TORNADO STORM COVERAGE SAVED LIVES

[gregg75]

Several people on TV have already said the continuing storm coverage of WSB
(as well as other stations) saved their lives. Many were already without power
and others called them to warn that a tornado was headed their way.

I think such information is most helpful when stations plot the direction of the
storm and give warnings to the towns in it's path. I know some stations will
probably receive recognition and local Emmy awards for their coverage.....AND THEY DESERVE IT.

 

[kilamanjero]

FOX 5 needs to catch hell for airing American Idol instead of the coverage for the confirmed tornado in Floyd and Bartow counties. This first time in memory that an O&O station in the South has neglected to serve their local area in a life-threatening situation in lieu of some network show.

 

[Mario500]

FOX 5 needs to catch hell for airing American Idol instead of the coverage for the confirmed tornado in Floyd and Bartow counties. This first time in memory that an O&O station in the South has neglected to serve their local area in a life-threatening situation in lieu of some network show.

A sub-channel dedicated to weather would have been helpful.

 

[upstate29651]

A sub-channel dedicated to weather would have been helpful.

Not no, but hell no. Breaking wx news belongs on the primary channel, always, without question! The shows can go to .2

G

 

[Mario500]

Not no, but hell no. Breaking wx news belongs on the primary channel, always, without question!  The shows can go to .2

G

There was no need to be rude. If there were a sub-channel dedicated to weather, cable TV and satellite TV operators would consider adding them as a public service. On the main channel, the station would use a ticker to inform viewers with a ticker or a segment during a commercial break to set their TV sets for the sub-channel to receive more weather information.

 

[upstate29651]

Not no, but hell no. Breaking wx news belongs on the primary channel, always, without question! The shows can go to .2

G

There was no need to be rude. If there were a sub-channel dedicated to weather, cable TV and satellite TV operators would consider adding them as a public service. On the main channel, the station would use a ticker to inform viewers with a ticker or a segment during a commercial break to set their TV sets for the sub-channel to receive more weather information.

Not being rude, and I stand by my position. When a major wx event happens, it deserves wall to wall coverage on the primary channel. Many cable systems (and sat services) don't carry subs, and some people have no clue how to access those channels.

Severe wx is a chance for the most important part of a local news organization...the weather dept, to shine & show off those wizz-bang gadgets that the parent company spent millions on, as well as fulfill their obligation to the community.

If bad weather rolls in & you miss your episode of "Glee" or "Idol", I don't feel sorry for you. If anything, THAT should be moved to the subchannel!

G

 

[Mario500]

None of my local stations use their sub-channels to broadcast programs interrupted or never shown due to special weather programming.

 

[tripinva]

If there were a sub-channel dedicated to weather, cable TV and satellite TV operators would consider adding them as a public service.

And that's why all the current weather subchannels are carried on cable and satellite, right? I mean, it's not like there have been tons of weather subchannels in existence over the years or anything that are finally leaving the air because nobody watches and cable/satellite won't pick them up. :

- Trip

 

[bpatrick]

FOX 5 needs to catch hell for airing American Idol instead of the coverage for the confirmed tornado in Floyd and Bartow counties. This first time in memory that an O&O station in the South has neglected to serve their local area in a life-threatening situation in lieu of some network show.

Sounds like the first time any station (at least a network affiliate) in the South has favored a network show when potentially-destructive weather threatened; you should see the coverage the Raleigh/Durham stations do with hurricanes even when they're off the Outer Banks and into the Norfolk DMA; many of you who live north of the Mason-Dixon line might laugh at the coverage Southern stations give snowstorms of 3, 4, 5 inches, but to us that's serious; it's not unusual for WFMY to stay on the air past 8 AM (when "The Early Show" airs in Greensboro) with school closings and the like when we get more than an inch or two. And the Atlanta stations, from what I saw (WXIA is WFMY's sister station) went all-out covering the snowstorm they got down there this winter.

As I've said more than once, I thought WXII Winston-Salem overdid it a few years ago, pre-empting the Kentucky Derby to cover a tornado that had already missed the Triad and passed through the southern part of its coverage area, but that's the way it is down here and people do appreciate it.

 

[kilamanjero]

None of my local stations use their sub-channels to broadcast programs interrupted or never shown due to special weather programming.

Shows are preempted or cancelled because of breaking news or severe weather, well that sucks but local TV stations are fulfilling their public service requirements by informing their view area. Most people don't care about sub-channels because their cable or satellite operators doesn't carry them. Also most network shows are available the network's website within 48 hours of the episode airing, so what difference does it make?

I see you likely live in the Mobile-Pensacola DMA, and you realize when their is a potential of an incoming tropical system making landfall all the stations go to wall-to-wall coverage mode to inform the viewers of the threat. The same occurs further inland in other Southern markets with snowfall, tornadoes, and even landfalling tropical systems as well.

 

[charlestondxman]

In Alabama it saved lives when they did the coverage. Heck, when we had our ice storm in January, most places about a tenth to a quarter of an inch, they covered it for three hours.

People complain when storm coverage is not on in some areas. Like when there was a 7000 acre fire in Long County, GA (Savannah market) in March and WTOC couldn't cut in because of the NCAA Tournament (Duke/Arizona). You'd have thought it was the end of the world.

Examples of complaints: do u think anybody really cares at this point about a freaken game, that just shows where there priority is... Really you people taking up for them not cutting the game?? Do you not realize that people could die because they don't want to cut some STUPID GAME!!

 

[kilamanjero]

In Alabama it saved lives when they did the coverage. Heck, when we had our ice storm in January, most places about a tenth to a quarter of an inch, they covered it for three hours.

People complain when storm coverage is not on in some areas. Like when there was a 7000 acre fire in Long County, GA (Savannah market) in March and WTOC couldn't cut in because of the NCAA Tournament (Duke/Arizona). You'd have thought it was the end of the world.

Examples of complaints: do u think anybody really cares at this point about a freaken game, that just shows where there priority is... Really you people taking up for them not cutting the game?? Do you not realize that people could die because they don't want to cut some STUPID GAME!!

Some people are idiots, plain and simple. They would rather be entertained moreso than be safe.

 

[bpatrick]

None of my local stations use their sub-channels to broadcast programs interrupted or never shown due to special weather programming.

Shows are preempted or cancelled because of breaking news or severe weather, well that sucks but local TV stations are fulfilling their public service requirements by informing their view area. Most people don't care about sub-channels because their cable or satellite operators doesn't carry them. Also most network shows are available the network's website within 48 hours of the episode airing, so what difference does it make?

I see you likely live in the Mobile-Pensacola DMA, and you realize when their is a potential of an incoming tropical system making landfall all the stations go to wall-to-wall coverage mode to inform the viewers of the threat. The same occurs further inland in other Southern markets with snowfall, tornadoes, and even landfalling tropical systems as well.

Tornadoes and hurricanes are destructive--period, and I can't understand those who try to ride out a hurricane when the evacuation warnings go up. As for winter storms, the farther south you go, the less likely people are prepared for them (I can't imagine cities in Alabama or Mississippi having enough road-clearing equipment to get things back to normal very quickly; we have enough problems with that in North Carolina) because they're so rare. So for us severe weather is a big deal; even the Mississippi River flooding from Memphis south is making the national news.

But I'm not going to let those of you for whom snow is routine off the hook; I once had to make a phone call to New York, where about 16 inches of snow were on the ground, and only one person was working where I called. And this past winter I saw near-saturation coverage of winter weather on ABC7 in New York, that's how bad it was.

 

[Isles22]

I was not in town at the time of the tornadoes, but my wife said Channel 11's coverage was awful. No mention of the tornado warning in south Metro (Spaulding, Coweta, Merriweather Counties). She ended up watching the usually way over the top coverage on Channel 2.