis with those people when you-know-what hits the fan.

The LISTENERS attitudes and the stations attitudes about how to handle weather is different if you are located in "Tornado Alley". There are some grieving family members around Cincinnati, Arkansas who wish information had been available and wish the TV stations had generously interrupted their programming a couple of weeks back.

If we routinely had reports of tornadoes devastating Central Park, NYC, network honchos would find ways to redesign the delivery of network programming so that interruptions could somehow be accomplished more gracefully.

 

[Mario500]

WEAR-TV in Pensacola, Florida would display a small weather map and text over scores during sports programming from ABC and over the text at the bottom of the screen during "Good Morning America". They would occasionally move the map and text close to the top of the screen during sports programming and more often for the syndicated version of "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire". The same map and text are displayed by WFGX-TV (licensed to Fort Walton Beach, Florida), which has the same owners as WEAR-TV.

WALA-TV in Mobile and WFNA-TV in Gulf Shores, Alabama, both of which share the same owners, would display a large scrolling ticker with weather information squeezing the programs they broadcast. They each display a small weather map and text after the ticker.

WKRG-TV and WPMI-TV in Mobile both have digital sub-channels dedicated to weather and the weather programming from WPMI-TV is available to Comcast cable TV customers in Mobile.

 

[LynnW]

2, 4, and 5 in St. Louis are all bad. Also, this time of the year, they tend to show programs in a box to show constantly repeating school closings at the bottom of the screen, which is about as annoying as trying to watch a program on the TV Guide network with the guide rolling at the bottom. With HDTV, why not guide people to a sub channel for weather info instead of interrupting programs. Another reason I watch less and less network TV, and the network shows I do watch, I tend to watch on Hulu or the network's website...

Those stations did an outstanding job during the recent tornado outbreaks. Their coverage of bad weather is the only reason to ever watch them. Not everyone has HDTV. Keep the weather on the main channel and send the drivel to the subs.

 

[TheRob]

We're in a bind, because April-June is a heavy severe weather season for us, and most people outside the cities don't have an alternative to TV for severe weather information, other than looking out the window. Most radio stations in Kansas City don't even both with severe weather information.

What about KMBZ's Operation Stormwatch (as long as the storm isn't during a weekend or after business hours)?

Well played.

I happen to work for WDAF-TV, so I am well aware of my station's limitations. We can "force" the school closings into our HD newscast without interrupting the HD feed, but we keep pushing back the order of a piece of equipment that would allow us to seamlessly insert school closings and weather warnings without interrupting HD. It is frustrating.

 

[kilamanjero]

When it is a severe weather (especially tornadoes) even if it is on the fringe of the DMA it should be shown on TV. There has been a number of times in recent memory where TV stations have been very laissez faire about this and people have wind up getting hurt or killed because of this. It's better to be safe than sorry because there are still a number of markets where are little to no way of alert them of impending severe weather other than TV. Hell, I would rather miss my favorite show and can watch it online later on than wind up f*cked up by the weather because somebody wants to a show that will likely be played a thousand times in the future on various channels.

 

[firepoint525]

More stations should broadcast weather reports during commercial breaks only and display only small text of counties under storm watches or warnings at the bottom of the screen rather than maps highlighting the counties. Doing too much could make viewers and listeners lose interest, which could lead to danger in the distant future for some folks.
Interrupting commercial breaks may mean lost advertising revenue, but it shouldn't matter if the stations are willing to have long weather reports after interrupting other programs, including the flow of newscasts.

WSMV channel 4 here in Nashville once did that during a tornado outbreak several years ago. I had recently moved, so I had taped the program that I had intended to watch that evening. When I watched it later, the program itself was intact, but the commercials were interrupted.

 

[firepoint525]

2, 4, and 5 in St. Louis are all bad. Also, this time of the year, they tend to show programs in a box to show constantly repeating school closings at the bottom of the screen, which is about as annoying as trying to watch a program on the TV Guide network with the guide rolling at the bottom. With HDTV, why not guide people to a sub channel for weather info instead of interrupting programs. Another reason I watch less and less network TV, and the network shows I do watch, I tend to watch on Hulu or the network's website...

Those stations did an outstanding job during the recent tornado outbreaks. Their coverage of bad weather is the only reason to ever watch them. Not everyone has HDTV. Keep the weather on the main channel and send the drivel to the subs.

A few years ago, we had a severe weather outbreak during March madness! Channel 5 here in Nashville carried on as normal, but ran crawls on the screen directing viewers over to channel5+, which at that time was only available on cable. I didn't have cable, so instead, I watched coverage on competing stations. But because of that situation, I emailed channel 5 and asked them to make "the plus," as it is known, available as a subchannel. I'm pleased to say that it has been available as a subchannel now for the past year or so.

Other TV stations in town have radio partners, and severe weather coverage is simulcast over those partner stations, which I suppose is a godsend for anyone who is not near a TV, or has lost their electricity. So the partner stations' programming is also interrupted, with the occasional disclaimer that "we are also on radio, too, right now."

 

[azumanga]

WSMV channel 4 here in Nashville once did that during a tornado outbreak several years ago. I had recently moved, so I had taped the program that I had intended to watch that evening. When I watched it later, the program itself was intact, but the commercials were interrupted.

I remember when it was the other way around -- when the local stations flashed a ticker on the screen, but when it came time to a commercial, they turn the ticker off, and turn it back on after the break.

 

[WPPCProductions]

Up here in Connecticut all the major channels go into the"retardovision mode'all the timethe shrinked screen ,the crawl on the bottom with the cancelations.thats what I call it.If the public is so stupid to look out the widow or go out in the storm and get killed in it.I always tune into the New York stations to record anything important.I see use for one of those subchannels by running a clean broadcast of the programming without the graphics and the other crap that follows.Connecticut stations better get a award for serving the public in which they are doing an awesome job doing so.

 

[charlestondxman]

That's what they still do here. They always turn off the ticker during commercials.

 

[WPPCProductions]

That's what they still do here. They always turn off the ticker during commercials.

I have to say if I was paying for the airtime I dont want the viewers to get distracted with the crawl and not paying attention to my spot.

 

[beantownradio25]

I would say WHDH is the worst in the Boston market, however I agree with a poster who said that WBZ used to be bad. It's 2011, most people have easy internet access, I wish more stations would just put scrolling text at the bottom of the screen that says "weather alert - go to our website or check our news app for more info". The stations that haven't hopped on the app/website bandwagon and aren't significantly using either are quickly loosing relevence in an app and internet world.