I grew up in the Mid-South, one of the regions that helped popularize the so-called “weather-gasm,” i.e., non-stop coverage of severe weather. News consultants and station managers discovered that a local station that goes wall-to-wall with weather coverage sees at least a 15% boost in ratings.
And, if you’re lucky to have a meteorologist who’s a market icon, like Dave Brown in Memphis, or James Spann in Birmingham, the numbers go through the roof. Mr. Spann was one of the first staffers hired when Albritton began building the ABC affiliate in Birmingham, and Mr. Brown has ruled the roost in Memphis for over 30 years.
It’s debatable how much info the public actually receives from non-stop coverage. I’ve watched more than a few local mets who do nothing more than play with their doppler radars, looking for couplets that might indicate a possible tornado. Stations that have an experienced met who knows severe weather (and can reliably interpret radar data) is the right person to lead the coverage, and it helps to have people in the field with expertise as well.
In my travels around the country, I’ve watched coverage in a lot of markets, and Oklahoma City is probably the best, for obvious reasons. Severe weather is a huge story out there, and the local stations compete fiercely to deliver the best coverage.
What is this ‘TV’ thing that has everyone worked up so much ?