First off, the ChromaKey isn't that fun to mess around with, as I found out at a science museum here in Toledo... Actually kind of bland and unentertaining after about 20 seconds of it.
Now on with the show.
Here in Toledo, WTOL has been know to cut into programming for people stepping on a crack in the sidewalk, making for an abnormal amount of mothers breaking their backs.
I'll use Price as an example here.
Meteorologists, whether NWS or AMS seals or not, have been known to hype storms a lot worse than they really are, and they choose to use every moment of TV time they can to do it. It isn't the public safety they care about. It is the ratings. ALL about the ratings. And if you think I am kidding around, take a look at the Toledo Blade, or the 4 TV stations here in town. None of them care about the news, or exclusives, or anything else. It is ALL about the weather.
WTOL (CBS) was the first to have a live doppler in Toledo a number of years ago. They were also the first to display a tri doppler format. So for years, they touted themselves as the weather station to tune to. And then, after WTVG (ABC) and WNWO (NBC) picked up the triple doppler, the weather wars started. They started changing names, such as Super Doppler, Digital Doppler Network, Triple Doppler... WUPW (Fox) then decided to come up with a spoof of WTVG 13's name, the Super Duper Woppler Doppler 14,000. And then, WTVG, in a $600,000 move, decided to purchase a new doppler system from Barron called VIPIR. This system is AWESOME, especially to me as a storm chaser. But all the other stations downplayed it, saying it is too much information for the public to comprehend with, and whatnot. So that is where we are today on that aspect.
WTVG was starting their morning newscast the other morning at 4:55 because of the road conditions and school closings. WNWO caught wind and decided to start at 4:54. Then, during the day, the roads got better, the sun came out, and the front moved through. But did that stop the weather wars on every half hour? Hell no.
All they do is reiterate what they have on crawls, and what they pound into everyone's head with the watch/warning map with a doppler overlay, and the names for every single storm that comes out, and everything else that comes along that they do.
I don't expect a suit to appear on TV when flurries are falling. I don't expect break ins 6 hours before a storm hits, especially when the noon news is just an hour away. Rain does not constitute a break in. What does constitute a break in? Tornadoes, STW's, Heavy Snow, Flooding, Icing Conditions, and in the south, Hurricanes.
And as I finally wrap this up, it's just a ratings war. Because if you get higher ratings, you get more budget to get new toys, and quite possibly, a bigger wallet. Television Meteorologists are turning out just to be like lawyers and doctors. Anymore, I trust the forecast that I see directly from the NWS, and don't even watch the hype that is oh so familiar anymore.