WBRC now has SEVEN meteorologists!

[tyrannical bastard 3183]

With the return of J-P Dice to WBRC, they will now have SEVEN meteorologists on staff.

Likely the most out of any station in the southeast region.

https://marketshare.tvnewscheck.com/2022/08/08/wbrc-birmingham-adds-familiar-face-increasing-meteorologists-to-7/

 

IMHO, they should have stayed at 6, it would matched their channel number.

 

And lest we forget down at 33/40, where one reigns supreme over all...

[GoldenShine9 1468]

I wonder if some of them will also appear on nearby Gray stations when they are short-staffed?

[tyrannical bastard 3183]

Just now, GoldenShine9 said:

I wonder if some of them will also appear on nearby Gray stations when they are short-staffed?

That, and helping out their Gulf Coast stations (WJHG, WALA, WLOX, WVUE) if a tropical storm or hurricane were to strike, especially if one was knocked off the air.

[who?cares 234]

13 hours ago, tyrannical bastard said:

That, and helping out their Gulf Coast stations (WJHG, WALA, WLOX, WVUE) if a tropical storm or hurricane were to strike, especially if one was knocked off the air.

It also allows for meteorologist “teams” during hours upon hours of severe weather coverage. 

[GodfreyGR 422]

WDAY/Fargo has been at 7 for most of the summer. Granted, some of them don't usually appear on screen at WDAY and do web-forecasts for the newspaper websites (I.E., The Duluth News Tribune). Could also speculate that some would transfer over to doing forecasts at KVRR/Fargo if the FCC ever approves that deal (KVRR's chief met Rob Kupec left this spring to run for State Senate in Minnesota and no permanent replacement has been named).

[RGSJenkins 426]

141 miles from WBRC, WTVA in Tupelo has 8. 2-3 years ago, they had only 3.

[nycnewsjunkie 1209]

From the looks of that press release, Dice will continue his work a corporate pilot while being on staff as an occasional contributor. This expansion isn’t as crazy as it looks.

 

Given that Alabama (and Tupelo, for that matter) can be tornado-heavy during the summer, having extra meteorologists on staff can’t be a bad thing. I find it notable that stations around the country seem to be expanding their staff of meteorologists as of late, though I guess it’ll take time for many people to get used to. For instance, when WABC expanded to five meteorologists, people immediately jumped to the conclusion that someone was leaving.

[TheRolyPoly 1824]

I think five is sufficient. Four main on-air ones plus a fifth as a behind-the-scenes producer/fill-in.

[compubit 642]

On 8/9/2022 at 10:42 AM, RGSJenkins said:

141 miles from WBRC, WTVA in Tupelo has 8. 2-3 years ago, they had only 3.

 

I’m guessing they’re bringing in either students or grads from Mississippi State’s program - I know in the past it’s been one of the best broadcast meteorology programs in the country.

 

Jim

[TheOneManHerd 552]

Well, the one thing people watch local news for more than anything these days is for the weather. Even with that in mind, 7 or 8 mets on staff seems like overkill; but then again I'm not the one hunkered down in the weather center during a EF5.

[MidwestTV 1136]

Depending on the market and how much news the station does, even a team of 5 can get stretched thin. Having a sixth can greatly reduce workload and allow for special projects.

 

On 8/9/2022 at 10:42 AM, RGSJenkins said:

141 miles from WBRC, WTVA in Tupelo has 8. 2-3 years ago, they had only 3.

 

On 8/10/2022 at 10:06 PM, compubit said:

I’m guessing they’re bringing in either students or grads from Mississippi State’s program - I know in the past it’s been one of the best broadcast meteorology programs in the country.

 

Jim

 

Yes, they're adding students from Mississippi State as part of their team. Two of them are juniors and one in grad school (which is highly unusual to have a meteorology master working in broadcast). WCBI also does this to a far smaller degree. There's only 3, maybe 4, there.

[tyrannical bastard 3183]

Birmingham is not too far from Huntsville, home of Baron Services, the other major supplier of broadcast weather systems next to IBM (WSI/WeatherCentral/The Weather Company). 

It was founded by meteorologist Bob Baron, who worked at WAAY and WAFF in the 80s and 90s.

 

WBRC also uses Baron products including their VIPIR radar.

 

2 hours ago, MidwestTV said:

Yes, they're adding students from Mississippi State as part of their team. Two of them are juniors and one in grad school (which is highly unusual to have a meteorology master working in broadcast). WCBI also does this to a far smaller degree. There's only 3, maybe 4, there.

 WTVA has always punched above its weight for that market size.  It's been a trailblazing station going all the way back to its founder, Frank Spain, who literally built the station by hand (the equipment) back in the early days of television.  It's good to see Allen Media keeping the station above the pack.

Edited August 13, 2022 by tyrannical bastard