What would you do to improve TWC?

[CartoonJazzLover]

a few more things
Playlists need to be lasted for a whole month, instead of 2 months.
Change graphics.
Change LDL back to the blue one.
Less longform on weekends.

[Eric]

Dish vs. Direct TV... the idea is that a major satellite provider threatened to stop carrying The Weather Channel, hence the comment that such a move indicates there's a serious problem.  I don't think the name of the carrier is really that important to this discussion.  It could have been phrased "a satellite provider threatened..." and the meaning would have been exactly the same.

Do you really want to be known as a group that splits hairs... then splits those hairs... ad nauseum?    Some discussions do benefit from exact details.  This discussion isn't one of them.

[TampaMillTWC88]

One thing i forgot:
Playlists need to be lasted for a whole month, instead of 2 months.

Sometimes up to 3 months. 

[Charismatic Applesauce]

- Bring back the 2 minute local forecasts

There are already 2-minute LFs.

-Bring back the 3000

The FCC won't allow that. Sorry.

[yourweathertoday]

Fair point about "don't watch if you don't like it"...however, there is something to be said about what one would like to see done if changes were to be made:
-Stop trying to do everything. In all honesty, NBC owns dozens of channels-from local new affiliates to national news channels (complete with business, politics, and whatnot) to entertainment channels. The Weather Channel should be just that...NBC's Weather Channel. People will turn to it for what it's named for....weather. They go to CNBC for business news, MSNBC for crackpots (political analysts), and NBC for the news, not to mention their local news channels.
-Stop dumbing down the weather. True, you will alienate many viewers if you go too in-depth, but please do not dumb the forecast down so badly that it's almost useless.
-Stop the hype. Every little storm system is not a national emergency. In my opinion, the more often you hype something up (and, more often than not, it disappoints), the less credible you are in the public's eye.
-Bring a unified look to everything. Pull your graphics department together and come up with one good-looking theme that you apply to every facet of the operation. 2 different types of LDLs on the Intellistar just looks weird, and the HD national feed looks entirely different. Tie the lower 3rds, map bars, segment intros ,etc. together into a theme.
-Bring a unified sound to everything. Production music is nice, but bring back a "signature" of sorts. It doesn't have to be the 4 note chime, but use something to tie things together and form a calling sign that people can relate to you whenever they hear it. These last two are something that's known in marketing as "brand identification"

Just my $0.02

[toxictwister00]

I hope these don't come off as rants, that's not what I'm doing especially the third one.

The coverage they're doing now for the SE storm should be something they do with every storm for now on. (Not saying I want long form programming gone, but it should be preempted)

Revive Abrams & Bettes: Beyond the Forecast! (I really miss that orange set, it gave them their own identity from the other shows. Plus I don't like them on YWT in the mornings, they were better in the evenings)

Rehire all layed off OCMs over the past 3 years so there's some stable positions on each show, It's annoying to see them switch up pairings every few months.

Bring back PM Edition from 5-7pm reducing L.F.P to weekends only.

Upgrade the IntelliStar graphically to match a little more with on-air graphics like it was with the STARs previously.

Get Al a new co-host and give poor Stephanie a break for Pete's sake! Isn't she doing enough as it is?

Fire uhhh Todd uhhh Santos uhhhh.....

That's about it.

[Donovan]

1. Bring back the 2009 Weather Center music.
2. Bring Abrams and Cantore together for Weather Center.
3. Nicole Mitchell on WC late.
4. Update the National SD Localonthe8s to a better look.
5. Get a better looking logo.
6. Fix the HD studio and use it only! not the expert desk!
6. Use the video wall again for weather.(fix the color though.)
7. They really need to cover all weather! Like this morning all they covered was the south and snow. (not that I mind).
8. Less news coverage, more weather.
9. Get some new titlebars.
10. No more longform!

[weatherlover94]

return the weather channel to the way it was from 2003-2005. Let all of the older OCM they have fired come back to work...Bring back Dr Steve Lyons as hurricane expert and  say good bye to Dr Rick Knabb. Bring back the smooth jazz to the local on the 8s. Bring back the old banners they used to have and weather program openers

The Weather Channel (2003 - 2005) Music Montage

and bring the old logo back.

[Mike M]

Revive Abrams & Bettes: Beyond the Forecast! (I really miss that orange set, it gave them their own identity from the other shows. Plus I don't like them on YWT in the mornings, they were better in the evenings)

I can't believe I forgot about that -- yes they really need to have A&B in their own set. It gave individuality. Same with weekend view.

[Charismatic Applesauce]

The traffic report's already gone.

[Eric]

The local forecast has been a cornerstone of TWC since the beginning so I'll focus on that. Some suggestions:

1) Current & regional weather conditions should be part of + shown first every LF.

2) 3 minute forecasts at the top & bottom of the hour and possibly increasing the number to eight per hour the way it once was as opposed to six currently. This could be done I assume by eliminating non-weather segments. I realize though changing the number would change the 'local on the eights' concept.

3) Drop the traffic report. It has nothing to do with the weather.

4) Show local current/monthly, yearly precipitation to date along with storm totals both liquid and/or frozen. Perhaps the almanac could expanded or maybe a separate screen.

5) Always show the date along with the time/temp.

1.) I believe the current conditions have already been returned to the start of every flavor, except when there's a weather advisory - that (rightfully) comes first.

2.) Wow, those were the good old days!  Unfortunately, I don't think it's going to happen.  First, it's a lot more convenient for the public to remember that a local forecast (usually) starts at :xx after the hour, rather than the less-predictable (though purposely scheduled) local forecasts of years gone by.

3.) The traffic report has been gone for a while.

4.) You want to cut the fat out of the local forecasts, but you want more of this?  I think that kind of information might be better suited to the LDL, but I don't think it's necessary to devote so much time to almanac data.  There are already almanac and tide screens.  Why add more?

5.) Are you so bereft of a calendar that you need to rely on your local IntelliStar to tell you what day it is?

[twcclassics]

As Donald Duck would say, "Okay. You asked for it! Hahaha."

1 - Get rid of any feature that isn't directly related to weather.
2 - Replace all current long-form programming with shows about weather, lead by people in the weather business.
3 - Actually explain what's happening and why.
4 - Don't use new technology unless it's beneficial to the viewer. (And if you do use it, make sure the viewer can actually see it.)
5 - Use the playlist longer than a month or two.
6 - Add some real variety to the playlists (ie. stop using the same songs/artists, stop playing rock and vocal music).
7 - Don't play an indie artist unless their music is available online somewhere.
8 - Severe weather coverage always trumps recorded programming.
9 - Make graphics more readable (ie. increase font sizes, remove layers that hide or blur info below them).
10 - Hire/retain people with experience, not perceived sex appeal.
11 - Fire people that aren't professional (ie. Stephanie, Al)
12 - Get rid of all the crap on the screen (a small lower-third is more than enough).
13 - Stop hyping the weather.
14 - Stop taking on political causes (ie. global warming).
15 - Make the non-map graphics more interesting (ie. stop using cloud backgrounds).

BTW, what the heck is the "Digital Media Center" and "Tap That App?"

[TampaMillTWC88]

As Donald Duck would say, "Okay. You asked for it! Hahaha."

1 - Get rid of any feature that isn't directly related to weather.
2 - Replace all current long-form programming with shows about weather, lead by people in the weather business.
3 - Actually explain what's happening and why.
4 - Don't use new technology unless it's beneficial to the viewer. (And if you do use it, make sure the viewer can actually see it.)
5 - Use the playlist longer than a month or two.
6 - Add some real variety to the playlists (ie. stop using the same songs/artists, stop playing rock and vocal music).
7 - Don't play an indie artist unless their music is available online somewhere.
8 - Severe weather coverage always trumps recorded programming.
9 - Make graphics more readable (ie. increase font sizes, remove layers that hide or blur info below them).
10 - Hire/retain people with experience, not perceived sex appeal.
11 - Fire people that aren't professional (ie. Stephanie, Al)
12 - Get rid of all the crap on the screen (a small lower-third is more than enough).
13 - Stop hyping the weather.
14 - Stop taking on political causes (ie. global warming).
15 - Make the non-map graphics more interesting (ie. stop using cloud backgrounds).

BTW, what the heck is the "Digital Media Center" and "Tap That App?"

Agreed on everything except the playlist. We should go back to monthly playlists. Having 2-3 month playlists gets really boring.

[Mike M]

BTW, what the heck is the "Digital Media Center" and "Tap That App?"

In a nutshell the DMC is just a segment on how TWC thinks the iPad and its weather apps are so awesome. It's crap if you ask me.

[TWCmatthew]

Oh, I forgot 2 things.:

-Bring back the pre-2008 studio

-Weather Star XL as primary STAR system.