Ridiculous Radar Names

[MidwestTV 1232]

 

But how about overall branding? WOAI has this dumb gimmick called the "4-Zone Forecast" where they split the viewing area into four "zones" and then provide a complete weather forecast for each "zone". Every other station only provides one forecast and not four,

. And this is partly why WOAI is in last place.

 

You know KCTV used to do something similar to this, and they might still too. I don't know, as I don't generally watch them for the weather. But is the San Antonio viewing area really THAT large? The article states it's 25 counties, but how far do those 25 counties extend? Kansas City's viewing area is 44 counties in comparison, ranging from the Iowa/Nebraska border, halfway down to the Oklahoma/Arkansas border. A "4-Zone Forecast" frankly makes sense for us.

[skbl17 188]

 

no but they have the "Wiz-O-Meter"

 

That's true, the WIZ is/was* one of the worst weather gimmicks I've ever seen.

 

* The good news is that I've been seeing a lot less "WIZ" and a lot more "Weather" lately. Unfortunately, the name of the weather center and that silly "HERE'S WHAT YOUR DAY IS ON A SCALE FROM CRAP TO 11" meter remain firmly in the hands of WIZ. Hopefully the Gannett-Belo deal results in significant changes like the complete destruction of the WIZ. 11Alive has really improved their news product in the past few months, but there is still work to be done.

[groupwfan 97]

Here it is. Amazing they got away with this------

I laughed a bit when the announcer said the doppler's name-- and then this: "Only on NewsChannel8. We're gonna make Mother Nature our b!+€h!!!" Wha?

[skbl17 188]

 

I laughed a bit when the announcer said the doppler's name-- and then this: "Only on NewsChannel8. We're gonna make Mother Nature our b!+€h!!!" Wha?

 

That promo never made it to air, just the WTNH website. Also, I can't tell if that was an actual promo or well-executed satire of ridiculous radar names and weather gimmicks.

[sanewsguy 511]

 

You know KCTV used to do something similar to this, and they might still too. I don't know, as I don't generally watch them for the weather. But is the San Antonio viewing area really THAT large? The article states it's 25 counties, but how far do those 25 counties extend? Kansas City's viewing area is 44 counties in comparison, ranging from the Iowa/Nebraska border, halfway down to the Oklahoma/Arkansas border. A "4-Zone Forecast" frankly makes sense for us.

 

The viewing area is huge but so are the counties (S.A. DMA Map). Doing the math of all of the counties it's a combined 31,697 sq mi. And actually, Kansas City DMA is only 33 counties representing 18,971 sq mi. S.A. is almost double the size of the KC DMA, extending all the way to the Mexican border in some cases. Could a forecast for that market work? Not sure. Here in the city most hate it, but from what I see online the people in the outlying portions of the market like it. And then you have KAVU, who does cover some portions of the S.A. DMA and frankly those portions get much better news and weather coverage from KAVU than from the S.A. stations. I'm sure some of the KC DMA gets better coverage from the St. Joseph, Columbia-Jefferson City, and Kirksville markets than from the KC market itself.

 

 

That's true, the WIZ is/was* one of the worst weather gimmicks I've ever seen.

 

* The good news is that I've been seeing a lot less "WIZ" and a lot more "Weather" lately. Unfortunately, the name of the weather center and that silly "HERE'S WHAT YOUR DAY IS ON A SCALE FROM CRAP TO 11" meter remain firmly in the hands of WIZ. Hopefully the Gannett-Belo deal results in significant changes like the complete destruction of the WIZ. 11Alive has really improved their news product in the past few months, but there is still work to be done.

 

Do you think Mike Francis personally doesn't like it? Didn't Paul Ossmann the old weatherman come up with it?

[djlynch 56]

Haha, I'm glad I live here where all the stations just call it "Doppler Radar" (KENS is the only one here with their own radar; KSAT and KABB use NWS data out of New Braunfels and WOAI has access to four NWS radars in the area [brownsville, New Braunfels, Corpus Christi and I *believe* Midland], they used to promote it on the air as "4X4 Doppler" but no longer do so).

The fourth might be San Angelo rather than Midland. KXAN likes to use it for storms in the western part of their viewing area because it's closer to them than New Braunfels.

 

But how about overall branding? WOAI has this dumb gimmick called the "4-Zone Forecast" where they split the viewing area into four "zones" and then provide a complete weather forecast for each "zone". Every other station only provides one forecast and not four,

. And this is partly why WOAI is in last place.

I kind of suspect that this is a Sinclair thing (or at least a thing from their Central Texas station group). KEYE's chief meteorologist Troy Kimmel left a year or so ago citing a difference of opinion with Sinclair management over their directives for how to present the weather and as soon as they hired a new chief, they switched to a five-zone forecast, which is even more ridiculous than WOAI's four zones, especially since three of them are all of one county each (Travis, Hays, Williamson, the hill country, and east.)

 

I think the SA market is physically big enough that there's probably a need to acknowledge that there is some variety in what's happening from one end to the other, but the standard map with temperatures and maybe a couple condition icons seems like it ought to be enough, Even up here in the much smaller Austin market, you can get a very different day from one end to the other.

[sanewsguy 511]

 

I kind of suspect that this is a Sinclair thing (or at least a thing from their Central Texas station group). KEYE's chief meteorologist Troy Kimmel left a year or so ago citing a difference of opinion with Sinclair management over their directives for how to present the weather and as soon as they hired a new chief, they switched to a five-zone forecast, which is even more ridiculous than WOAI's four zones, especially since three of them are all of one county each (Travis, Hays, Williamson, the hill country, and east.)

 

Actually this dates to when Newport owned WOAI and it was John Gerard's idea. Interesting to see that Sinclair expanded it to Austin.

[TresGriffin 139]

I wouldn't go so far as to refer to it as stupid, but that WYFF "SuperDoppler" on I-85 on my way to my grandmas house has always stuck out in my mind,

[ToriElectra 292]

 

Bay News 9's Klystron 9.

 

WTF is a f***ing Klystron?

 

According to Wikipedia, "Klystron 9 combines, for the first time in history, a dual Polarimetry radar, Klystron tube, Pulse compression technology and a 1.25-million watt transmitter. That combination of technology makes Klystron 9 the most powerful television radar in the world. Klystron 9's dual-pol technology even tells meteorologists the sizes and shape of raindrops and makes the distinction between rain and ice." Not sure if any of that works, but dang it if it doesn't sound like some sort of superbeam doppler that could be used to take down alien vessels.

[MidwestTV 1232]

 

The viewing area is huge but so are the counties (S.A. DMA Map). Doing the math of all of the counties it's a combined 31,697 sq mi. And actually, Kansas City DMA is only 33 counties representing 18,971 sq mi. S.A. is almost double the size of the KC DMA, extending all the way to the Mexican border in some cases. Could a forecast for that market work? Not sure. Here in the city most hate it, but from what I see online the people in the outlying portions of the market like it. And then you have KAVU, who does cover some portions of the S.A. DMA and frankly those portions get much better news and weather coverage from KAVU than from the S.A. stations. I'm sure some of the KC DMA gets better coverage from the St. Joseph, Columbia-Jefferson City, and Kirksville markets than from the KC market itself.

 

If that's the case (in regards to our viewing area) then no one obeys it. Last weekend there were severe storms riding the Iowa border and every KC station was covering it and claiming it as their viewing area. Same weekend, different severe storms in the Atchison/St. Joseph area and despite having their own television in St. Joe, the KC stations were covering it.

 

Not really anything to do about radars but...

[Rusty Muck 4374]

This was a comedy sketch on WJW's "Big Chuck & Lil' John Show" back in 1996. Dick Goddard introduces you to Super Doppler GoogolPlex!

[yt]DHMHA6n0E70[/yt]

 

Note: the weather graphics seen here were pretty much what WJW was using at the time, right around their flip to "Fox 8 News."

[PelicanGuy 117]

Down here in N'Awlins:

 

WDSU started it all back in the early 2000s with "Super Doppler 6000". Then they shortened it to "Super Doppler Rader". Now it's "Exact Live Radar".

 

WWL had "Channel 4 Radar" since the 70s, then upgraded to "Pinpoint Doppler" in the 90s. They still use the name, but they haven't been using the radar since Gannett took over, just NWS data.

 

WVUE uses Viper and WGNO just uses NWS data.

[AaronQ 282]

Here in Charlotte:

WSOC: "Live Early Warning Doppler 9"

WBTV: "Dual-Pol Power Doppler"

WCNC: "Live First Warn Doppler"

WJZY: "HD Doppler Radar"

[ns8401 941]

Here In Detroit:

WJBK: I'll get it at 6.

WDIV: 4 Live Radar

WXYZ: 7 First Alert Radar

[rkolsen 1684]

WBAL: HD Doppler (they don't have a radar of their own but they are the use the five NWS/TDWR sites at once, their weather forecasts are branded InstWeather Plus. For some reason they kept the name long after WeatherPlus died. Fun side note: They've used the HD Doppler branding since 2001 even though they didn't go HD until 2008. Maybe they were viewing data at HD resolution since then.)

WJZ: First Warning Radar (they own their own, their forecasts are labeled "First Warning")

WMAR: Maryland's Most Powerful (they own their own radar, their forecasts are labeled "Maryland's Most Accurate". For some reason they dropped the certified by WeatherRate which I always thought was a scam - either the lost certification or wised up realized they could hire another journalist base on the licensing cost savings.)

WBFF: Radar/ Doppler Radar (No specific radar names but their forecasts are labeled Weather Authority).

[NewsMaster 226]

 

I laughed a bit when the announcer [Nick Michaels] said the doppler's name-- and then this: "Only on NewsChannel8. We're gonna make Mother Nature our b!+€h!!!" Wha?

 

Ironically one of his last VO jobs. The promo was from the later days of the NewsChannel 8 branding.

 

Here In Detroit:

WJBK: I'll get it at 6.

WDIV: 4 Live Radar

WXYZ: 7 First Alert Radar

 

You forgot First Forecast on WWJ.

 

Here's the ones in PHX (radar name / forecast name):

 

KTVK: FutureCast 360

KPHO: Live 5 Radar / CBS 5 Valley Pinpoint

KSAZ: FOX SAT Radar / FOX 10 AccuWeather

KPNX: no name?

KNXV: ABC15 Desert Doppler

 

Nothing really special here because the weather is SO NICE here and nobody cares. Except during monsoon season. Then all heck breaks loose.

[ns8401 941]

Ironically one of his last VO jobs. The promo was from the later days of the NewsChannel 8 branding.

You forgot First Forecast on WWJ.

 

Here's the ones in PHX (radar name / forecast name):

 

KTVK: FutureCast 360

KPHO: Live 5 Radar / CBS 5 Valley Pinpoint

KSAZ: FOX SAT Radar / FOX 10 AccuWeather

KPNX: no name?

KNXV: ABC15 Desert Doppler

 

Nothing really special here because the weather is SO NICE here and nobody cares. Except during monsoon season. Then all heck breaks loose.

WWJ is so irrelevant because it has no news department that I forget about the 11pm weather hit that they do. Still have to get the WJBK radar name and the WWJ radar name, first forecast is the show title but not the radar name. Unless it's "First Forecast Dopplar" or something.

[sanewsguy 511]

 

WWJ is so irrelevant because it has no news department that I forget about the 11pm weather hit that they do. Still have to get the WJBK radar name and the WWJ radar name, first forecast is the show title but not the radar name. Unless it's "First Forecast Dopplar" or something.

 

WJBK: "Satellite/Radar"

 

WWJ: "Doppler Radar"

 

source: the weather segments posted on the station's websites

[ns8401 941]

WJBK: "Satellite/Radar"

 

WWJ: "Doppler Radar"

 

source: the weather segments posted on the station's websites

Thanks, that's pretty darn dull.

[AaronQ 282]

Here in Charlotte:

WSOC: "Live Early Warning Doppler 9" ("Severe Weather Center 9")

WBTV: "Dual-Pol Power Doppler" ("First Alert Weather")

WCNC: "Live First Warn Doppler" (First Warn Weather")

WJZY: "HD Doppler Radar" ("MyFOXCarolinas Weather")

[jerseyfla 207]

What about WTVT and McIdas HD Radar. It sounds like a disease!

[10Viewer 334]

I have no idea what Klystron or McIdas mean. Does it make a difference to the average viewer?

 

I always liked WTSP's old "StormSeeker".

[Matthew Davenport 0]

Here In Detroit:

WJBK: I'll get it at 6.

WDIV: 4 Live Radar

WXYZ: 7 First Alert Radar

 

 

WDIV was first in Detroit to have a LIVE doppler. Chuck Gadica premiered it in the late 80s or early 1990s and was first called Doppler, then LIVE Doppler 4000 in the 1990s and 2000s (before they purchased WSI Titan, and called it 4LIVE RADAR with lightning tracker) At that point Chuck only used the Live Doppler (on occasion) for street level mapping and Titan (4LIVE RADAR for 3d modelling and wide views). WDIVs LIVE Doppler was a Collins 200 watt radar. It is no longer used on air and WDIV only uses NWS data with TruVu MAX.

 

WXYZ 7 debuted a more powerful and advanced doppler in the late 90s and purchased Baron software and called it LIVE Doppler 7000. It was later renamed Doppler 7 LIVE Radar when they did a branding change in the mid 2000s and they also ditched it for Doppler 7 VIPIR, which they later ditched for WSI TruVu MAXStorm and call simply First Alert Radar when they again changed branding in 2013-14.

 

WJBK FOX 2 also had a Collins 200 watt Doppler called FOX Doppler much similiar to WDIVs but I only saw it used on air once in the 2000s. They instead used ESP LIVE from WeatherCentral and now have WSI TruVu MAXStorm as well.

 

Here in the Toledo market we have 3 stations 2 of which are a duopoly (owned by the same broadcasting corporation (Raycom)

 

WTOL/WUPW: First Alert Doppler

WTVG 13ABC: First Warning LIVE Doppler 13000HD

WNWO NBC24 SKYTRACKER

 

WTOL pioneered LIVE Doppler technology in the region in the late 1990s when they purchased a used Collins 200 watt radar and installed it at their transmitter building. They called it Super Doppler 11. It was upgraded in the early 2000s. They stopped using it in the mid 2000s when they purchased ESP:live and then upgraded to TruVu MAXStorm last year and now use exclusively NWS data.

 

WTVG introduced their answer to Super Doppler 11 with their own customized Baron 350,000 watt Doppler they called LIVE Doppler 13000. (Previously they used Baron NEXRAD display NEXTRAC, and called it First Alert Big Foot Doppler Radar-- "Power to see the storm before YOU do".) They claimed superiority over WTOL with power and 6 scan per minute capabilites as well as enhanced sensitivity and customizable sector scans (they rarely used) with their BAron Doppler. They also purchased Baron VIPIR as well as a back up display system. At the time they were an ABC/Disney owned station. They still use both systems today however with no upgrades since installation of their Doppler.

 

WNWO NBC24 originally had DTN/Kavouras software in the mid 1990s and what they called Pinpoint StormPro Radar but then upgraded to WSI TrueView and the basic Titan system (no 3d modelling) in the mid 2000s under the Triple Doppler branding. They had this same system until recently when they finally got the basic TruVu MAX display and called it SkyTracker.

 

What about WTVT and McIdas HD Radar. It sounds like a disease!

WTVT still uses their 1,000,000 watt Baron radar and still call it SKYTOWER RADAR. It was previously called SkyTower Omni after the integration of Barons new worldwide real time weather display engine.

 

I have no idea what Klystron or McIdas mean. Does it make a difference to the average viewer?

 

I always liked WTSP's old "StormSeeker".

 

Basically Klystron 9 is just the name of the type of transmitter the radar has. Its the most powerful and advanced transmitter available. MCIDAS was their station based satelitte retrival system. An acronym for M-an C-omputer I-nteractive D-ata A-ccess S-ystem. What MCIDAS did was allow them to retrieve and display satellite imagery faster after collection from the satellite.

 

topic title says it all...

 

- WAPT's "Storm Shield 16"....what, is it gonna actually deflect storms and shield the area?

 

- WTSP's "Forecast First Double Doppler"....I hate their stupid "Forecast First" name and that goes with it.

 

And does WCBS still have "Doppler 2 Million"?

 

WTSP used 2 200 watt Collins Dopplers well into the 2000s. I was even told once on the chat on their website by their Chief Meteorologist that yes they were old school and weak compared to the other 1,000,000 watt Dopplers at Bay News 9 and WTVT but they still did the job they were needed to do. I think WTSP has since stop using them altogether. Here is one of the two that made up Double Doppler 10[ATTACH=full]2567[/ATTACH]

 

This really isn't too "rediculous" But WHBF (and I'm sure all the rest of Citadel stations) use "Exclusive Storm Prediction: Live Radar" Or simply ESP: Live.

 

I also hate how stations make false claims of LIVE radar. All 3 (nbc, abc, and cbs) stations here in the Davenport market claim they have live radar, yet, only 1 really does (WQAD [abc] )

 

 

WQAD had 3 200 watt Collins radars but has since stopped using them in favor of WSI TruVu MAXStorm display system. The biggest problem with the 200 watt Collins radars were the outdated display and features. Street level mapping was limited to 20 miles and complicated to do, you could just choose anywhere to zoom into you had specific areas you could zoom into, and velocity data was terrible. Clutter and signal weakening due to them only having 200 watts was prevalent in even moderate rain. This is why some stations like WQAD bought 2-3 of them but have since dropped them as newer better systems have been created and NWS nexrads improve