Local TV Weathercasts

[WSUCougar]

What's with the ridiculous amount of attention given to the weather segment?

I'm all about what's coming at us. Give me an idea of what to look for in the immediate and not-too-distant future. If it's complex, that's fine, break it down for me. Severe weather, spend as much time as it takes.

But we get just saturated with all kinds of worthless information. Five minutes telling us what the weather was like today. 75 degrees at noon, with a high of 88, and a bit of rain across the metro area this morning. Really? No shit? I was there, remember? Then come dew points. Jet streams. The temperature in some meaningless little town in central Missouri. A fascinating alignment of highs and lows that will produce partly cloudy conditions.

Does anyone actually care? Am I alone in thinking the weather could be reduced to a minute-long segment?

[JonInMiddleGA]

Sorry Cougar, but the weather is the most watched segment of any local newscast, often by a decent margin (although less so than it used to be). Still, that's the most popular element of local TV news & there's a better chance that you'd see the news segment shortened before you see weather reduced.

That popularity also accounts for why weather is usually promo'ed & teased throughout the newscast and why it's often positioned just beyond the halfway point in the show (holding viewers longer).

[kcchief19]

You're outside the norm, Coug. Market research out the wazzoo shows that weather is the No. 1 reason most people watch local news. That's why you see the weather teased early in the newscast and even broken up into multiple segments on some stations.

At most stations, the No. 1 weather anchor is the highest paid employee at the station. And while most people don't necessarily care about what the high temperature was in Elko, Nevada today, it's basically just to fill time. Yes, you can do the weather in one minute, but stations like to milk the weather for as much as they can and build the personalities of their weather anchors to build trust and a relationship with the audience.

Essentially, it's pandering to the lowest common denominator. That's what the sheep want.

[WSUCougar]

I'm curious why, though. Maybe someone at FOFC can explain their fascination with the dew point.

[John Galt]

I'm curious why, though. Maybe someone at FOFC can explain their fascination with the dew point.

News weather is like the playboy channel and spice network put together. Except that its about weather.

[WSUCougar]

News weather is like the playboy channel and spice network put together. Except that its about weather.
Fixed

[albionmoonlight]

I'm curious why, though. Maybe someone at FOFC can explain their fascination with the dew point.
I can explain my parent's facination. First, the weatherman is a personality. People tune in to see him or her.

Second, they feel that it is "news that they can use." Will it rain tomorrow? What are the odds?

You are right that how much it rained today is not news. But, people like to have their perceptions validated with objective numbers. Boy it seemed hot today. I wonder if we set a record? I sure did run into some heavy rain on the way to work this morning. Yup. Scattered heavy showers in the AM. Just like I thought.

Your criticism is not wrong. You just are applying WAY WAY WAY more thought to the local news than it deserves.

[John Galt]

Fixed

:D

May the ice weasels be on your side!

[WSUCougar]

Your criticism is not wrong. You just are applying WAY WAY WAY more thought to the local news than it deserves.
Heh. Only because the gradual demise of the local TV sportscast was the subject of discussion on the radio this morning. And my tendency to get squirmy when I hear the words "dew point."

[johneh]

The worst - TV8 in Cleveland 10 o'clock news:

Around 10:10 or so they go to the weather man who says "boy it was hot today" bla bla bla

Around 10:30 back to the weather man who talks more about today's weather

Around 10:50 back to the weather man who actually gives us the forecast (after 5 minutes or stats & maps)

JUST TELL ME WHAT TOMORROW'S WEATHER WILL BE! :mad:

[JonInMiddleGA]

I'm curious why, though. Maybe someone at FOFC can explain their fascination with the dew point.

For me, trying to explain that is like trying to understand why anyone would watch American Idol -- as one old office manager I worked with used to put it "The only taste some people have is in their mouth".

There's probably a combination of things at work -- as was already mentioned, weathercasters generally show more personality than the rest of the news team. They're also delivering a base product that _does_ matter to the viewer, weather to wear a sweater or shorts tomorrow is a big deal to a lot of people. There's also a certain comforting consistency to the weather, IMO, no matter if its good or bad, it'll still be there tomorrow -- nobody dies in the weather segment, nobody steals anything, etc. And every now & then, you get lucky & get good weather, about the only "good news" that everybody generally enjoys watching.

Also, I think there's a certain amount of habit involved (after watching this phenomenon 1st hand with my family for years), the weather stays in the same place in the newscast usually, and when it moves its often gradual, so you generally know they'll be doing it at a given time.

[Wolfpack]

I like the weather myself. Then again, I am somewhat of a met-geek (have been since a kid...all those maps fed into my geography kick). Interestingly enough, up here in Detroit metro, one of the stations, which I watch more regularly over the other, doesn't really feature the weather presenter on-screen a lot. They'll discuss current conditions and the numbers off-screen, briefly appear to show what's recently happened (radar/sat loops), then disappear again when the forecast is presented. Which is sort of a shame because the lady presenter on the weekend is quite easy on the eyes. It is a bit of a change from the station I grew up watching in NC when the lead met was on-screen for pretty much everything up until the five-day.


Only because the gradual demise of the local TV sportscast was the subject of discussion on the radio this morning.


This is something I've had the hardest time getting used to up here. Hell, in most instances, the sports bit is done in three minutes, with just the reports on the local scores and perhaps an interview clip thrown in. Granted, at least on Sundays, they'll have a "SportsCenter" type program on late that expands on things, but I grew up with a sports guy on the local station in NC who had the last seven minutes and in that time presented scores and some highlights on all the pro sports, all the local colleges, and had time usually for some kind of feature. He was also doing the catch-phrase bit long before Dan Patrick and Keith Olbermann were household names.

[RendeR]

If you want your actual forecast, turn to the weather channel at :08 and:38 after each hour for your local on the eights.....



this cheap promo brought to you by the "who fucking watches local channels on tv?" movement.

[henry296]

One of the key reasons for the demise of the local sports is the "XXX Sports Tonight Programs" on the Fox Sports Net network. Those programs do pretty well and can provide much more in depth coverage that the 11 PM newscasts have decided not to compete since those shows are usually at 10 PM. As much as we discuss the demise of SportsCenter it also has an impact.

[Mustang]

Screw the weather, not a damn thing I can do about it. Winter cold, summer hot, spring and fall bring a jacket and to remove any doubt.. stick my head out the window and look

[Hawglaw]

What's with the ridiculous amount of attention given to the weather segment?

I'm all about what's coming at us. Give me an idea of what to look for in the immediate and not-too-distant future. If it's complex, that's fine, break it down for me. Severe weather, spend as much time as it takes.

But we get just saturated with all kinds of worthless information. Five minutes telling us what the weather was like today. 75 degrees at noon, with a high of 88, and a bit of rain across the metro area this morning. Really? No shit? I was there, remember? Then come dew points. Jet streams. The temperature in some meaningless little town in central Missouri. A fascinating alignment of highs and lows that will produce partly cloudy conditions.

Does anyone actually care? Am I alone in thinking the weather could be reduced to a minute-long segment?

To make things worse (and this may be why you started this thread), KSDK now has a 24 hour weather channel.

Seriously....

[Kodos]

My weather-watching consists of looking out the window in the morning before I get dressed.

When I lived at home, my Dad would watch the weather channel for hours on end. Or he would watch headline news through consecutive cycles. Drove me nuts!

[lurker]

And every now & then, you get lucky & get good weather, about the only "good news" that everybody generally enjoys watching.


That's probably the thing that pisses me off the most about the weather forecasts. Since when is weather objectively good or bad? Ugh, just thinking about how when it's like 80 degrees and absolute torture for me and having to hear everybody, including people on the news, call it nice out is annoying me to no end. And then you gotta come to work and hear everybody talk about how wonderful it is that the weather is great. No, it's not great! It's 95 degrees and some guy on the train had his armpit in my face and was constantly reminding me of the fact with his vile stench!

Sorry, it's a pretty hot day in Chicago.

[sooner333]

If you're from Oklahoma, you'd know they spend so much time because the weather people are celebrities. Channel 4 just added ANOTHER dopplar radar just to say they have one closer to where the storms come from (btw, if I hear another "Million Watts of Power" commercial, I might just go over the deep end). During severe weather they go off of regular programming and skip commercials just to keep us informed and basically to make us trust them better for the regular newscast. Of course, it all works because I watch Channel 9 a lot because of Gary England, the weather guy.

[rkmsuf]

Doppler radar is the biggest scam since one hour martinizing.

[WSUCougar]

since one hour martinizing.
When I was a kid I always thought it said "Martini-izing"

[thetrilogy]

What's the first thing a common, uneducated person talks about when they meet another person? The Weather. So it's obvious that the weather is such a popular thing with local news. The best place for weather forcasts is not on TV, it's at:

www.nws.noaa.gov

[CraigSca]

Weather is popular because it's the only part of the newscast that directly effects everyone watching.