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CNN using game/reality show to find new weather anchor


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The destruction of CNN at the hands of Jeff Zucker seems to be continuing...

 

FTVLive is reporting that casting is ongoing for a new TBS reality/game show that will search for a new weather anchor for CNN, "NO Meteorology degree or experience needed".

 

Hopefully the runner-up replaces Don Lemon.

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"NO Meteorology degree or experience needed".

 

Why is this allowed? Shouldn't a meteorologist for a national cable news network have at least some level of experience in the field? This kind of thing is barely acceptable at rural television stations, much less a national network. It's like CNN doesn't even care anymore.

 

Oh wait, Time Warner doesn't really care about CNN (U.S.) anymore. At least CNN International is still tolerable.

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Despite the dubious nature of the idea of this reality show competition, I'm not convinced that a national cable network needs an actual meteorologist. They don't give forecasts, and most of the weather data that they'd use probably comes from someone like AccuWeather. All they need is someone to appear for 2 minutes on camera to tell people it's raining (or not)/hot (or cold)/storming/flooding someplace in the country.

 

People don't go to CNN for the weather, they turn to their local channel, an internet source, or possibly the Weather Channel (if they're not showing Fat Guys in the Woods or some other non-weather crap.)

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The contestant field is pretty diverse. Note all but one are under the age of 35, too:

 

Jennifer “Jazzy T” Williams (32), of Buffalo, N.Y., a radio personality with 10 years of on-air experience and a degree in telecommunications and digital media arts.

 

Frank Margini (32) of Old Tappan, N.J., a fitness trainer and former member of Air Force with a degree in criminal justice and only 5% body fat.

 

Jeff Forgeron (25) of San Diego, Calif., an Associated Press writer for Weather Underground who has a degree in meteorology.

 

Miller Robson (42) of Columbus, Ga., a former wrestler and local meteorologist/anchor who is working toward a degree in meteorology.

 

Jenn Barlow (28) of San Diego, Calif., a “sneaky smart blonde” with seven years experience as a television reporter and host.

 

Mackenzie Bart (23), of Columbus, Ohio, Miss Ohio 2014 who is currently working on her degree in atmospheric science.

 

Ron Hilliard (28), of Detroit, Mich., a news intern and SKYWARN-trained weather spotter with a degree in the interdisciplinary humanities of communications, theater and Spanish.

 

Michelle Rotella (27) of Germantown, Md., a meteorologist who graduated from high school at 16 before earning a bachelor’s degree in meteorology.

 

Aubrey Evans (25), of Las Vegas, Nev., a model and skilled ice skater with an abundance of life experience to bring to the competition.

 

Christina Faraone (26) of Walden, N.Y., a Marine meteorologist technician whose master’s thesis was on the role of weather in aviation.

 

David Collins (34) from Deland, Fla., a Navy veteran who graduated at the top of his meteorology class and spent four years as an operational weather briefer.

 

Drew Logan (26) of Westlake Village, Calif., a pastor and former college football player who recently completed his master’s degree.

 

So about half of these people already have a meteorology degree. At the least a few have television experience. And then obviously the other half don't have any TV or weather experience whatsoever.

 

And AFAIK, it's just a one off appearance on CNN. Look at it this way, especially if they already have existing TV or meteorology experience, it's footage they can use in their reel and it might lead to a better paying or higher market gig at a news station somewhere.

 

If they don't have TV experience, well, then they can say "Hey I was on the low rate CNN morning show!" and it can be for shits and giggles. :)

 

Having said that I will be watching.

 

Also I should say that KTLA is throwing a tantrum claiming that TBS stole the idea from them! http://www.adweek.com/tvspy/we-did-it-twice-ktla-claims-tbs-stole-its-new-weatherman-show/150945

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Also I should say that KTLA is throwing a tantrum claiming that TBS stole the idea from them! http://www.adweek.com/tvspy/we-did-it-twice-ktla-claims-tbs-stole-its-new-weatherman-show/150945

 

Well after all... KTLA did have "The Audition" in 2005 and has now had the popular morning anchor Jessica Holmes (used to work for Nickelodeon too, that's how I remember her) since 2005.
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"NO Meteorology degree or experience needed".

 

Why is this allowed? Shouldn't a meteorologist for a national cable news network have at least some level of experience in the field? This kind of thing is barely acceptable at rural television stations, much less a national network. It's like CNN doesn't even care anymore.

 

Oh wait, Time Warner doesn't really care about CNN (U.S.) anymore. At least CNN International is still tolerable.

 

Why, when everything is pretty much based on the predictions and observations vetted by the national weather service?

 

NWS monitors and calibrated the offical devices and stations.

 

Do TV stations feed the NWS radar images for public consumption?

 

The TV weather person does not decide where warnings are officially posted. Sure they may have some input to the local NWS office along with stormchasers etc...

 

No TV station or network wants the liability.

The local weather person is just there to shill the little met label, or vamp until the next NWS issued directive.

 

Tell me if it's serious so I can get the hell out of the area.

 

The WX radio has a nice soothing robot voice that seems to work fine.

 

But I guess this one contestant will make it all legit.

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Why, when everything is pretty much based on the predictions and observations vetted by the national weather service?

 

NWS monitors and calibrated the offical devices and stations.

 

Do TV stations feed the NWS radar images for public consumption?

 

The TV weather person does not decide where warnings are officially posted. Sure they may have some input to the local NWS office along with stormchasers etc...

 

No TV station or network wants the liability.

The local weather person is just there to shill the little met label, or vamp until the next NWS issued directive.

 

Tell me if it's serious so I can get the hell out of the area.

 

The WX radio has a nice soothing robot voice that seems to work fine.

 

But I guess this one contestant will make it all legit.

In fairness some of the meteorologists are actual scientists and actually think beyond just the NWS forecasts.
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In fairness some of the meteorologists are actual scientists and actually think beyond just the NWS forecasts.

Some are actually involved with the NWS. Seems like whenever I visit the local NWS website and do a little digging atleast one meteorologist from each station appears in a group picture attends this event.

 

But I can't help but feel like this is bad corporate synergy. I honestly doubt the ratings for this show will be any good. TBS probably would be better off just replaying an episode of The Big Bang Theory.

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I know one of the contestants personally. So I am not going to knock this thread. He is VERY personable, charismatic and smart. I know he will go very far in this.

 

I had no idea he was auditioning until he announced it on his FB.

 

This should be interesting.

 

-- Matt

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In fairness some of the meteorologists are actual scientists and actually think beyond just the NWS forecasts.

 

Additionally, many TV meteorologists make their own forecast, with or without ever looking at what the NWS thinks. There's a misconception that TV meteorologists, with an actual degree in meteorology or not, simply pull the NWS forecast and put it in their graphics. That's simply not true.

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Additionally, many TV meteorologists make their own forecast, with or without ever looking at what the NWS thinks. There's a misconception that TV meteorologists, with an actual degree in meteorology or not, simply pull the NWS forecast and put it in their graphics. That's simply not true.

 

also aren't stations such as the abc o&o and some stations that use accuweather told to forecast what they(accuweather) observe etc?

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also aren't stations such as the abc o&o and some stations that use accuweather told to forecast what they(accuweather) observe etc?

They partner with Accuweather, but WABC for example employs extremely qualified meteorologists- they aren't tied down to what Accuweather says- they use some of their data but it's my understanding that each ABC O&O has their own radar system for example - Accuweather doesn't run those local operations.

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Additionally, many TV meteorologists make their own forecast, with or without ever looking at what the NWS thinks. There's a misconception that TV meteorologists, with an actual degree in meteorology or not, simply pull the NWS forecast and put it in their graphics. That's simply not true.

 

I'm going to be honest and upfront here, I call BS on this. Any meteorologist who doesn't consult the NWS when making their forecast is frankly, an idiot. A good meteorologist consults many different models and sources.

 

I should also say if they don't have a degree in meteorology, then yes most likely they are just "rip and reading" the NWS forecast. I mean "weather anchors" usually don't know anything about meteorology or weather...they usually just have a journalism or communications degree. Only those with meteorology degree are true meteorologists. Yes guys that means Al Roker falls in the category of "weather anchor"...

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I'm going to be honest and upfront here, I call BS on this. Any meteorologist who doesn't consult the NWS when making their forecast is frankly, an idiot. A good meteorologist consults many different models and sources.

 

I should also say if they don't have a degree in meteorology, then yes most likely they are just "rip and reading" the NWS forecast. I mean "weather anchors" usually don't know anything about meteorology or weather...they usually just have a journalism or communications degree. Only those with meteorology degree are true meteorologists. Yes guys that means Al Roker falls in the category of "weather anchor"...

 

With lonnie quinn he may have an FAA certificate in meteorology but he is clueless as heck. What you mean al roker doesn't have a meterologist degree?

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I'm going to be honest and upfront here, I call BS on this. Any meteorologist who doesn't consult the NWS when making their forecast is frankly, an idiot. A good meteorologist consults many different models and sources.

 

I should also say if they don't have a degree in meteorology, then yes most likely they are just "rip and reading" the NWS forecast. I mean "weather anchors" usually don't know anything about meteorology or weather...they usually just have a journalism or communications degree. Only those with meteorology degree are true meteorologists. Yes guys that means Al Roker falls in the category of "weather anchor"...

That doesn't mean the guy doesn't know a bunch about weather... It just means he didn't go to school for it.
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I'm going to be honest and upfront here, I call BS on this. Any meteorologist who doesn't consult the NWS when making their forecast is frankly, an idiot. A good meteorologist consults many different models and sources.

 

A meteorologist has no choice but to consult other models.

 

I don't quite think you understood what I meant. What I meant is that many of them simply don't see what the NWS itself forecasted and base their forecast off of it, if not just taking it, is a misconception . They're checking out other things from the NWS, such as models and the weather chat, but I believe, again, that it's a misconception that the guys in television just rip a forecast from the NWS.

 

Additionally, (expanding upon the 'consult other sources' comment, to which I know you didn't say anything about what I'm about to say) why would anyone look at their competitor stations' forecasts? If you're doing that when making your own, then you most not have much faith in either your forecast that day or ability to forecast.

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Additionally, (expanding upon the 'consult other sources' comment, to which I know you didn't say anything about what I'm about to say) why would anyone look at their competitor stations' forecasts? If you're doing that when making your own, then you most not have much faith in either your forecast that day or ability to forecast.

Why would they watch their competitors meteorologists? Better question is, why wouldn't they? I don't think they're using each other's forecasts as a basis but it's nice to be versed on what your competition is predicting and how different is it from your forecast? Is there anything they might be forecasting that you're not? They may not be doing it every day but I'm sure all the meteorologists in yours and everyone else's markets are aware of how their competitors are forecasting. Maybe they have each stations weather app, maybe they make it a priority to watch CBS 4 News instead of their NBC 12. Whatever they do, they have to be aware of their competition, they just have to be. This is a competitive business and you don't want your competitior scooping you. And of course each meteorologist will bounce off of the other meteorologists at their station too. I'm sure if the noon guy isn't sure if a storm will make it he might ask the chief what he thinks.

 

BTW, this is the same thing as what assignment desks do by watching the other local stations, to see how their competition is covering a news story and did they get something that we missed?

 

And explain to me why is KSAT ripping off WOAI and doing "Weather Where You Live" now (a ripoff of the 4-Zone Forecast)? Certainly it can't be because they're aware of their competition...

 

They're checking out other things from the NWS, such as models and the weather chat, but I believe, again, that it's a misconception that the guys in television just rip a forecast from the NWS.

I'm pretty sure if they have a meteorology degree or they are studying to get their meteorology certificate then they don't rip and read the forecast. But I was alluding to the more common trend in the industry now which is to get a reporter, who really doesn't want to be a meteorologist, to have them report like three days a week and then serve as "weekend weather forecaster". Then I'm saying yeah I'm pretty sure they're just ripping and reading. They have absolutely no knowledge of weather to understand the complexities of the science so they have no choice. There's some that end up loving the weather gig and go to get their meteorology certificate but there's a fair number that don't simply because they're not interested and they're a true reporter at heart.

 

I mean at some stations they even have the traffic reporter do fill-in weather sometimes and as you know the traffic reporter position is one basically anybody can do. If a police officer or stand up comedian can do it you can too. And yet these people sometimes are basically having to forecast. With no knowledge of weather they have no choice but to rip and read.

 

And I know this is taking it to a bit of an extreme but in Australia the vast majority of weather forecasters have no meteorology background and in fact their background is usually former fashion model. This is one of my favorite clips to use in a discussion like this. I doubt she could forecast on her own there, let alone here where most weather casters are expected to have a meteorology background:

[yt]HFeRNKyKwVU[/yt]

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Why would they watch their competitors meteorologists? Better question is, why wouldn't they? I don't think they're using each other's forecasts as a basis but it's nice to be versed on what your competition is predicting and how different is it from your forecast? Is there anything they might be forecasting that you're not? They may not be doing it every day but I'm sure all the meteorologists in yours and everyone else's markets are aware of how their competitors are forecasting. Maybe they have each stations weather app, maybe they make it a priority to watch CBS 4 News instead of their NBC 12. Whatever they do, they have to be aware of their competition, they just have to be. This is a competitive business and you don't want your competitior scooping you. And of course each meteorologist will bounce off of the other meteorologists at their station too. I'm sure if the noon guy isn't sure if a storm will make it he might ask the chief what he thinks.

 

BTW, this is the same thing as what assignment desks do by watching the other local stations, to see how their competition is covering a news story and did they get something that we missed?

 

And explain to me why is KSAT ripping off WOAI and doing "Weather Where You Live" now (a ripoff of the 4-Zone Forecast)? Certainly it can't be because they're aware of their competition...

 

I'm pretty sure if they have a meteorology degree or they are studying to get their meteorology certificate then they don't rip and read the forecast. But I was alluding to the more common trend in the industry now which is to get a reporter, who really doesn't want to be a meteorologist, to have them report like three days a week and then serve as "weekend weather forecaster". Then I'm saying yeah I'm pretty sure they're just ripping and reading. They have absolutely no knowledge of weather to understand the complexities of the science so they have no choice. There's some that end up loving the weather gig and go to get their meteorology certificate but there's a fair number that don't simply because they're not interested and they're a true reporter at heart.

 

I mean at some stations they even have the traffic reporter do fill-in weather sometimes and as you know the traffic reporter position is one basically anybody can do. If a police officer or stand up comedian can do it you can too. And yet these people sometimes are basically having to forecast. With no knowledge of weather they have no choice but to rip and read.

 

And I know this is taking it to a bit of an extreme but in Australia the vast majority of weather forecasters have no meteorology background and in fact their background is usually former fashion model. This is one of my favorite clips to use in a discussion like this. I doubt she could forecast on her own there, let alone here where most weather casters are expected to have a meteorology background:

[yt]HFeRNKyKwVU[/yt]

 

This clip has less to do with a forecasting background...but, like a small-market anchor, she doesn't have the ability to ad-lib. Virtually all meteorologists AND forecasters in the US don't go off the prompter...they all have SOME knowledge of what is going on, but the depth of that knowledge obviously varies.
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Maybe they have each stations weather app, maybe they make it a priority to watch CBS 4 News instead of their NBC 12.

You always have to monitor the competition to see if there's anything your missing while at the same time trying to one up them. But to be honest those branded weather apps are BS. If you have one stations you'll likely have the others and data is rarely different. Here WBAL, WBFF and WJZ all use the WSI white label app which gets the data from WeatherUnderground/Intellicast.

This clip has less to do with a forecasting background...but, like a small-market anchor, she doesn't have the ability to ad-lib. Virtually all meteorologists AND forecasters in the US don't go off the prompter...they all have SOME knowledge of what is going on, but the depth of that knowledge obviously varies.

 

I thought most meteorologists ad lib. I've heard some put some data into the prompter either as a running order or a brief summary if the station takes the cheap route and their closed captioning comes straight from their copy.

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