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Allen Media Group is a scourge on the weather community

MichelleH

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In a move that is not only asinine but potentially dangerous and/or deadly, Allen Media Group has decided that by March, ALL weather teams at ALL AMG-owned TV stations will be let go to be replaced by pre-recorded regional forecasts from The Weather Channel. Please help get the word out - especially to elderly viewers who may not change stations and will just rely on TWC pre-recorded, likely incorrect or outdated forecasts - to please find a different way of keeping up the weather. Here are the stations involved:

Current Allen stations:
WTVA Tupelo, MS
KIMT Rochester, MN/Mason City, IA
KEZI Eugene, OR
KDRV/KDKF Medford, OR
KHSL/KNVN Chico / Redding, CA
WTHI Terre Haute, IN
WLFI West Lafayette, IN
WFFT Fort Wayne, IN
WAAY Huntsville, AL
WEVV Evansville, IN
KADN Lafayette, LA
KITV/KIKU Honolulu, HI
WAOW Wausau, WI
WQOW Eau Claire, WI
WKOW Madison, WI
WXOW La Crosse, WI
WSIL Carterville, IL
KVOA Tucson, AZ
WREX Rockford, IL
KWWL Waterloo, IA
WJRT Flint, MI
WCOV Montgomery, AL

The two stations in bold are in tornado-prone areas. This is very bad, but what's worse is that other media groups may decide to play follow the leader.
 

KevinH

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In a move that is not only asinine but potentially dangerous and/or deadly, Allen Media Group has decided that by March, ALL weather teams at ALL AMG-owned TV stations will be let go to be replaced by pre-recorded regional forecasts from The Weather Channel. Please help get the word out - especially to elderly viewers who may not change stations and will just rely on TWC pre-recorded, likely incorrect or outdated forecasts - to please find a different way of keeping up the weather. Here are the stations involved:

Current Allen stations:
WTVA Tupelo, MS
KIMT Rochester, MN/Mason City, IA
KEZI Eugene, OR
KDRV/KDKF Medford, OR
KHSL/KNVN Chico / Redding, CA
WTHI Terre Haute, IN
WLFI West Lafayette, IN
WFFT Fort Wayne, IN
WAAY Huntsville, AL
WEVV Evansville, IN
KADN Lafayette, LA
KITV/KIKU Honolulu, HI
WAOW Wausau, WI
WQOW Eau Claire, WI
WKOW Madison, WI
WXOW La Crosse, WI
WSIL Carterville, IL
KVOA Tucson, AZ
WREX Rockford, IL
KWWL Waterloo, IA
WJRT Flint, MI
WCOV Montgomery, AL

The two stations in bold are in tornado-prone areas. This is very bad, but what's worse is that other media groups may decide to play follow the leader.
I am not surprised by Allen Media.

There are some evil people in the world working for the devil.
 

Mike S

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In a move that is not only asinine but potentially dangerous and/or deadly, Allen Media Group has decided that by March, ALL weather teams at ALL AMG-owned TV stations will be let go to be replaced by pre-recorded regional forecasts from The Weather Channel. Please help get the word out - especially to elderly viewers who may not change stations and will just rely on TWC pre-recorded, likely incorrect or outdated forecasts - to please find a different way of keeping up the weather. Here are the stations involved:

Current Allen stations:
WTVA Tupelo, MS
KIMT Rochester, MN/Mason City, IA
KEZI Eugene, OR
KDRV/KDKF Medford, OR
KHSL/KNVN Chico / Redding, CA
WTHI Terre Haute, IN
WLFI West Lafayette, IN
WFFT Fort Wayne, IN
WAAY Huntsville, AL
WEVV Evansville, IN
KADN Lafayette, LA
KITV/KIKU Honolulu, HI
WAOW Wausau, WI
WQOW Eau Claire, WI
WKOW Madison, WI
WXOW La Crosse, WI
WSIL Carterville, IL
KVOA Tucson, AZ
WREX Rockford, IL
KWWL Waterloo, IA
WJRT Flint, MI
WCOV Montgomery, AL

The two stations in bold are in tornado-prone areas. This is very bad, but what's worse is that other media groups may decide to play follow the leader.

Where are you seeing this? My googling skills are lacking this morning.
 

JBishopwx

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As someone who works closely with the weather team at WTVA, this is all true. Not going to details, but there was effort by the stations to at least consolidate things but Allen choose to go this route.
 

StormStalker

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WAAY just brought back Jeff Castle to the Huntsville DMA not to long ago. He worked at WAFF for years and left for Louisiana. I really hate to hear this news this morning.
 
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As someone who works closely with the weather team at WTVA, this is all true. Not going to details, but there was effort by the stations to at least consolidate things but Allen choose to go this route.

That's a boneheaded decision if there ever was one, especially in severe-prone markets in the South and Plains/Midwest. Although not quite to James Spann's level, Matt Laubhan has been great during major severe weather events such as April 27, 2011 and the Tupelo tornado of April, 2014.

I wonder if this had anything to do with Bob Lindmeier's recent retirement from WKOW. He was one of the chief meteorologists at the "Big Three" stations here in the Madison market who I literally grew up watching and who, until early last year were all still working. So the one at the station I work for is the last man standing.
 

warneagle

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So the idea is to make the service you're providing to your customers worse so you can cut some jobs and save some money in the short term with no concern for whether the loss of customers will make your business unsustainable in the long-term. Sounds about typical for corporate America these days.
 

akt1985

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WAAY just brought back Jeff Castle to the Huntsville DMA not to long ago. He worked at WAFF for years and left for Louisiana. I really hate to hear this news this morning.
I guess that means WAAY morning meteorologist Grace Annello is also being laid off. I realize she has a lot of weather knowledge but at the same time she is very beautiful and down to earth. I’ll miss seeing her on TV.
 

JPWX

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This is why more TV meteorologists are starting their own private weather business and all that. I use to dream of being an on air TV meteorologist at a local station or Weather Channel. Not anymore. It wouldn't have worked anyways due my speech impediment and other stuff.
 

JPWX

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Oh, i hate this...makes me sick that corporate greed is going to cost us Matt Laubhan. Assuming this will also impact live severe coverage, that is
Yeah. I mean you can't pre package or pre record live severe weather coverage or any weather event for that matter. So I have no idea what their thinking in that regard. Apparently, by the looks of things, they're not thinking.
 

kcyalater

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This is why more TV meteorologists are starting their own private weather business and all that. I use to dream of being an on air TV meteorologist at a local station or Weather Channel. Not anymore. It wouldn't have worked anyways due my speech impediment and other stuff.
this.

it just means broadcast meteorology will end up direct to consumer. ryan hall has pioneered this delivery method and sees tens of thousands of viewers during weather events.

much like everything else, we’ve got to adapt to 2025 and beyond.
 

slenker

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Absolutely absurd that they're prioritizing profits over the safety of people, but I'm not surprised. It's probably because they are being outcompeted by folks like Ryan Hall or Max Velocity and they want to penny-pinch as hard as possible. Unbelievably dumb but it is what it is.
 

JBishopwx

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Out of respect of all who are involved and being asked not to do so, I will no longer comment on the situation.
 
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