Gawker: weather channel

Hurricane Blows Reporter Away

Ryan Tate — Mon, 15 Sep 2008 02:25:00 EDT

This Weather Channel reporter was just following in the footsteps of his colleagues at CNN and every other news network when he stupidly stepped into the hurricane-force winds still remaining from Hurricane Ike this weekend. But unlike them he was nearly blown into oblivion. Luckily there was a residential fence to keep him from, you know, dying. All this for one of the most clichéd shots in TV news. Someone end the madness.

[YouTube]

NBC To Buy Weather Channel, Jazz Up Coming Apocalypse

Ryan Tate — Sun, 06 Jul 2008 18:22:01 EDT

Because global weather patterns will only get more catastrophic until the last human finally starves in a sea of sand and fire, NBC Universal is wisely buying the Weather Channel for $3.5 billion. The deal includes website Weather.com, but more exciting for NBC is surely the cable channel, carried in 97 percent of U.S. homes. Imagine the cross-promotional possibilities that will emerge as global warming engulfs both coasts, and their advertiser-coveted demographics, in slow but steady ruin!

You could bring Saturday Night Live characters onto the Weather Channel, in the mold of former SNL cast member Chris Farley when he personified El Niño (clip below).

There will surely be plenty of real-life dramatic material to draw on. Here's the latest depressing summary of the coming hellscape from Elizabeth Kolbert in the New Yorker (attached to what was supposed to be an uplifting story about Danish windmills):

The consequences of this warming are difficult to predict in detail, but even broad, conservative estimates are terrifying: at least fifteen and possibly as many as thirty per cent of the planet’s plant and animal species will be threatened; sea levels will rise by several feet; yields of crops like wheat and corn will decline significantly in a number of areas where they are now grown as staples; regions that depend on glacial runoff or seasonal snowmelt—currently home to more than a billion people—will face severe water shortages; and what now counts as a hundred-year drought will occur in some parts of the world as frequently as once a decade.

Sounds like a ratings bonanza!

Weather Channel Anchor Accused Of Being Leering Dirtbag

Hamilton Nolan — Tue, 06 May 2008 17:24:22 EDT

Weather Channel anchor Bob Stokes is being accused by a former on-air colleague, Hillary Andrews, of being a sexually harassing, stalkerish jerk. For an extended period of time. Andrews says that Stokes harassed her predecessor out of a job, and then began harassing Andrews even harder, constantly hitting on her and asking her inappropriate questions; i.e., "Will you lick my swizzle stick?" Andrews is now suing Stokes, and two highlights from her court documents are below, describing some of Stokes' conduct. Also, a bonus clip: a colleague forgetting Stokes' name, on-air. Maybe she blocked him out of her mind.

[The Smoking Gun]

We're in the wrong media business

Nick Denton — Thu, 03 Jan 2008 13:02:28 EST

The Weather Channel, one of the few privately held cable channels and one of the most mind-numbing, is for sale. The pricetag: $5bn.