# Hundreds of local tv station meteorologists are being laid off
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hundreds-of-local-tv-station-meteorologists-are-being-laid-off/1013250
**Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
**Created:** [January 22, 2025, 1:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hundreds-of-local-tv-station-meteorologists-are-being-laid-off/1013250 "2025-01-22T13:01:49Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)
#### Post date: [January 22, 2025, 1:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hundreds-of-local-tv-station-meteorologists-are-being-laid-off/1013250/1 "2025-01-22T13:01:49Z")
I find this heartbreaking. The local weatherman has been such a important part of my life. I often watch the news and weather twice a day.
Local news and weather is especially crucial during tornado season.
I’m old enough to remember when the local weatherman was untrained and just read a script from the National Weather Service. Tv stations didn’t start buying radars and hiring professionals until the early 1980’s.
This is just the beginning. Will we have local
meteorolgists ten years from now?
How do you feel?
> **[Local TV Meteorologist Tears Up On-Air Following Nationwide Layoffs: 'Tonight...](https://people.com/local-meteorologist-tears-up-last-broadcast-layoffs-8778153)**
>
> Meteorologists at more than two dozen stations across the United States are out of jobs after being replaced by Weather Channel feeds produced at a national hub.
> [@](#):
>
> About 100 meteorologists are losing their jobs as a result, according to [Spencer Denton](https://www.facebook.com/dentonweather/posts/pfbid0paN3sFmiPGqcnXRWWDntuVEzkLMd1p5PbJm6MnbbYhvC4E7tpbBbzj3bCQqv8gVzl?rdid=9QftnPGNWuUjCyi1#), a meteorologist with CBS affiliate WVLT in Knoxville, Tenn. — which is not a part of Allen Media Group — as well as [Christina Burkhart](https://www.facebook.com/christina.burkhart.wx/posts/pfbid02ugsJiGyfUUbzzGiTDgDPropjkhdfJrsrpPgyzNu9ZrKCj53miuzoD83eWKMUCge2l?rdid=8Nw9Sban1VYhmXuA) with ABC affiliate WJRT in South Michigan, whose station was impacted.
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### Author:  [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)
#### Post date: [January 22, 2025, 1:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hundreds-of-local-tv-station-meteorologists-are-being-laid-off/1013250/2 "2025-01-22T13:06:28Z")
Sorry. Anybody can find out the weather on their phone. You can get all the information they have from the same source. In the meantime important local news coverage is being cut back. If they can keep an investigative reporter on the job by firing a weatherman I don’t mind at all. They’ll likely get rid of both though.
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### Author:  [@ZonexandScout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZonexandScout)
#### Post date: [January 22, 2025, 1:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hundreds-of-local-tv-station-meteorologists-are-being-laid-off/1013250/3 "2025-01-22T13:18:54Z")
Yeah, my local affiliates (not part of the Allen Media Group) have teams of 6-8 meteorologists called by all sorts of names (e.g., “Your Central NC Weather Prognostication Team”). While they are an opportunity for the stations to have some personality, especially at the State Fair, they are pretty much useless to me.
But I feel the same way about the “Troubleshooters.” You know…“I couldn’t get my money back for a microwave I bought until the Channel 87 Troubleshooter called the store for me. Thanks, Channel 87!”
Put the money into developing and following real news, please. And assign at least ONE educated person to edit your damn news stories on your app.
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### Author:  [@dolphinboy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dolphinboy)
#### Post date: [January 22, 2025, 1:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hundreds-of-local-tv-station-meteorologists-are-being-laid-off/1013250/4 "2025-01-22T13:23:21Z")
Instead please cut out the entertainment news that takes up valuable time from real news. I would rather hear about the weather then what some Hollywood star did to get himself into the latest news cycle.
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### Author:  [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)
#### Post date: [January 22, 2025, 1:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hundreds-of-local-tv-station-meteorologists-are-being-laid-off/1013250/5 "2025-01-22T13:26:59Z")
I wouldn’t complain if the local sports guy went away. I usually change the channel after the news and weather.
But, that’s just me. I lost interest in sports long ago.
I haven’t seen any serious local news reporting in a long time. My local stations report on robberies and shootings.
There’s no real investigations into local politics or businesses. They cover local elections but only superficially.
Local news gets about 10 minutes of the half hour. That includes reading the national news headlines.
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### Author:  [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)
#### Post date: [January 22, 2025, 1:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hundreds-of-local-tv-station-meteorologists-are-being-laid-off/1013250/6 "2025-01-22T13:32:37Z")
> [@aceplace57](#):
>
> I wouldn’t complain if the local sports guy went away. I usually change the channel after the news and weather.
>
> But, that’s just me. I lost interest in sports long ago.
Not just you. I hate sports coverage and MN is obsessed with it to the point that it occasionally makes the lead story. The national news is sound bites aimed at making you angry, and drug ads.
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### Author:  [@Dinsdale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dinsdale)
#### Post date: [January 22, 2025, 2:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hundreds-of-local-tv-station-meteorologists-are-being-laid-off/1013250/7 "2025-01-22T14:24:02Z")
For those saying local news weathermen are unnecessary these days, I’d ask which part of local news IS necessary, or couldn’t be done better on one’s phone?
I cannot recall the last time I watched a local newscast. It must have been at least 3 decades. And I always thought the weather the worst. All I wanted was to know which coat I needed to wear or whether I should bring an umbrella. Not all these isobars is some different part of the country.
But I suspect that persons watching the local news are doing so for reasons OTHER than seeking the best way to get the best info.
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### Author:  [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)
#### Post date: [January 22, 2025, 2:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hundreds-of-local-tv-station-meteorologists-are-being-laid-off/1013250/8 "2025-01-22T14:33:06Z")
The local stations here often keep the same lead news and weather anchors for 10 or more years. Our sports anchor has been here 30 years.
It’s comforting to come in after work and see familar faces. Turning on the locals news in the morning and evening is a ritual that goes back to childhood.
I know some people never fell into that groove. Different strokes for different folks.
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### Author:  [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elmer_J.Fudd)
#### Post date: [January 22, 2025, 2:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hundreds-of-local-tv-station-meteorologists-are-being-laid-off/1013250/9 "2025-01-22T14:40:49Z")
I think without the weather person, local news will lose a step in its entertainment value, which, frankly, is all local news is usually good for these days. The goofy guy or hot gal with the silly name who gets teased and doesn’t even get a chair to sit in seems a vital role in the ensemble of virtual friends elderly retirees and shut ins rely on to feel like they’re still connected to the world.
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### Author:  [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)
#### Post date: [January 22, 2025, 2:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hundreds-of-local-tv-station-meteorologists-are-being-laid-off/1013250/10 "2025-01-22T14:43:36Z")
He only retired less than a year ago, but I still miss Tom Skilling here in Chicago. He was a bit of a local legend and inextricably tied to the city. Our Michael Jordan of meteorologists.
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### Author:  [@MrAtoz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrAtoz)
#### Post date: [January 22, 2025, 2:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hundreds-of-local-tv-station-meteorologists-are-being-laid-off/1013250/11 "2025-01-22T14:55:16Z")
It’s weird. Like you, I haven’t watched a local newscast in many years. And yet somehow, I vaguely know who the various news, weather, and sports casters are, and on some level it feels comfortable having them around. When I lived in the state capital, where the news originated from, I would even occasionally see them around town, not reporting but just living their day to day lives. If felt “folksy,” somehow, if that’s the right word, and I think I would miss them if they were to go away.
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### Author:  [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)
#### Post date: [January 22, 2025, 2:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hundreds-of-local-tv-station-meteorologists-are-being-laid-off/1013250/12 "2025-01-22T14:59:30Z")
> [@aceplace57](#):
>
> How do you feel?
That this is just the first step in replacing weather people with AI. Who needs actual facts when we can have ChatWeather. Who _cares_ if the weather is wrong? It gives me the weather that feels right! “The high temperature will be 71, and it might rain. Or it may just seem like rain.”
Next sportscasters. “ChatSports: today the Atlanta BlueJays beat the Boston Red Wings at Lambeau field. The final score was 66 to -3.” Are you going to say AI is wrong??
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### Author:  [@peedin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/peedin)
#### Post date: [January 22, 2025, 3:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hundreds-of-local-tv-station-meteorologists-are-being-laid-off/1013250/13 "2025-01-22T15:00:01Z")
> [@pulykamell](#):
>
> He only retired less than a year ago, but I still miss Tom Skilling here in Chicago. He was a bit of a local legend and inextricably tied to the city. Our Michael Jordan of meteorologists.
Skilling rocked. Entertaining, yes, but extremely academic about meteorology. I like Demetrius, but he can’t hold a candle to Mr Skilling
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### Author:  [@TRC4941](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TRC4941)
#### Post date: [January 22, 2025, 3:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hundreds-of-local-tv-station-meteorologists-are-being-laid-off/1013250/14 "2025-01-22T15:10:13Z")
> [@Dinsdale](#):
>
> All I wanted was to know which coat I needed to wear or whether I should bring an umbrella.
Just about every time my husband and I finish watching the local weather report, we look at each other and say, “so what’s the weather going to be?” There’s so much info that we don’t need, we miss the actual forecast.
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### Author:  [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)
#### Post date: [January 22, 2025, 3:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hundreds-of-local-tv-station-meteorologists-are-being-laid-off/1013250/15 "2025-01-22T15:21:41Z")
> [@Dinsdale](#):
>
> For those saying local news weathermen are unnecessary these days, I’d ask which part of local news IS necessary, or couldn’t be done better on one’s phone?
>
> I cannot recall the last time I watched a local newscast. It must have been at least 3 decades.
It’s been a long time since I tuned into local TV or radio news, but I’m sufficiently interested in area developments/scandals/political machinations that I have an online subscription to the local paper, which has downsized like so many others but still has valuable info.
I get weather forecasts and watches/warnings from the NOAA website and Weather Underground. I don’t need TV News’ Chatty Charlie or Connie to serve up the forecast.
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### Author:  [@Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mean_Mr.Mustard)
#### Post date: [January 22, 2025, 3:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hundreds-of-local-tv-station-meteorologists-are-being-laid-off/1013250/16 "2025-01-22T15:25:53Z")
> [@dolphinboy](#):
>
> Instead please cut out the entertainment news that takes up valuable time from real news. I would rather hear about the weather then what some Hollywood star did to get himself into the latest news cycle.
Yes, please. Even worse, the promos for upcoming shows on their network presented as news.
mmm
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### Author:  [@gnoitall](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gnoitall)
#### Post date: [January 22, 2025, 5:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hundreds-of-local-tv-station-meteorologists-are-being-laid-off/1013250/17 "2025-01-22T17:11:29Z")
In tornado country, on-the spot in-the-moment coverage of severe weather can save lives.
I don’t see how outsourcing to someone hundreds or thousands of miles away, covering multiple simultaneous outbreaks in a region, can possibly equal having local experts locally sited.
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### Author:  [@Happy\_Lendervedder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Happy_Lendervedder)
#### Post date: [January 22, 2025, 5:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hundreds-of-local-tv-station-meteorologists-are-being-laid-off/1013250/18 "2025-01-22T17:21:27Z")
I’ve long wondered why one of the two anchors couldn’t just read the weather? They don’t need to be experts or have a degree in weather science to tell you what the temp is gonna be or if it’s gonna snow any more than an anchor needs a degree in business, criminology or education to report on those things.
Same with sports. Field reporters can handle athlete interviews. Anchors can handle clips and game summaries.
Just have the anchors interview talking heads from the NWS during emergencies to explain what to do, what’s happening, etc.
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### Author:  [@Jasmine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jasmine)
#### Post date: [January 22, 2025, 5:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hundreds-of-local-tv-station-meteorologists-are-being-laid-off/1013250/19 "2025-01-22T17:27:34Z")
Chicagoland weather is very complex because of the mixing air masses and the effect Lake Michigan has. Our local weather people are very experienced with this area, and their forecasts often differ from that of the national weather service for those reasons. I hope we don’t lose our locals!
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### Author:  [@AlsoNamedBort](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AlsoNamedBort)
#### Post date: [January 22, 2025, 5:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hundreds-of-local-tv-station-meteorologists-are-being-laid-off/1013250/20 "2025-01-22T17:33:54Z")
Here’s the list of stations covered by this group:
[https://allenmediabroadcasting.com/](https://allenmediabroadcasting.com/)
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