Programming changes because of tornado warnings
Published: May 9, 2008
WSLS to re-air NBC shows from Thursday night that were interrupted due to tornado warnings coverage late Saturday night, early Sunday morning
1:30 a.m. - My Name is Earl
2:00 a.m. - Scrubs series finale
2:30 a.m. - The Office
3:30 a.m. - 30 Rock season finale
Click here to watch the shows online
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Reader Reactions
I thought your information was very informative. I appreciated knowing what was going to happen, when, and where. This helps keep lives out of danger. So what people missed their TV shows. There will be plenty of re-runs this summer. Keep up the good work!!
Not even DirectTV saved me from that spectacle.
First, what about “My Name is Earl”? Second, what about people that do not have TIVO or DVRs? I understand that this was done to inform people of what was going on, but when the meteorologists have nothing to talk about for over an hour is it really necessary. And even while this stuff was on air, the meteorologists were not continually notifying the public about who was at risk or the effected areas. So, I do not know why this was really necessary, when a scrolling information bar would have been more informational.
Seriously. That was the most amateurish hour of “news” I think I’ve ever seen. It was such an obvious trainwreck that I couldn’t take my eyes off of it. My grandparents live in the affected area and they even called and were lauging about it. Way to screw the pooch for your national ratings on The Office and the 30 Rock season finales. I’m sure that NBC will be happy to know that you blocked the programming for a few raindrops and some over-zealous storm warnings.
Nothin’ like watching a couple of weathermen drooling over storm cells and chaotically trying to one-up the other for over an hour. Maybe it was good for meteorology students, but it was a train wreck for the rest of us. Suggestion for the future: Put together a report, THEN give us the information through screen banners and 20-sec broadcasts.
Last night was a disappointment. I sat down to watch some of my favorite shows and was greeted by a special weather report.
No big deal I thought a few mins talking about the storm and then back to programming unless a tornado touches down somewhere.
An hour later and the report is still dragging on. The on-air talent struggling to find things to talk about. The warnings were starting to be removed but still the report marched on.
By this point all of the other channels had reverted beck to regular programming + an update crawl.
Yes it was a bad storm but if we wanted round the clock weather we have the weather channel and the weatherband on our radios.
Reairing the shows at 4AM when most people are not up is a poor substitute.
It was like watching Meteorologists on crack. They were having a weatherman frenzy as they chaotically flipped between screens and flashed up pictures. Was this professional and benefical? Only if we were meterology students. For the Average Joe, we don’t need to see the play by play. Put together a report and feed us the information through scrolling banners and quick 20-sec interruptions. You do not need to use 1.5 hours of broadcasting time to show us hyper weather guys drooling over storm cells.
I agree with chipb43. You all went for over an hour talking about things 95% of your viewing audience don’t understand. I know you all have all the neat “weather toys” but WE DON’T CARE. If it is going to rain, tell us. We don’t need to know how fast the jet stream is moving. We dont need to be shown 3D images of the storm. Also, who’s decision was it to replay Scrubs and The Office but not My name is Earl? Did you all take a vote in the studio?
By the way, I lived on the Gulf Coast for years. We hade tornado warnings on a regular basis. I never saw a network cut in during prime time for more than an hour and repeat the same things OVER AND OVER. I think your Viper Radar bit you in the butt on this one.
Last night’s program interruption to alert viewers of severe weather was like watching an old rerun of the Three Stooges (minus a third Stooge). Yes, I understand the need to warn people about impending tornadoes, thunderstorms and the like. But here’s a suggestion: Gather all of your data, know what you’re going to say, flip the “on air” switch, say what you have to and get out of there. Don’t try to figure it out as you go along. You lose credibility that way. Also, scroll the alerts across the top of the screen so your viewers can make sense of what you’re saying. Finally, don’t let your two weather guys talk over and try to one-up each other. Your audience is intelligent enough to glean the information that’s important to them.
I have DirectTV and we were subjected to the same thing. My theory was that it gave the yokels some time to play with their weather toy and impart totally useless information. Strangely enough every other channel managed to get by with the information bar. Great call channel 10!
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