Ch 4 Weather Jerks do it again!

[bimmer_immer]

So -- I was watching the Mid-Ohio ALMS (American LeMans Series) race on NBC sports Sunday afternoon.

For most of the race, there is an annoying  crawl on the bottom 1/4 of the screen continually alerting us to weather issues (t-storms, flooding, etc).

These are timed races, and  when the time is up, it becomes the last lap.
And there are actually 4 races within one (4 different classes of cars), often hotly
contested right up to the end.

Guess when Ch. 4 decides to preempt the program to give us live, breaking weather information? The last [!%@$#^%] lap. We totally missed the finish of the race.
:bang::bang::bang:

They couldn't have waited one more stinkin' minute?

If I had another choice, I would choose that  instead of watching this station -- apparently run by fools, amateurs or people that don't give a rip about their viewers.
 
Thank goodness SpeedTV is covering the next ALMS race at Road America next weekend.

[Bebop]

They have a sub-channel dedicated to weather. Why can't they use an unobtrusive crawler to direct interested viewers to it?

[Retro Lover]

Maybe I'm not thinking this through enough, but these weather alerts in general are a bit over the top if you ask me. Especially when they ruin a good recording!

It rained. :rolleyes:

But in general, these armageddon rain alerts are probably more appropriate for radio, considering the worst cases would be for those on the road, I imagine. At least tone it down on television.

[Jack 1000]

They have a sub-channel dedicated to weather. Why can't they use an unobtrusive crawler to direct interested viewers to it?

This is an excellent idea!  Especially since the DTV transition is complete.

Jack

[Stanley Kritzik]

I'm not defending 4.1 -- far from it; but, apparently, "shocking" news sells.  So, it is all this "stuff" about weather, the guys and gals getting photo ops outside of hospitals, barging in on restaurants, you name it.  This is what passes for "local news", and no wonder that the networks are losing share to other channels.  Too bad we can't easily just "tune them out."

Stan

[John L]

This is an excellent idea!  Especially since the DTV transition is complete.

Jack

Except one thing....if you still have an analog TV and subscribe to Basic Channel lineup on TWC, ch. 4-2 doesn't appear there.

You can get 4-2's programming if you have a digital TV connected to TWC cable. I believe its part of the basic digital package.

-John L.

[techguy1975]

Also...people who are blind, or have difficulty seeing will not be able to see the crawl prompting them to tune to another channel.

[John L]

Also...people who are blind, or have difficulty seeing will not be able to see the crawl prompting them to tune to another channel.

I would think most blind people would listen to the Radio and probably don't have a TV to begin with.

-John L.

[mrschimpf]

Except one thing....if you still have an analog TV and subscribe to Basic Channel lineup on TWC, ch. 4-2 doesn't appear there.

You can get 4-2's programming if you have a digital TV connected to TWC cable. I believe its part of the basic digital package.

-John L.

Or if you have Charter, you're completely out of luck since Time Warner talked Journal into offering the channel only to them (at least that's the appearance since you never see a Charter ad on WTMJ).

[techguy1975]

Or if you have Charter, you're completely out of luck since Time Warner talked Journal into offering the channel only to them (at least that's the appearance since you never see a Charter ad on WTMJ).

Does Charter even have service in S.E. WI?  I thought the market here was pretty much dominated by Time Warner.  If Charter doesn't serve the area, running a ad in TMJ would be kinda pointless...

[kevbeck122]

Does Charter even have service in S.E. WI?  I thought the market here was pretty much dominated by Time Warner.  If Charter doesn't serve the area, running a ad in TMJ would be kinda pointless...

Charter is in at least Washington, Jefferson and Walworth counties... maybe more.

[mrschimpf]

Does Charter even have service in S.E. WI?  I thought the market here was pretty much dominated by Time Warner.  If Charter doesn't serve the area, running a ad in TMJ would be kinda pointless...

The northern part of the market (outside of Plymouth, Howards Grove and a few smaller cities), especially in the majority of Dodge, Sheboygan and Fond du Lac counties is Charter territory, along with those areas kevbeck mentioned. Journal is about to head back to the table for retrans talks in a few weeks with Charter so we'll see if anything is headed our way in regards to subchannels. But for now you can only see Weather Plus on over-the-air or Time Warner.

[murdoc]

Charter is here in West Bend, hence the reason I have D*.  I wish TWC would at least get Roadrunner in the area.

[ArgMeMatey]

It's the same old story.  When one of you starts paying the bills over there, they'll start listening.  Until then, they're just doing what they think will give their advertisers more eyeballs.

[Jack 1000]

Interesting article on the debate for local Milwaukee Weather: Is it too much, or better safe than sorry?

http://onmilwaukee.com/myOMC/authors/craigkoplien/koplientvweathercoverage.html

Interestingly enough, channel 4, WTMJ makes NO apologies for how they cover the weather!  According to the author of the article, the other stations seem to take a different approach.

Jack