• Get involved.
    We want your input!
    Apply for Membership and join the conversations about everything related to broadcasting.

    After we receive your registration, a moderator will review it. After your registration is approved, you will be permitted to post.
    If you use a disposable or false email address, your registration will be rejected.

    After your membership is approved, please take a minute to tell us a little bit about yourself.
    https://www.radiodiscussions.com/forums/introduce-yourself.1088/

    Thanks in advance and have fun!
    RadioDiscussions Administrators

Where In The World Is Ken Barlow ?

A

Adams242

Guest
WBZ TV 4's meterologist, Ken Barlow, has seemed to disappear from Ch.4.
In the middle of the impending Nor'Easter he was replaced by Mish Michaels and not on-air announcement about his absence.

Thought he was the Chief Meterologist for Channel 4. Seems odd that he would take a vacation with an impending storm.

Has he moved on or is he ill ?
 
I believe he has been gone since last Wednesday or Thursday. May have just taken vacation, that far in advance it was impossible to tell that this storm would bring so much excitment to New England. In fact, at that point the storm was going to miss completely, with just some flurries on the Cape. We will see soon though.
 
At least you were in Boston where the stations had good back up. You should see what happens down here when a the big guys take off and leave the B team in charge. There was one station that actually used to get it's subs via Accuweather. Imagine how that went over during severe weather season!
 
People, People, People --

No station on earth would let their Chief Meteorologist take a VACATION during sweeps month. Trust me, it's not gonna happen! So, it must be something much more sinister...perhaps he is ill (although I would think that they would announce it during sweeps) or perhaps Mish should actually be the Chief Met.
 
formeraa said:
People, People, People --

No station on earth would let their Chief Meteorologist take a VACATION during sweeps month. Trust me, it's not gonna happen! So, it must be something much more sinister...perhaps he is ill (although I would think that they would announce it during sweeps) or perhaps Mish should actually be the Chief Met.
Click to expand...

that's a bunch of baloney. although local TV mets are generally encouraged not to take time off during coldest months of the year, they are allowed to take time off(even during feb. sweeps) and there have been plenty of times when some of them missed surprise snowstorms during year-end vacation weeks and early spring.
 
You have NO idea what you are talking about! If WBZ-TV let their Chief Met take a pre-planned vacation during sweeps month, they deserve the LOW ratings that they get. Honestly, I don't know of any station that lets anyone take a pre-planned vacation during sweeps month. Everyone is expected to be in place during key ratings periods.

An exception might be Thanksgiving Day (if it falls during sweeps), but don't count it.
 
That thought certainly did cross my mind, however, Mish is very highly respected and liked, so in this case, I really don't think ratings would suffer. She is a very good meteorologist, one of the best in Boston. When Ken was named Chief last year, I remember that Mish would also be on with him at times, so it really is like a team between the two.

Anyway...only time will tell.
 
formeraa said:
You have NO idea what you are talking about! If WBZ-TV let their Chief Met take a pre-planned vacation during sweeps month, they deserve the LOW ratings that they get. Honestly, I don't know of any station that lets anyone take a pre-planned vacation during sweeps month. Everyone is expected to be in place during key ratings periods.

An exception might be Thanksgiving Day (if it falls during sweeps), but don't count it.
Click to expand...

go back and check the videotape. barlow had some time off last february. no big deal.

sweeps carry bigger weight for the networks, not so much for the locals anymore.
big nielsen markets like boston are now continiously measured 52 x a year. in the old
days when everything was diary-recorded, sweeps had more importance for the locals every qtr. in the day of people meters, it's a different ballgame.
 
So, then, Boston doesn't have sweeps special reports anymore???

I live in Phoenix and nobody is on vacation here. My cousin works in Seattle -- absolutely nobody is on vacation there either. I emailed my friends in the DFW market -- nobody is allowed to go on vacation there either. So, again, I would claim that either WBZ is stupid or you have no idea what you're talking about. And I don't have access to the videotape.
 
Garrett said:
Every market is different.
Click to expand...

No kidding. Its sweeps month here at the station where I work and it's same old, same old stories. Nothing special really.
 
Atually, I believe I made the same observation, but it may have been in a different thread. So, here's what I was thinking... Last year, right about this time, the very popular meteorologist here in our market dissappeared in much the same fashion. He had just come back from a vacation a few days earlier, but suddenly disappeared again, and hadn't been back. A few weeks into his unexplained absence, it was announced that he'd had a stroke (by the way, he's made miraculous recovery, you'd never know by watching his forcast what had happened). When everyone mentioned the way Barlow had disappeard, that sounded very similar to me.
 
Ken Barlow said he was in the ICU last week but I came in late. Did he say what caused the allergic reaction? He didn't look well the day before he went off the air but he looked fine today although his face was still a little puffy.

Still, good to have him back. I like his style and presentation.

Wish him well.
 
Status
This thread has been closed due to inactivity. You can create a new thread to discuss this topic.


Back
Top Bottom