TWC Today Forums
Present - The Weather Channel 2000 => Programming and Graphics => Topic started by: yourweathertoday on April 02, 2018, 04:14:33 PM
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Per an email from weloveweather.tv:
“Many of you have told us that you want to see more of our trusted weather coverage and we've taken note. Starting tomorrow, we will be extending our live coverage by up to 10 minutes per hour, giving you a chance to dig even deeper into the weather affecting you each day!
In order to give you more screen time with your favorite meteorologists from The Weather Channel, we figured out a way to collapse some of our Local on the 8s so that they run during our live segments. Where you used to see our traditional Local on the 8s segments, you will start to see the same weather information displayed along the right side and/or bottom of your screen.
We hope you love the changes and we look forward to hearing your feedback! Many of you have been loyal fans for over 35 years and we are excited to continue to evolve along with you to create an even better weather experience!”
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As per an Email They sent out to Insiders:
Starting tomorrow, we will be extending our live coverage by up to 10 minutes per hour, giving you a chance to dig even deeper into the weather affecting you each day!
In order to give you more screen time with your favorite meteorologists from The Weather Channel, we figured out a way to collapse some of our Local on the 8s so that they run during our live segments. Where you used to see our traditional Local on the 8s segments, you will start to see the same weather information displayed along the right side and/or bottom of your screen.
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I merged these two topics together since they are the same. We'll keep all discussion regarding the Local on the 8s change here. Thanks!
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Gracias, Andy!
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Reminds me of the days where the LDL took up 30% of the screen :sick:
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Well, it seems like the return of the L-Bar/squeezeback days, except there technically already IS that concept (weather all the time). So I'm very curious as to what more they're going to add to the screen, since the LOT8s is technically always there.
Needless to say, I wonder if this is the start of the demise for the traditional, full-screen LOT8s segments? I remember the days of 2-3 minute forecasts, but in the age of "instant" weather information via computer, tablet, phone, whatever, one could claim that LOT8s as we know it would soon become obsolete.
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Ironically, this announcement comes almost exactly 5 years when TWC replaced the remaining 1:30/2 minute LFs with one minute segments (April 1, 2013). It's disappointing, but certainly not surprising given the digital age we're in now, as Andy mentioned.
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This isn't a good idea for those of us with letterboxed HD feeds on SD. It's really difficult to read the LDL already, and now there won't be full-screen forecasts anymore? :sick: Seems like they neglected the fact that many cable companies have chosen to go down that path- even stranger is the fact that my cable headend had the i2jr for SD but switched to the xD only a week later, so I've barely tuned into TWC since. Unless tomorrow's results are surprisingly good, I won't be on board with this.
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I would be interested in the new change only if it brought some new stuff to the LDL. But really, discontinuing the Local on the 8s product seems like a bad idea. Just imagine not having your local forecast from Local on the 8s during hurricane coverage, meaning no radar or detailed forecasts. Of course, during winter storm or hurricane coverage, they replace the right side with the current statistics and future conditions.
What I believe the problem with the coverage time is the fact that they are reducing it to show more ads. Longform starts at primetime, so I guess that's why it starts at 8 PM EDT. Weather Underground has been showing ads more often than Weather Center Live and AMHQ.
In my honest opinion, throughout the years of TWC's broadcasting, more and more features are getting removed. And this product really means to us, and it has existed all along since The Weather Channel was founded. And now it meets it's fate on April 3rd.
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Here's some clarification direct from TWC, as a reply to a tweet I sent them asking about the new update:
LO8s are not exactly being removed, just reimagined. The same information you know and love will still be available! Thank you for the feedback!
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This will make the satellite feed LF interesting! Anyway - this also means the demise of smooth jazz, production music, storm alert music, and holiday music. The only tunes we will likely hear are the songs playing during live segments when they lead in or out. The 35+ year tradition of local forecast music appears to be in jeopardy but who knows.
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hmm it appears they still have a local on the 8 segement, but only at the 18's and 48's.. with the live feed version on the other 8's..
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My comment to TWC Classics group on Facebook: "I've watched for the first hour and 15 minutes of the changes, the traditional LOT8's cues at :18 and :48 otherwise it's relegated to the LDL always, and sidebar for a minute on the other 8's.. the logo is now LOT8's all the time, TWC logo itself is directly above the time only when they aren't on commercials.. also, if there's a commercial when the sidebar is suppose to cue.. they will do it momentarily after arriving back from commercials"
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All this did was cut back to two fullscreen LOT8s an hour during live. Same info on the bottom of the screen, sidebar cues up the local radar/almanac. Advertiser scroll covers up the news ticker.
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This morning, the Weather Channel logo is being replaced with a constant Local on the 8s on the lower bottom corner. Only one I've seen is at the :18 and :48 on the hour (at least on the morning shows so far).
There hasn't been one positive change to this network in the last 7 years. It's a shame, because this forum was once so lively with passion. It has died along with the network.
They appear to only care about ad revenue, and they will cut anything that gets in the way, even royalty rights to jazz artists.
I'm sick of the same production music they've been playing for five years. It is completely stale, and it's awful they've gotten away with it for so long. However, I guess it doesn't matter, because they're just trying to phase out the local forecast anyway.
Damn shame what has happened to this once great network. The good days were when we'd complain about them keeping a music playlist longer than a month and getting rid of the XL icons. :rofl2:
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I just watched a segment of this now, and I couldn't believe it. The only thing that changed is the upper-right display and nothing more. It is not "the same products" because there was no 36-hour forecast displayed at all, nor a 7-day forecast. The LDL on my IS2 just kept running as normal (it wasn't even on Tampa!), and the sidebar info just switched between the almanac and the radar.
However, on the national feed (which for some reason shows through watching online in the Spectrum TV app instead of my locals), when the LOT8s corner graphic came on, the sidebar graphic changed to a similar map loop of the regions across the US as fullscreen LOT8s, and concluded in the southwest.
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I created this poll to gauge what people think of the changes. Hopefully TWC sees it. https://twitter.com/wxtv_/status/981154206622068736?s=21 (https://twitter.com/wxtv_/status/981154206622068736?s=21)
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This morning, the Weather Channel logo is being replaced with a constant Local on the 8s on the lower bottom corner. Only one I've seen is at the :18 and :48 on the hour (at least on the morning shows so far).
There hasn't been one positive change to this network in the last 7 years. It's a shame, because this forum was once so lively with passion. It has died along with the network.
They appear to only care about ad revenue, and they will cut anything that gets in the way, even royalty rights to jazz artists.
I'm sick of the same production music they've been playing for five years. It is completely stale, and it's awful they've gotten away with it for so long. However, I guess it doesn't matter, because they're just trying to phase out the local forecast anyway.
Damn shame what has happened to this once great network. The good days were when we'd complain about them keeping a music playlist longer than a month and getting rid of the XL icons. :rofl2:
While I'm not a fan of a lot of the changes that have been made in the last decade, I would argue that the brand image developed for WATT in 2013 was a positive change, in that we got a more consistent-looking channel, that did provide more immersive weather info on-screen. I'd also argue that WxGeeks and Weather Underground have been two very fresh, much-needed shows for the network.
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Yeah, okay, unless I missed something, this was a complete joke. Except for the graphic at the top right sidebar changing to say "Local on the 8s" for a minute, NOTHING else was different. The bottom bar kept scrolling through as normal, and the radar and almanac kept rotating through as normal on the right bar. Seriously?:rolleyes:
I'm also not sure why the LOT8s logo is permanently being shown now at the bottom left now.
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I will agree that Weather Geeks and Weather Underground are interesting programs. Max, I'll give you that one. I just think overall we've given up as fans on this network. We have no choice but to accept all the crappy changes.
Andy, I completely agree with you. The Local on the 8s logo isn't even an accurate statement anymore. Now it's just "Local all the time, but in a tiny, lazy corner."
I just wish someone that has any care of the charm that made TWC once great was running the show. If it were me, I would never get rid of the Local on the 8s, but I would have possibly kept the longer 2-minute forecasts at the :28 and :58 and have maybe reduced the others, if ad money was an issue.
Jazz is just a nice appropriate music choice for a display such as the local forecast. The vocals were cheesy with corny weather references, but I would take it back over what has been playing for nearly 5 years.
I'm just disgusted.
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There are several things I don't like about this:
1. What is up with this obnoxious TWC logo revealing a small part of the screen next to it? I liked how it was where you couldn't see that part at all, it looked better.
2. Why is there a Local on the 8s logo at the bottom of the screen all the time? It's there all the time. No matter if it is :08, :28, :38, it's there. Why can't the TWC logo above the clock be put there instead and the local on the 8s logo not be there?
3. Last time I checked, during the "Local on the 8s" on the LDL, the LDL is incredibly glitchy.
4. Who thought this change was a good idea? Although it is nice to have more weather, they could cut back on commercials and still have kept the Local on the 8s.
Can't they just bring back how it was?
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technically it has reduced commercial time..
Show Starts :58-:15
Commercial: 15-:18
LOT8: :18-19
Segment: :19-25
Commercial: 25-28
Segment: 28-35
Commercials: 35-38
Segment: 38-45
Commercial: 45-48
LOT8: 48-49
Segment: 49-55
Commercial: 55-58
1 - 17 min Segment
2 - 6 min Segments
2- 7 min Segments
2- LOT 8's
15 min Commercials
45 min weather, 15 min commercials
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Honestly, I was expecting to see a lot more than some silly grayish LOT8s logo on the LDL (in place of the blue TWC logo) and leave almost everything else untouched, aside from the reduction of the number of LFs to just only two an hour. I guess TWC probably just needed the extra ad space. :rolleyes:
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This round of changes appear to be no more than window dressing to go along with their optimistic email they sent out Monday. I know they claim more weather coverage is the result but local forecasts are considered weather coverage too, so all they did was shift product types and solved nothing.
The new 'Local on the 8's' will likely be difficult to read for many viewers too. I am in agreement - not a positive change AT ALL.
Then again, MTV used to play music lol....
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I also just think, frankly, that they're realizing that there's little point (generally beyond this group) in having a full local forecast every ten minutes during live coverage when you can get the exact same thing (and more) on the phone, tablet, or laptop in front of you. A paradigm shift in information delivery started about ten years ago, and hasn't stopped. I don't agree with it, but if you want a nice view into the channel's general viewing demographic, scroll through the comments on the FaceBook posts by the OCMs and network. Mixed in with a lot of "no more reality TV!" are a lot of "thanks I'm glad you're not wasting time with something I can get anytime I want."
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I also just think, frankly, that they're realizing that there's little point (generally beyond this group) in having a full local forecast every ten minutes during live coverage when you can get the exact same thing (and more) on the phone, tablet, or laptop in front of you.
...unless you're someone like my step-dad who almost never uses the internet, but always needs weather information because of his job.
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I also just think, frankly, that they're realizing that there's little point (generally beyond this group) in having a full local forecast every ten minutes during live coverage when you can get the exact same thing (and more) on the phone, tablet, or laptop in front of you.
...unless you're someone like my step-dad who almost never uses the internet, but always needs weather information because of his job.
Absolutely, but the reality is that that is increasingly becoming a very niche market. Astoundingly quickly, actually.
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I’m honestly dissatisfied with this change. I feel it could have been executed in a better way. I’ve left a post over at weloveweather.tv, since they have an official thread for discussion of the change. https://www.weloveweather.tv/community/discussion/local-on-the-8s-are-being-reimagined/ (https://www.weloveweather.tv/community/discussion/local-on-the-8s-are-being-reimagined/)
EDIT: The Weather Channel is asking for all viewers who would like to provide feedback use We Love Weather’s forums. They started tweeting the link to people who are giving them feedback.
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Can someone post a picture of what this looks like? I have no idea what this looks like since I don't have cable/TWC anymore.
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9N88fYo4Pd8 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9N88fYo4Pd8)
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9N88fYo4Pd8 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9N88fYo4Pd8)
Thanks, um....yeah...there’s some big flaws in this concept. It’s funny how they have the week ahead and only show two days followed by showing the weekend separately. Last time I checked a calendar there were seven days that made up a week including the weekend. lol A text based forecast would be nice, but I get why it’s absent. There’s not a lot of space available for especially for days with active weather, they can get very lengthy because of how specific they can get.
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9N88fYo4Pd8 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9N88fYo4Pd8)
Thanks, um....yeah...there’s some big flaws in this concept. It’s funny how they have the week ahead and only show two days followed by showing the weekend separately. Last time I checked a calendar there were seven days that made up a week including the weekend. lol A text based forecast would be nice, but I get why it’s absent. There’s not a lot of space available for especially for days with active weather, they can get very lengthy because of how specific they can get.
The thing is, once again unless I am missing something and someone please correct me if I'm wrong, this is absolutely no different than what has always been shown on the LDL and sidebar since the debut of Weather all the Time in 2013. There is nothing changed! Heck, look how the LDL doesn't ever start from the beginning when the LOT8s supposedly starts, it just keeps on scrolling through. OK, now I see where a local radar and almanac have been placed over the national obs, national radar, etc, but that is only done if there's some big weather event happening. If there's no active weather, the local city radar and almanac show all the time.
This is why I'm so confused. All they seemingly did was slap a LOT8s logo at the bottom left and briefly change the graphic at the top right for a minute and now seem to be claiming this is some new concept that they "figured out." Well, I'm a bit concerned if it took a team of people to change a couple of logos around.
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OK, now I see where a local radar and almanac have been placed over the national obs, national radar, etc, but that is only done if there's some big weather event happening. If there's no active weather, the local city radar and almanac show all the time.
I haven't seen the local radar/almanac at all in months prior to this change. I wonder if that was done in preparation.
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hmm it appears they still have a local on the 8 segement, but only at the 18's and 48's.. with the live feed version on the other 8's..
Really not a fan of this move, but I'm used to it now so I'm cool with it.
I love that they extended Weekend Recharge by an hour. :clap:
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I agree! I never noticed until Saturday.
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I still think the change sucks and was completely unnecessary. Fortunately, plenty of people have been complaining on the topic on weloveweather.tv, so hopefully they will reconsider their "reimagining" of the Local on the 8s.
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I think it’s absurd that people have been complaining almost daily but they have been ignoring most of the criticism... I think more people need to post.
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Unless this is a glitch on my end, it appears they have removed the ticker bar (the scrolling text)...
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Can confirm that the ticker is missing today.
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Perhaps the software that powered the ticker is on the fritz. Another possibility - the ticker was removed to make LOT8s ad crawls stand out more.
I always thought the ticker was kind of useless, but the lack of it really stands out in the current look. Maybe throw some current national conditions in that spot or something.
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The ticker is still missing as of today along with the 4 LO8 a hour that they CUT!!! TWC needs to get their head together! Or more companies need to get WeatherNation!
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The ticker is back this morning, maybe just for Alberto?
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Live weather coverage on the weekends now starts at 6AM ET.
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Live weather coverage on the weekends now starts at 6AM ET.
Oh boy! Another hour of long form that they don't need! TWC is losing it!!!!!!