Wednesday, February 13, 2013

Losing Nemo

I've taken off on The Weather Channel in this space several times in the past.  You can't get a forecast when you want one.  The "documentaries" are all the same and are inane.  There's endless hysteria when a hurricane approaches.

This year's snow coverage has been horrible.  Front and center is The Weather Channel's naming of winter storms.  The weekend blizzard was called "Nemo."

The Weather Channel said it started the naming thing to increase public awareness of potentially dangerous storms.  Do you really think we're that stupid?

Naming winter storms is a marketing gimmick, hype, and downright silly.  We can all see that.  Stop it.  Stop it now.

There's an opening and a need for a good cable weather channel you can drive a truck through-- informative without being alarmist, reliable and entertaining.  But, wait a second.  The Weather Channel is owned by Comcast, one of nation's largest cable companies.  Do you really think it would open the system to competition?