OCM Kim Cunningham let go

[Star4000 Fan]

Well, that's a true shame.  I remember watching her on TWC as far back as 1991 on overnights.  She always was professional while on the air.

[02Justin10]

*does happy dance.* 

I had no idea Kim was leaving...if I had known earlier, I would have tuned in Monday night for her farewell...I could have celebrated that episode of Weather Center Live. 

But at least she's gone now.

[Eric]

*does happy dance.* 

I had no idea Kim was leaving...if I had known earlier, I would have tuned in Monday night for her farewell...I could have celebrated that episode of Weather Center Live. 

But at least she's gone now.

Before you get eaten alive, I'd like to say a couple of things.

First, no one should hold it against you that you have certain opinions for and against certain on-screen meteorologists at The Weather Channel... but they will.  I remember Kim Perez from her earliest days on TWC, and, while she was never one of my favorites, I liked her in the early days as opposed to now.  Honestly, I think it's sad she's had to do what she had to do to conform to TWC's new "Barbie girl" image of its female meteorologists, and that's a shame.  She had talent and experience, but that's what bothers me... regardless of how much I do or don't like her on-screen presentation, TWC is shedding itself of nearly all of its talent, especially its talent with a long time of experience.

[02Justin10]

Hi Eric,

First and foremost, I really do not care if anyone likes or dislikes my opinions/comments because they are my own.  And hey, at least I'm being honest.   

And since you were nice enough to give some insight, I will do the same.  You all may or may not believe this, but I have NOT always disliked Kim.  Up until early 2009 I had no real opinion about her one way or another.  She was not a favorite, but she was definitely well up the pecking order over Stephanie Abrams and Mike Bettes and other newer individuals.  Let's remember how TWC terminated Dave Schwartz, Cheryl Lemke and Eboni Deon late in 2008.  Then after that, they went on another termination binge in February of 2009 where they let go Kristina Abernathy, Kristen Dodd, Rich Johnson and Mark Mancuso...now this batch of cuts really angered me.  All of these individuals who had been let go had been with the network quite awhile and I was disgusted with how these individuals were treated.  Especially my personal favorite Kristin Dodd.      Now to quickly fastforward, all of those people had permanent shows/times before being let go.  But not Kim and she got to stay.  Back then Kim was only floating and she was mostly filling in on Weekend Now. Now, not only did Kim stay around, she got paired up with Adam Berg and basically took over what Kristin was doing.  That never sat well with me.  Basically...I guess I directed most of my anger for TWC and put it on Kim?  Or maybe I found extra anger?  I have no clue.  Anyhoo...as time kept passing, other people were being sent away and Kim never was.  (Alexandra Steele, Nicole Mitchell, Jeff Morrow, Bill Keneely, Adam Berg and Heather Tesch)  And of course I liked a lot of those people, so to still see Kim there was always...blah.  And of course all of these years (since 2009) Kim's hair color kept changing, her skirts kept getting shorter, and I think she's had something done to her face maybe?  I've been tired of seeing her change, and change, and change to do whatever she had to look young.  If she would have just not tried to keep changing herself, I definitely would not have this much emotion toward her today.  But now that she is gone, I guess I need to let go of a lot of these negative emotions.  I know Kim is/was a terrific meteorologist...but I couldn't allow myself to just let go of the fact somehow she was still there.  *sigh.* 

[toxictwister00]

I've been neutral towards Kim, never disliked or liked her. Although, instead of letting her go, I would have liked if they went in the same route as they did with Carl Parker and made her an addition to the experts team with Brian, Greg, and Michael during hurricane season. It's not like she didn't have the experience/knowledge in that field, she was a hurricane hunter.

Sigh, I guess this means one of long time favs Vivian Brown is likely going to be shown the door as well sooner rather than later at this rate.  There's not that many veteran OCMs from pre-2000 left. Also, I never thought I would ever say this, but I've really begun to dislike Jim Cantore. I think that last Thundersnow mash up video only solidified it. Plus the way he sold out during that DirecTV/TWC fiasco last year. Very disappointing.

[Eric]

Yeah, it's only a matter of time before Vivian Brown is gone - I think that, too.  That would really be a shame.

TWC, like pretty much any and every corporation these days, cares less about talent and more about money - specifically, talented, long-time employees cost more in payroll than newer, less experienced employees, so the ones who have proven themselves over time have to go.  It's very, very sad.

I was neutral about Jim Cantore 20 years ago, but ever since he became the "face" of TWC I feel like he's just gotten very full of himself.  I don't like to watch him on TV anymore.

[Star4000 Fan]

*does happy dance.* 

I had no idea Kim was leaving...if I had known earlier, I would have tuned in Monday night for her farewell...I could have celebrated that episode of Weather Center Live. 

But at least she's gone now.

Before you get eaten alive, I'd like to say a couple of things.

First, no one should hold it against you that you have certain opinions for and against certain on-screen meteorologists at The Weather Channel... but they will.  I remember Kim Perez from her earliest days on TWC, and, while she was never one of my favorites, I liked her in the early days as opposed to now.  Honestly, I think it's sad she's had to do what she had to do to conform to TWC's new "Barbie girl" image of its female meteorologists, and that's a shame.  She had talent and experience, but that's what bothers me... regardless of how much I do or don't like her on-screen presentation, TWC is shedding itself of nearly all of its talent, especially its talent with a long time of experience.

True, I keep thinking back to the overnights in 1991 when she would fill-in.  Her hairdos weren't the best (I only noticed the one, but it was fixable - no big deal, but HEY, she has a background in the Air Force, knows about hurricanes, and did a great job of presenting.  She knew her stuff!  TWC kind of compacted it later on and then NBCU just Stepforded it out. 

The Local Forecast being dumbed down the way it has is proof enough - where are the local and regional conditions?!  Three towns on the bottom bar? 

It's obvious that in an attempt to save money, they aren't paying attention to the experience.  They lost a great meteorologist....again.

[Star4000 Fan]

I've been neutral towards Kim, never disliked or liked her. Although, instead of letting her go, I would have liked if they went in the same route as they did with Carl Parker and made her an addition to the experts team with Brian, Greg, and Michael during hurricane season. It's not like she didn't have the experience/knowledge in that field, she was a hurricane hunter.

Sigh, I guess this means one of long time favs Vivian Brown is likely going to be shown the door as well sooner rather than later at this rate.  There's not that many veteran OCMs from pre-2000 left. Also, I never thought I would ever say this, but I've really begun to dislike Jim Cantore. I think that last Thundersnow mash up video only solidified it. Plus the way he sold out during that DirecTV/TWC fiasco last year. Very disappointing.

They moved Jim to icon status and figured they could use him as a pawn.  Jim is probably doing what he can to keep his job.  It's a national network and he is known.  The move the network made to have him on in the morning was kind of shocking to me.

It's weird like that everywhere these days.

[Metarvo]

Come to think of it, Jim did in fact present one of TWC's earliest long-form series — "Storm Stories."  Not that the series was that bad, as it did at least concentrate on weather, but nonetheless I feel it was the forerunner of the network rot we have now.

All they care about are celebrities now.  You have Jim Cantore, Al Roker, and Sam Champion.  Meanwhile, the meterologists that made TWC what it was have gradually been let go.  I still haven't gotten over Nicole Mitchell being treated the way she was!    She was actually a hurricane hunter!  Kim Cunningham's departure is indeed another straw on the camel's back, and it's only a matter of time before a loud break will be heard.  Verizon's heard it on the horizon, and there's no doubt DTV and Dish can feel it coming, although the former only temporarily acted on it.

[WeatherWitness]

Hi Eric,

First and foremost, I really do not care if anyone likes or dislikes my opinions/comments because they are my own.  And hey, at least I'm being honest.   

And since you were nice enough to give some insight, I will do the same.  You all may or may not believe this, but I have NOT always disliked Kim.  Up until early 2009 I had no real opinion about her one way or another.  She was not a favorite, but she was definitely well up the pecking order over Stephanie Abrams and Mike Bettes and other newer individuals.  Let's remember how TWC terminated Dave Schwartz, Cheryl Lemke and Eboni Deon late in 2008.  Then after that, they went on another termination binge in February of 2009 where they let go Kristina Abernathy, Kristen Dodd, Rich Johnson and Mark Mancuso...now this batch of cuts really angered me.  All of these individuals who had been let go had been with the network quite awhile and I was disgusted with how these individuals were treated.  Especially my personal favorite Kristin Dodd.      Now to quickly fastforward, all of those people had permanent shows/times before being let go.  But not Kim and she got to stay.  Back then Kim was only floating and she was mostly filling in on Weekend Now. Now, not only did Kim stay around, she got paired up with Adam Berg and basically took over what Kristin was doing.  That never sat well with me.  Basically...I guess I directed most of my anger for TWC and put it on Kim?  Or maybe I found extra anger?  I have no clue.  Anyhoo...as time kept passing, other people were being sent away and Kim never was.  (Alexandra Steele, Nicole Mitchell, Jeff Morrow, Bill Keneely, Adam Berg and Heather Tesch)  And of course I liked a lot of those people, so to still see Kim there was always...blah.  And of course all of these years (since 2009) Kim's hair color kept changing, her skirts kept getting shorter, and I think she's had something done to her face maybe?  I've been tired of seeing her change, and change, and change to do whatever she had to look young.  If she would have just not tried to keep changing herself, I definitely would not have this much emotion toward her today. But now that she is gone, I guess I need to let go of a lot of these negative emotions.  I know Kim is/was a terrific meteorologist...but I couldn't allow myself to just let go of the fact somehow she was still there.  *sigh.* 

Unfortunately, I am pretty sure that was the station's decision to change her wardrobe, not her own.  TWC, like most stations nowadays, wants to attract attention to the hot, young weather girl so that people will want to tune-in.  It is pretty amazing to see the difference between Kim Perez and Kim Cunningham (as I feel like the change started once she got married).  Also, I am pretty sure she stayed around while they let the veterans go so that they could fill a more permanent position for less money.  Now they must have reached their threshold on her or something, who knows?  So I understand if you do not like Kim, but I think it's more of the station's fault than her own.

This is going a little off-topic but is in response to what is being discussed: Jim Cantore has, unfortunately, gone too far.  Again, I am pretty sure since he is the face of TWC that they are pushing for him to be as dramatic as possible, but I think it's way too over-the-top now.  Yes, thundersnow is cool, but was it really worth that?  Probably not, but since it has become a tradition for him, he will try to take advantage of it in the highest-viewer rating way possible.

[Mike M]

This is going a little off-topic but is in response to what is being discussed: Jim Cantore has, unfortunately, gone too far.  Again, I am pretty sure since he is the face of TWC that they are pushing for him to be as dramatic as possible, but I think it's way too over-the-top now.  Yes, thundersnow is cool, but was it really worth that?  Probably not, but since it has become a tradition for him, he will try to take advantage of it in the highest-viewer rating way possible.

Him, and Jen Carfagno. TWC has really pushed her to the limit in recent years, too (even more than Abrams since they revamped the morning lineup actually).

[Star4000 Fan]

Come to think of it, Jim did in fact present one of TWC's earliest long-form series — "Storm Stories."  Not that the series was that bad, as it did at least concentrate on weather, but nonetheless I feel it was the forerunner of the network rot we have now.

All they care about are celebrities now.  You have Jim Cantore, Al Roker, and Sam Champion.  Meanwhile, the meterologists that made TWC what it was have gradually been let go.  I still haven't gotten over Nicole Mitchell being treated the way she was!    She was actually a hurricane hunter!  Kim Cunningham's departure is indeed another straw on the camel's back, and it's only a matter of time before a loud break will be heard.  Verizon's heard it on the horizon, and there's no doubt DTV and Dish can feel it coming, although the former only temporarily acted on it.

Yeah, Nicole Mitchell was very effective in her role, too.  Kim Cunningham had a similar background - both were in the Air Force, so you knew they knew their stuff.

Sam Champion's show was dismal in the ratings its first year so they brought in Jim Cantore to try and save it.  There, I said it.  It was better with Mike and Stephanie.

WooWah doesn't do it for me, either.

[Lightning]

It truly does stink for them to do this with TWC's best OCMs. It's such ashamed. NBC's goal seems to be the destruction of The Weather Channel.  I have a feeling, as mentioned already in this thread that Vivian Brown may be next.  It makes me so mad. NBC doesn't give a  about the TWC's viewers. It's all about money to them.  They're greedy!

[Star4000 Fan]

It truly does stink for them to do this with TWC's best OCMs. It's such ashamed. NBC's goal seems to be the destruction of The Weather Channel.  I have a feeling, as mentioned already in this thread that Vivian Brown may be next.  It makes me so mad. NBC doesn't give a  about the TWC's viewers. It's all about money to them.  They're greedy!

Well, they're failing dismally with MSNBC, too, and now with the Brian Williams scandal....I am sure a few people are beside themselves at NBC Universal.

Some of it .... the brought upon themselves.