# Hundreds of local tv station meteorologists are being laid off **URL:** \ **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:** 2
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2025, 5:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hundreds-of-local-tv-station-meteorologists-are-being-laid-off/1013250/21 "2025-01-22T17:44:31Z")
> [@TriPolar](#): > > Anybody can find out the weather on their phone. How accurate is that? I can’t judge. My only experience is Arizona. “Hot, dry and clear” sums up about 350 days a year. It hasn’t rained since August. Hard to get that wrong. ---
**Author:** ![thorny\_locust](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thorny_locust/32/431_2.png) [@thorny\_locust](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thorny_locust)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2025, 5:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hundreds-of-local-tv-station-meteorologists-are-being-laid-off/1013250/22 "2025-01-22T17:50:22Z")
> [@TriPolar](#): > > 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. This is part of a much wider underlying problem. Yes, they’ll likely get rid of both, if they haven’t already gotten rid of the local reporters. > [@Dinsdale](#): > > I’d ask which part of local news IS necessary, Coverage of things happening locally and not remotely likely to be covered by national news channels. Including, but not limited to, what your local town/city/school boards-or-equivalent are up to; what significant business changes are proposed or occuring in your area; what’s in and getting into the local water and air; which roads are closed and which are being fixed or ought to be – I could go on. I’ve been getting my weather from NOAA, yes. Hope the current administration doesn’t shut it down. But it’s the local news which tells me which if any roads are flooded, or impassible due to snowdrifts. > [@gnoitall](#): > > 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 This is true. And nearly anywhere can be tornado country, these days. Also true for many flood events. National news may note that parts of NY had a lot of rain. They’re not going to tell you what parts of Lodi or Penn Yan got entirely washed out. Especially if they’re busy telling you what parts of NYCity were; but probably even if not. It would have to be an awfully slow news day for them to even notice that Lodi or Penn Yan exist. ---
**Author:** ![hajario](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hajario/32/171_2.png) [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2025, 5:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hundreds-of-local-tv-station-meteorologists-are-being-laid-off/1013250/23 "2025-01-22T17:59:59Z")
Weather reporting in Santa Barbara is about the most useless god damned thing in the world. It’s nearly always the same for a given time of year. On the rare occasion every several years where there’s something relatively extreme, it’s real news and the regular people can cover it. ---
**Author:** ![WildaBeast](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wildabeast/32/6_2.png) [@WildaBeast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WildaBeast)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2025, 6:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hundreds-of-local-tv-station-meteorologists-are-being-laid-off/1013250/24 "2025-01-22T18:03:54Z")
> [@thorny\_locust](#): > > This is part of a much wider underlying problem. Yes, they’ll likely get rid of both, if they haven’t already gotten rid of the local reporters. There’s also the issue that smaller markets are losing their own local news coverage altogether. My parents are in the La Crosse, Wisconsin metro area. Some big media company bought up one of their local TV stations, and a local station in Eau Claire (about 70 miles north as the crow flies). They got rid of the local La Crosse news broadcast, and replaced it with a combined LaCrosse / Eau Claire news. As far as the new owner is concerned, they’re both small cities in western Wisconsin, so they’re the same, right? ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2025, 6:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hundreds-of-local-tv-station-meteorologists-are-being-laid-off/1013250/25 "2025-01-22T18:21:12Z")
> [@gnoitall](#): > > 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. Agreed, and that also applies to other severe weather situations like hurricanes, flooding, winter storms, etc. > [@AlsoNamedBort](#): > > Here’s the list of stations covered by this group: > [https://allenmediabroadcasting.com/](https://allenmediabroadcasting.com/) Allen Media also owns The Weather Channel, so it’s a rather predictable outcome, unfortunately. (The “Allen” in Allen Media is [Byron Allen](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Byron_Allen), who, yes, was once a stand-up comedian, and co-host of _Real People_ back in the 1980s. He’s become a media tycoon.) Also, to @aceplace57 : I kindly ask that, when you create threads, please don’t make them more breathless and potentially misleading than they need to be. Your thread title says “Hundreds of local tv station meteorologists,” but the article you cite says that the number being laid off is about 100 – singular “hundred,” not plural. Now, it may be that this move by Allen Media is the beginning of a trend, and more local meteorologists might be phased out in the future, but that’s not happened yet. ---
**Author:** ![liirogue](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/dbc845/32.png) [@liirogue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/liirogue)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2025, 6:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hundreds-of-local-tv-station-meteorologists-are-being-laid-off/1013250/26 "2025-01-22T18:30:25Z")
> [@TriPolar](#): > > Anybody can find out the weather on their phone. You can get all the information they have from the same source. Strongly disagree here. I live in Oklahoma. I cannot access real-time radar that is nearly as good of quality as the local meteorologists have at their disposal, and I cannot interpret it as quickly or accurately as they can. I have watched as the local mets are tracking a tornado block by block within a mile of my house. The National Weather Service can’t tweet or social media post quickly enough to keep up. ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2025, 6:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hundreds-of-local-tv-station-meteorologists-are-being-laid-off/1013250/27 "2025-01-22T18:30:50Z")
Sorry for the title. I should have said “a hundred” because that’s what the article states. ---
**Author:** ![Al128](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/al128/32/16541_2.png) [@Al128](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Al128)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2025, 6:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hundreds-of-local-tv-station-meteorologists-are-being-laid-off/1013250/28 "2025-01-22T18:31:52Z")
> [@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? none… and that tells you How often I turn on the trusted 32" TVset … (about 3-5 times a year) … in 2025 TV is a rather ineficient way to get your information - I for one preferí asynchronous. ---
**Author:** ![thorny\_locust](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thorny_locust/32/431_2.png) [@thorny\_locust](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thorny_locust)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2025, 6:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hundreds-of-local-tv-station-meteorologists-are-being-laid-off/1013250/29 "2025-01-22T18:37:03Z")
> [@Al128](#): > > none… and that tells you How often I turn on the trusted 32" TVset The issue isn’t really whether the medium you get the local news on is a TV set or the radio or a desktop or a tablet or a phone. The issue is whether you can get any local news at all. And without local reporters, no, you can’t. ---
**Author:** ![mtnmatt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a3d4f5/32.png) [@mtnmatt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mtnmatt)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2025, 6:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hundreds-of-local-tv-station-meteorologists-are-being-laid-off/1013250/30 "2025-01-22T18:41:31Z")
We were pretty grateful for the knowledgable local weather updates here in SoCal the last few weeks. When I worked for Verizon, launching FiOS TV, the management felt like having one “WeatherStar” (the device from the Weather Channel that inserted the “Local on the 8s” area-specific forecast into the national feed) was sufficient to cover our two service areas - Ventura and Lake Elsinore. If you know the area at all - these are _ **really** _ different climates, and we’d get daily complaints about the inaccurate forecasts we were providing, for both locations. I got asked to explore what it would take to get better coverage of our service area, and, working with TWC, they recommended 22 units to address the various “microclimates” that overlapped where our customers were. Management declined. Even today the local broadcasters show 5-7 different forecast strips (7 days of temp/sun, etc.): LA/OC metro, beaches, valleys, high desert, low desert, Inland Empire, mountains, etc. so a single regional forecast isn’t really very useful. ---
**Author:** ![DocCathode](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doccathode/32/18773_2.png) [@DocCathode](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DocCathode)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2025, 6:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hundreds-of-local-tv-station-meteorologists-are-being-laid-off/1013250/31 "2025-01-22T18:44:05Z")
> [@Al128](#): > > none… and that tells you How often I turn on the trusted 32" TVset … > > (about 3-5 times a year) … Blasphemy! Burn the heretic! ---
**Author:** ![Al128](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/al128/32/16541_2.png) [@Al128](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Al128)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2025, 6:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hundreds-of-local-tv-station-meteorologists-are-being-laid-off/1013250/32 "2025-01-22T18:47:17Z")
> [@thorny\_locust](#): > > The issue isn’t really whether the medium you get the local news on is a TV set or the radio or a desktop or a tablet or a phone. > > The issue is whether you can get any local news at all. And without local reporters, no, you can’t. if you have an airport near, you should be able to get “official” **local** flight-weather from a profesional service (govt agency?), without al the clownery at 9.00 - 9.05pm. 24 hours a day … and also at night 😉 but maybe I am a bit de-sensibilized … due to always boring weather [![](https://i.postimg.cc/j5sFzFH4/Screenshot-20250122-155014.jpg) ](https://i.postimg.cc/j5sFzFH4/Screenshot-20250122-155014.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![DaveUnknown](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/94ad74/32.png) [@DaveUnknown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DaveUnknown)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2025, 7:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hundreds-of-local-tv-station-meteorologists-are-being-laid-off/1013250/33 "2025-01-22T19:04:31Z")
> [@liirogue](#): > > I have watched as the local mets are tracking a tornado block by block within a mile of my house. The National Weather Service can’t tweet or social media post quickly enough to keep up. Wrong. The NWS issues alerts to the EAS (emergency alert system) which is sent to TV broadcasts, cell phones, etc. It’s far more effective and instantly more wide reaching than a “tweet” or facebook post. ---
**Author:** ![thorny\_locust](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thorny_locust/32/431_2.png) [@thorny\_locust](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thorny_locust)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2025, 7:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hundreds-of-local-tv-station-meteorologists-are-being-laid-off/1013250/34 "2025-01-22T19:08:51Z")
> [@Al128](#): > > if you have an airport near, you should be able to get “official” **local** flight-weather from a profesional service (govt agency?), without al the clownery at 9.00 - 9.05pm. Lots of rural areas don’t have a commercial airport near. And even if they do, it’s not going to cover flooding or snow and ice on local roads, at all times of day; or whether a tornado has shown up in the last five minutes (I suppose maybe they cover that last one if it’s headed straight at the airport?) . And it’s certainly not going to tell me what the local school board or town board or county planning board is up to, or which highway superintendent just got charged with a misdemeanor or felony, or whether a big box is planning on razing a cornfield across the road for their next store and parking lot, or what’s going on with the environmental effects of the bitcoin mining operation up the road. > [@Al128](#): > > maybe I am a bit de-sensibilized … due to always boring weather Um, yeah. It’s common here for the weather to change drastically in the course of any given day, or sometimes in the course of the next fifteen minutes. And that’s common in a whole lot of the country. ---
**Author:** ![ZipperJJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zipperjj/32/211_2.png) [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2025, 7:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hundreds-of-local-tv-station-meteorologists-are-being-laid-off/1013250/35 "2025-01-22T19:21:32Z")
TV meteorologists have always been kind of legendary in Cleveland. Everyone grew up with Dick Goddard, then it was Andre Bernier, and now the top person is Betsy Kling. Some people love her, some people hate her (???) but it seems everyone has an opinion on her. Cleveland might be unique like Chicago and, presumably, Buffalo because we have interesting weather. So we have interesting, serious weather people. ---
**Author:** ![liirogue](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/dbc845/32.png) [@liirogue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/liirogue)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2025, 7:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hundreds-of-local-tv-station-meteorologists-are-being-laid-off/1013250/36 "2025-01-22T19:25:18Z")
> [@DaveUnknown](#): > > Wrong. > The NWS issues alerts to the EAS (emergency alert system) which is sent to TV broadcasts, cell phones, etc. It’s far more effective and instantly more wide reaching than a “tweet” or facebook post. I’m sorry, what is “wrong”? The NWS sends an alert that there’s a tornado or whatever in my area, but does not give any further location info. If a local meteorologist was not broadcasting live storm coverage with radar I would have no idea where the tornado was other than somewhere that could be as far away as across town. So the EAS is almost useless once it’s gotten me out of bed. ---
**Author:** ![Baker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bb73d2/32.png) [@Baker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baker)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2025, 8:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hundreds-of-local-tv-station-meteorologists-are-being-laid-off/1013250/37 "2025-01-22T20:35:13Z")
We have a local weather guy that occasionally brings his Corgi, Lola the WeatherDog, with him. I’d rather watch Lola than the Orange Foolius. ---
**Author:** ![DaveUnknown](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/94ad74/32.png) [@DaveUnknown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DaveUnknown)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2025, 8:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hundreds-of-local-tv-station-meteorologists-are-being-laid-off/1013250/38 "2025-01-22T20:51:39Z")
I don’t understand. You only want to know if there’s a tornado on top of you before you take action? The NOAA/NWS EAS gives area and location specific information–more broad (cities, counties), and specific (named neighborhoods), etc. > **[Specific Area Message Encoding](https://emergencyalertsystem.fandom.com/wiki/Specific_Area_Message_Encoding)** > > Specific Area Message Encoding (SAME) is a protocol used for the classification of broadcasted emergency warning messages. It was developed by the United States National Weather Service (NWS) for use on its NOAA Weather Radio (NWR) network, and was... You shouldn’t rely on tweets for emergency weather information. ---
**Author:** ![Dinsdale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/97f17d/32.png) [@Dinsdale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dinsdale)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2025, 8:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hundreds-of-local-tv-station-meteorologists-are-being-laid-off/1013250/39 "2025-01-22T20:56:27Z")
> [@TRC4941](#): > > 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?” That’s the way I feel. Skillethead would get all excited about his isobars and Doppler radar, to which I would tune out, and then I’d miss the only thing I needed to know. My wife gets severe weather alerts from a local community college. And there are tornado sirens. I’m curious where these locations are that you lack any reliable info from airports or other sources, but the local TV guy is spot on as to what is happening in your immediate vicinity. Just seems if these places are so remote from what so many of us take for granted, I would imagine that they would cover a rather large area and attract less than the best staff and resources. If there is severe weather in the area, you can count on the local weatherperson being on line giving you up-to-the-minute detailed info? ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2025, 9:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hundreds-of-local-tv-station-meteorologists-are-being-laid-off/1013250/40 "2025-01-22T21:27:06Z")
> [@liirogue](#): > > Strongly disagree here. I live in Oklahoma. I cannot access real-time radar that is nearly as good of quality as the local meteorologists have at their disposal, and I cannot interpret it as quickly or accurately as they can. I’m not surprised that particular regions benefit from comprehensive weather reporting. I do think most of the country is served well enough by online sources. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hundreds-of-local-tv-station-meteorologists-are-being-laid-off/1013250.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hundreds-of-local-tv-station-meteorologists-are-being-laid-off/1013250.md?page=3)