Messages

1

Programming and Graphics / Re: TWC's Retro 8s Live

« on: October 27, 2023, 01:10:03 PM »

The Weather Channel has had a habit the past decade of only licensing certain tracks for a certain period of time. If I were to Hazard a guess, it's likely because they've had to cut costs. It's much cheaper to select a few production library tracks that sound thematically similar to music that used to run and play those ad nauseam instead of having to pay licensing fees to the artists that they originally featured.

2

Weatherscan Discussion / Re: Weatherscan Discontinued by end of 2022

« on: September 26, 2022, 12:27:19 PM »

Since The Weather Channel is getting rid of Weatherscan on the few remaining cable companies that have it, I think The Weather channel should bring back the L-bar on the side and bottom of the screen, and put every product that Weatherscan had, plus possibly things from Local Now on the L-bar with the L bar running 24/7 even in commercials, with the Satellite feed on the top right, and get rid of the Local on the 8's, and get rid of all non-directly-weather related programs (i.e Highway Through Hell) and essentially make The Weather Channel was like back when it started in 1982. The Weather Channel should have 3, 8-hour shifts for on-air staff.

I know most folks don't like to think of it this way, but The Weather Channel's main feed has been more feature-rich than Weatherscan for several years. Most of what Weatherscan featured is already available on the LDL and the local forecast with, of course, the big addition of actual NWS warning products, which Weatherscan hasn't featured in 7 years.

Also, The Weather Channel will never get rid of reality programming, because that's an easy revenue stream for them. They sell advertising that keeps the channel afloat so they can afford to, you know, continue having on-air talent. They're not owned by a multi-national corporation with deep pockets anymore...they're owned by a former comedian with his relatively limited portfolio.

3

Weatherscan Discussion / Re: Weatherscan Discontinued by end of 2022

« on: September 24, 2022, 12:15:58 PM »

Look, this has been a long time coming. We should all be thankful that it lasted as long as it did. It really has served it's purpose, but you cannot keep 20 year old hardware in operation in the field anymore, nor would it be cost effective to continue developing this technology. Thanks for the memories, my friend.

4

OCMs & Personalities / Re: Paul Emmick

« on: April 06, 2021, 11:07:30 AM »

Hate to bump a thread after nearly 10 years, but it sounds like Paul Emmick has recently passed.

I actually got to meet him back in 2019 at a college meteorology conference and he was the nicest guy. We just sat and talked about broadcasting for awhile.

Kind of surprised by this and I hate to hear it.

5

Weatherscan Discussion / Re: Weatherscan Topic

« on: July 29, 2020, 01:17:48 PM »

Looks like we might be able to add another unit or two to the list of those still in operation. Suddenlink’s lineup in Prestonsburg, KY (Floyd County, well out east), as well as in Logan, WV (just across the border) both have Weatherscan still listed as available. No word on whether or not that’s the same unit, but would be nice to see another in operation here in the state! Since I’m based in eastern Kentucky now, I might try to see if I can’t try to snap a photo or two.

6

Everything Else TWC / Re: General TWC Discussion

« on: June 08, 2020, 12:49:40 AM »

This may be a bit out of left field, but hear me out.

I recently moved for work and instead of splurging for the local cable company that carries TWC, I simply decided to get a streaming service. Since most of them don't carry The Weather Channel, this left me in a bind. But I still have my folks' cable login from home and so was able to get the TWC app for Roku and sign in.

Once there, I was surprised to discover that the TVE-authenticated TWC stream featured a locally-generated (like, by the device) LDL (featuring current conditions, 24 hour and hourly forecasts, 7 day forecast plus sunrise/sunset and moon phase info). Granted, the icons aren't animated nor can it generate an actual local forecast, but it can generate a crawl for an NWS product (I checked, you can change zip codes seemingly at will) and looks damn near exactly like the one seen on air down even to the typeface.

So my question is...if even basic consumer technology (I'm using the Roku built into a 4-year-old Insignia TV) can generate these graphics, why not extend carriage to these streaming services like YouTubeTV or Roku and have the consumer devices that are streaming generate the content? Or even have this technology built into the latest satellite receivers and basically have like a very basic STAR built in that can generate graphics?

I'm sure there are answers to those questions like stability issues, legal issues, hardware issues, etc. but it seems like something that isn't out of the realm of possibility.

7

Local Forecast / Re: Regional Forecast Map - Appeared at 12:48PM 5/18/2020

« on: May 18, 2020, 07:32:42 PM »

As of this evening, it seems to be appearing between the radar and text forecast products...but if the metro radar is active, it won't show (or it could be a combination of the metro radar and bulletin slides being active). Frankfort is still dealing with precip and had the metro radar. Bowling Green, on the other hand is showing the regional forecast map.

8

TWC Today News / Re: Some changes on the Forum

« on: April 19, 2020, 05:04:31 PM »

Glad to see some movement around here for the first time in a long time! I think it's a great idea to do some sprucing up, especially with regard to the old website. I'm all for bringing back some of the older content with better organization and I also wonder how viable it would be to add some more informational content not unlike what Matt's done with TWC Classics to a redesigned "home page".

9

General Discussion / Re: Corona Virus

« on: March 19, 2020, 12:17:07 PM »

Not sure when this happened, but The Weather Channel is now joining all it's cable news brethren in airing the daily White House briefings on the coronavirus.

10

General Discussion / Re: Charles Abel-Lear 1980-2019

« on: November 09, 2019, 08:12:28 PM »

Deeply saddened by this horrible loss...way too young.

11

Contributions / Re: HTML Intellistar 2 Simulator

« on: August 23, 2019, 04:22:37 PM »

I gotta say, I'm kind of impressed, looks pretty good...and I'm using Firefox.

12

Programming and Graphics / Re: TWC New Graphics

« on: August 20, 2019, 03:14:05 PM »

Another "feature" that I find annoying is that the entire LDL is taken up by a crawl. There's a Severe Thunderstorm Watch in effect for 1 county of the 4 that this unit "serves" (despite the cable company basically only serving one county, and it's not the one under the watch). So, no forecasts, no current conditions, not even the advertising crawl...so we can see "A Severe Thunderstorm Watch is in effect for Shelby County until 9:00 PM."

13

Programming and Graphics / Re: TWC New Graphics

« on: August 20, 2019, 10:41:28 AM »

If you're away from a TV, here's what they look like. With the absence of the "Local on the 8s LDL", ad crawls (black text on a white background) just run over the LDL when the LDL starts a new cycle. Seems without an ad crawl, you get a promo (white on the black/dark gray background) as shown in the first screenshot. The typeface appears to have changed from Akko to Roboto and Roboto Condensed. Frankly, I like the color scheme...the font could use work. It looks kind of...cheap.

For those who haven't seen the "new" LOT8s look. ("New" because the only thing changed is the typeface)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jj2kSv6wuCg

14

Programming and Graphics / Re: AMHQ OFF AIR -- TECH DIFFICULTIES

« on: April 23, 2019, 06:04:04 PM »

Looks like radar data has returned. STARs are slowly getting the data back, I see Weatherscan’s loaded about an hour of radar/satellite data.

15

Programming and Graphics / Re: AMHQ OFF AIR -- TECH DIFFICULTIES

« on: April 19, 2019, 03:28:12 PM »

Weatherscan's observations and forecasts are back but still no radar information.