Messages

1

OCMs & Personalities / Re: Dave Schwartz

« on: May 27, 2009, 04:21:12 PM »

Yeah, it is good that I still get to see him, I wnet on their website to find his bio, but I didn't find it, I guess they haven't put it up yet.

Looks like they have a full weather team... I'm betting he's just freelancing.

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Everything Else TWC / Re: General TWC Discussion

« on: March 21, 2009, 01:06:13 AM »

Bill and Mike were split up. Bill most likely will be solo this weekend, as there's nobody else to take Mike's spot.

Mike was probably just temporary anyways. I imagine Sharon was originally penciled into that slot, then she quit.

I'd expect to see a Ryan Goswick/Warren Madden appearance somewhere on the weekend schedule to provide a second OCM for that slot.

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OCMs & Personalities / Re: Jeanetta Jones

« on: March 09, 2009, 08:09:32 PM »

I'm glad we found out about this, but the news is awful.

I remember seeing unconfirmed rumors about this at the time.

Its hard to think that she is permanently debilitated.

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Everything Else TWC / Re: General TWC Discussion

« on: March 09, 2009, 03:37:54 AM »

Bill just said: "Mike and I will see you again next weekend"

I believe it's safe to say that Bill and Mike are the anchors of Weekend Weather Center on the weekends.

Also Mike Seidel is heading out to Billings(?), North Dakota tomorrow and will do a live report on Tuesday.

I have a strong suspicion that Mike is only on this shift because Sharon resigned. When they penciled out the new schedule, they probably had her teamed with Bill on this shift. By the time she turned in her resignation, the schedule was set.

Also, I'm guessing that Bill is on this shift because they want him to do what Carl Parker was doing - the primary substitute on the weekday primetime shows. Parker has a 4 day a week gig in the midday now - not available for fill in work without a lot of rejiggering.

 

5

Everything Else TWC / Re: General TWC Discussion

« on: March 08, 2009, 12:20:17 AM »

Weather Center at 10 PM CT with Bill and Mike Seidel... for the first time!

Weekend Weather Center at that... in the West Coast position! These two have never worked together before...

Did they actually say they've never worked together before? I find it hard to believe that Siedel has never worked with Bill after all those years at TWC.

Remember, after Kim Perez moved off of First Outlook (a show Siedel NEVER filled in on), Kim and Mike worked together on Weekend Now. Mike said something like "I'm Mike Siedel along with Kim Perez, working together for the first time since the 90s. And we know why we haven't worked together in so long - we have too much fun."

6

OCMs & Personalities / Re: Cheryl Lemke

« on: February 07, 2009, 12:57:09 AM »

I applaud her for not letting her getting let go from TWC get her down. 

I agree.

Cheryl was never one of my favorites. She suffered from poor timeslots and lack of chemistry with her co-anchors. Part of the problem is that for the last five years (at least), she's been primarily a fill-in, rarely working with the same person two days in a row.

Also - she worked with Stokes as his regular fill-in co-host for years. Whenever Barrington, Andrews, Lopez, or whoever else was a regular with Bob was off, she was with him. Then, suddenly, she's banished to probably the worst time slot on the network - weekend overnights. As soon as they fired Bob and Hillary's claims were given credibility, boom, she's back on her old morning/midday fill in shifts.

Speculation over at Medialine is that the Dave/Cheryl/Eboni bloodletting was actually a severance package - voluntary buy out deal. TWC was looking to cutback and offered a deal to anyone who would volunteer. Eboni is still early in her career and may be looking for a better gig at a local station. Dave had a cancer scare and still didn't look 100%, he may want some time off. And Cheryl's been bounced around at TWC for so long she probably saw the writing on the wall. If this was a voluntary buyout, that would explain why they stayed on air for two weeks after the layoff was announced.

If Cheryl took the buyout because she saw the writing on the wall - it was the right move. If she was still around, she would certainly have been in the group let go this week.

It looks like she started at TWC when she was about 25. Wow. She's been there for 22 years and is still under 50. She has the personality to be a great, local market, morning news meteorologist. Perky and pleasant - just the personality many stations are looking for to cover that morning bit. And while some have described her presentation was robotic - it was mostly due to misplaced inflection. But watching her airchecks on medialine - she's solid.

Here in Seattle one of our stations hired this really attractive, late 20, blond bombshell to be the chief meteorologist. She looks great. She always has. She'd been on the local cable news channel and did back up work at one of the other stations. But when I first saw her nearly 7 years ago, I thought her presentation sucked. I saw her last night. It still does. She's not even in the same ballpark as the three other main mets in town. She's not even as good as the guy she replaced. If you can't get through your presentation without pausing to think about what you're going to say about the map that just popped up, you're not doing it right. You've got to know whats coming up and what you're going to talk about before it pops up.

Its the same problem with Sam Mohr. She looks good but she can't present. Being an OCM is hard - you have to be able to ad-lib and move from topic to topic flawlessly. Sam Mohr can't. Rebecca Stevenson (Seattle) can't. But Cheryl Lemke can. And in my book, that counts for a lot.

7

OCMs & Personalities / Re: More layoffs - 4 OCM'S axed

« on: February 04, 2009, 12:49:47 AM »

This is extremely distressing.

These 4 OCMs were among the best at the company. The earlier layoff of Eboni, Cheryl, and Dave wasn't as bad as this. Eboni and Cheryl were good OCMs, but, hate to say it, replaceable. Dave was great, but maybe too quirky for his own good.

But these four, geez.

Mark - I watched him a couple weeks ago on Weekend Outlook. How he ever ended up on such a terrible time slot still shocks me. He was maybe the best OCM on the network for explaining the weather with just enough science to make it interesting. He didn't go over the top like some of the experts do, but was able to use science to increase the viewers' understanding. You knew whenever he said "now here's the set-up" you were going to learn something. I've previously noted that Mark & Bill Keneeley pairings were like watching a clinic.

Rich - Rich was second only to Mark for meteorological analysis. And he did it with that folksy, slightly southern accent. I never loved his pairing with Jeanetta, but with Sharon, wow, together they were awesome. I live on the west coast and preferred their presentation to the EE A-team.

Kristin - Kristin for years came across and stuffy and boring. She was always good at presenting, with a clear, logical manner, but was uninteresting to watch. But like her hairdo, her personality underwent a transformation when she was paired with Adam Berg. Both benefited from being in a team together. Adam's presentation is much better than it was before, and Kristin lightened up and became fun and, frankly, watchable.

Kristina - I never liked her with Carl on PME years ago. Both of them suffered from poor production and were often caught hanging when the music would suddenly end or graphics would splash unexpectedly. They'd both start PME with frowns. It wasn't very inviting. But when they were split, and since, she's been much better. Much more interesting to watch, big smiles, etc. After so many years of being a featured OCM, I didn't think it would end like this.

Rich and Kristina worked together on Weather Center on Monday. I didn't know when I watched them that this would be it - they probably didn't know either.

It's obvious this layoff came directly from the corporate pencil pushers. All 4 were long time OCMs that probably had big salaries compared to their exposure on the network. Broadcast media is seeing cuts like this across the board. Here in Seattle, a high rated radio station fired their most visible and long tenured DJ. Why? The pencil pushers didn't think his ratings (which were good) justified his high salary. But like all 4 of the OCMs above, he connected with the listeners in a way that others on the station didn't.

That connection can't be measured in dollars and cents. When an executive looked at the salaries and roles and saw that all 4 of these OCMs were basically fill-ins or weekend hosts in lower rated time slots, they were declared expendable. Never mind that moving Mark and Kristin to the PME slot and firing Betty and Sam instead would have been a much better move. When it comes down to the bottom line, these four had to go.

The problem with the major media firms these days is they are making too many of these decisions. Personalities are not expendable and easily replaceable. If the product is no longer compelling because you've let go all of the personnel that can connect with the audience and make it interesting, then you'll never do well in the future. This most visible these days on radio stations in major market. They won't pay for good DJs, so the station is boring, so no one listens, so they cut more. The only way out of this cycle is to develop and pay for better talent.

I'm not sure I want to watch TWC any more - these four, to me, were the ones worth watching. I've never liked Paul & Alex, Betty & Sam are awful, and everything else is going to be solo (pretty much). Ugh.

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Everything Else TWC / Re: General TWC Discussion

« on: December 28, 2008, 06:07:43 PM »

I wake up (kinda sorta not really), and there's the Double M and Rich.  Wowzers.

We got two days of Mark Mancuso this week - he was with Ray Stagich on Saturday.

I'd expect to see a much better utilization of the OCMs with Cheryl, Eboni, and Dave gone.

There are five weekend/fill-in OCMs that I'd expect to see picking up the slack:
*Mancuso - He'll be on at least Sat & Sun, plus hopefully a few weekdays again.
*Abernathy - Almost totally absent from weekdays in recent months, I'd expect to see her regularly filling in.
*Seidel - He makes a blue screen appearance about twice a month, and really, isn't in the field that much. What does he do?
*Dodd & Berg - If TWC was smart, they'd move them so one has MTu off and the other ThurFri off. The current set-up leaves EEWC without a fill in on MTu.

Rich Johnson has been all over the map the last two weeks - I wonder if he's just filling in all over the schedule because of the holidays or if he's been pulled off of EEWC... I'd hate to loose his pairing with Sharon. In reality, Rich and Sharon should be given the PM Edition slot - Betty and Sam just aren't working.

It was great to see Rich on with Mark again - used to see it occasionally when Mark would fill in for Jeanetta on Weather Center. Both of them are extremely good OCMs - watching them was watching two pros doing a great job (unlike the Betty and Sam amateur hour). They both give just enough science to make it interesting without being overwhelming.

9

Programming and Graphics / Re: PM Edition, ugh

« on: September 26, 2008, 02:36:16 AM »

Totally off topic here, but you wouldnt happen to be Kory Hartman would you?

No.

10

Programming and Graphics / Re: PM Edition, ugh

« on: September 25, 2008, 03:25:35 PM »

I don't think Samantha is working out at TWC, as TWC originally intended she would.  Remember when she replaced Kelly on Weekend View.  That tenure was not long.  I don't mind Samantha at all, and I actually don't mind her on PM Edition, mainly because I'm a fan of Betty Davis.

One bug-a-boo that TWC has encountered with new hires in recent years is that just because you do a nice weather cast on the local station doesn't mean you can sustain a TWC show.

Remember when Kevin Robinson was first hired he was filling in on Evening Edition after he'd only been at TWC for about a month. Seen him there lately?

The only new hire that was ready for prime time on arrival in the last few years was Nicole Mitchell.

They hired Sam to do Weekend View - that didn't work - and she's not working out on PM Edition either. They need to toss her in a lower profile spot to develop with a long time OCM - maybe weekends with Dave Schwartz. Right now PM Edition is two rookies with no chemistry.

Who would be better on PM Edition? Carl and Kristina? Every time I watch Carl I ask myself, how does he not have a weekday slot? But I think TWC prefers to keep him as the primary fill in for PM Edition, Abrams and Bettes, and EE.

I think they should move an established team with good chemistry to that slot. Both the Rich/Sharon and Adam/Kristin have developed into outstanding pairings, with good chemistry and presentation. I've posted this before, but I wouldn't be that shocked to see either team moved to PM Edition within the next few months.

Then, move Carl/Kristina to EE Weekend, and Sam or Betty with Dave Schwartz to PME Weekend. The other one can fill in for whoever covers Alex's slot while she's on leave (I am betting on Kim Perez to Evening Edition...).

11

OCMs & Personalities / Re: Old Weather Channel Pairings?

« on: September 02, 2008, 12:30:11 AM »

Yeah, I figured I had something wrong. I have no footage of this time period (other than a few short clips from early 2003) so all of that info was based on my memory.

So Carl (later Rick and Mike) and Sharon did EE and EEWC weekend after the four-person format was phased out?

It was Carl -> Rick -> Warren -> Mike paired with Sharon on weekend EE and EEWC. Warren replaced Rick for about at least 4 months before they hired Mike.

12

Everything Else TWC / Re: General TWC Discussion

« on: August 28, 2008, 12:37:04 AM »

For some reason, TWC decided to assign Mike Bettes to do the updates on Gustav during this last hour of PME. I wonder what the thinking behind that was...

Because Sam & Betty are truly TWC's worst pairing.

13

OCMs & Personalities / Re: Kristin Dodd

« on: August 04, 2008, 11:42:45 AM »

Wow, Mark and Vivian haven't worked together in ages, and unfortunately Mark's reduced on-air duties means that he probably won't be working with her or any of the other folks you mentioned ever again.

When did Sharon work with Dave and Warren? Was that during the late 90s?

Sharon was paired with Warren for at least 6 months after they fired Rick Griffin and before they hired Mike Bettes on weekend evening edition. He was also the regular fill in for Mike for a couple of years.

Sharon worked with Dave and Warren on Evening Edition West Coast as a fill in on a pretty regular basis.

14

OCMs & Personalities / Re: Kristin Dodd

« on: August 04, 2008, 12:31:47 AM »

I disagree.  Kristin has come out of her shell, so to speak, in the past..whatever.  I think she's doing great, and I love watching her.

I agree - Kristin in the middays for years was plain and boring. And she had really bad hair (remember that helmet she had circa 2004?).

But for whatever reason, she's having a blast working with Adam on EE, and it is one of the best partnerships on the network. Before they were paired up, I didn't think much of either of them, but they're both learning from each other.

Adam was always a little green in his presentation, but I think he's learned a lot from Kristin (whose forecasts were always good, even if the whole personality wasn't) and she's really learned to lighten up a bit and let her personality shine through. It helps, that they both genuinely seem to like working with each other.

Chemistry really effects the watchability of the Weather Channel. I may be burned at the stake for this, but there is a reason Kristina and Carl were split up on PM Edition. It was almost painful to watch towards the end. They are both rather low key, and it made for a terrible show. You'd get the quick opener, then the music would abruptly stop (what, even when controlled from the basic control room, they can't manage to fade out the music?) and you'd get Carl and Kristina welcoming you to PM Edition with expressionless faces. The day they were split up, their watchability improved 10-fold.

As for the other current "teams" I'd say that Sam & Betty are in serious danger of loosing their timeslot. They are awful. Neither of them has enough experience to put together a solid show without a veteran along side them. In addition, they have zero chemistry. Going to the HD format made it worse, because now they have to interact more often. I'd expect to see either Sharon & Rich or Adam & Kristin promoted to replace them within the next 6 months.

Rich and Sharon, are of course, awesome. Rich is better with her than he was with Jeanetta, and Sharon's better than with her previous regular partners of Mike, Warren, and Dave.

Jeff and Jen in the morning have adapted quite well to each other and put on a good show. The YWT team, is of course, great. Kelly & Bill are also great together, and its obvious why Kelly was reteamed with Bill.

Nick & Vivian haven't quite clicked yet. Nick & Kim WERE awesome... I wouldn't be surpised to see them reunited in some form (maybe as a Day Planner team if Bill goes to YWT to replace Marshall).

Paul, Alexandra and Jim are awful. The problem is Alexandra. She's unwatchable and show is a train wreck because of her. I stopped watching when they replaced Jennifer with her. There are so many better choices in the TWC stable.

And of course, there are the rarely seen but great "classic" teams:
Dave & Warren
Bill & Mark
Mark & Vivian
Dave & Eboni

15

OCMs & Personalities / Re: Increased Roll on Mike Seidel?

« on: July 31, 2008, 03:31:25 PM »

The real question is: why has Mike Seidel had so little screen time for so many years?

He's a talented OCM with a good personality, and is (or was) TWC's highest profile field reported. When he works in front of the green screen, its Sat-Tues.

But for many years, his appearances on camera in studio have been as little as 5 or 6 times a month.

A few weeks ago, he worked with Kim Perez on one of the weekend programs (filling in for Kevin Robinson). They were fantastic together, despite the fact they hadn't worked with each other since the 90s (according to them). It was much better than the Kim and Kevin pairing.