HOW IT ALL WORKS TOGETHER–Part IV

Forecasters, On-camera Meteorologists and Producers–Tenuous Allies

THE MOTHER HEN, THE SWEETHEART AND CARY GRANT

A couple of hours prior to the start of “Your Weather Today,” Marshall Seese, Heather Tesch and Nicole Mitchell gather for a detailed weather briefing from Mark Avery.  Marshall takes a seat next to a computer so he can call up data from various cities during the briefing; Heather plops down at a desk next to mine and begins munching on a cup of Cheerios drizzled with soy milk; and Nicole, the youngest of the group but also the mother hen, gets everything started.  “Let’s go,” she says, knowing she has a lot of preparation ahead of her.  Sometimes, if Mark goes off on a tangent during the briefing– “Hey, that reminds me of a story…”–Nicole nudges him back on course.

Nicole is a captain in the Air Force Reserve and an Aerial Reconnaissance Weather Officer with the Hurricane Hunters.  I asked her once if her military experience led her to being a stickler for getting the briefing going on time and keeping it on track–something I appreciated being ex-Air Force myself–but she said, “No, that’s just the way I am.”

Heather, because of her friendliness and easy-going personality, qualifies as the The Weather Channel’s sweetheart.  That, in turn, allows her to be Queen of the Double Entendre without any prurient connotations.  Leave it to Heather to get everyone laughing, especially if it’s been a tough day.  Her comments can verge on risqué, but she never crosses the line into off-color.  Still, she gets away with stuff that probably no one else could, because she’s, well, Heather.

“It was a little thing,” Marshall said once, referencing a small error made during a demanding day on a very busy show.

Heather couldn’t resist it.  “And how’s your little thing, Marshall?” she piped up at a post-show discussion.

Another time, on the air, when NBC meteorologist Jeff Ranieri was in Derry, New Hampshire, covering the aftermath of an ice storm, Heather seized on the opportunity as the live shot opened: “And how’s the Derry air this morning, Jeff?” she asked.

Marshall, now retired, is every bit as smooth and friendly in person as he was on the air.  He seemed to me to be the white-maned equivalent of Cary Grant.  Although he didn’t have a degree in atmospheric science, he took correspondence courses offered through the Department of Agriculture and made himself into a quality meteorologist, one respected by his degreed peers.

He and Heather, coanchors of “Your Weather Today,” had a unique on-camera chemistry, a sort of easy-going King and Queen of the Junior Prom rapport.  Marshall thinks a lot of this was lost a few years ago when the show became more highly produced (scripted), precluding a lot of the natural banter that worked so well for him and Heather.  This was concomitant with a slide in the ratings, but that decline probably was due to a combination of factors, not just the diminished spontaneity between the coanchors.

Heather confirms that she and Marshall got along well both on and off camera.  “We looked out for each other and tried to make the other one look and sound good on the air,” she told me.  Still, at Marshall’s company-wide retirement ceremony, she couldn’t hold back.  “We were like an old married couple,” she said, a grin sliding across her face, “we fought all the time and never had sex.”

After Mark’s briefing, Marshall, Heather and Nicole continue a process they began earlier, “stacking” their shows.  That is, selecting, using a computer, the sequence of graphics, animations and imagery they’ll use in their respective segments.  The sequences, including commercial breaks and Local on the 8s, are automatically timed to the second.  If the talent fails to finish whatever they are saying within the alloted time, a computer-driven switch knocks them off the air.

At 7 a.m., “Your Weather Today” kicks off with Lisa Watkins synchronizing things from a control room.  She stays in virtually continuous voice contact with the on-air people, weather producer and show director (who calls the camera shots). Mike McMackin, as needed, coordinates with field producers and “phoners.”  Phoners are people such a sheriff deputies and emergency operations managers who provide reports via telephone.

From behind a partition in the studio, Sean, the weather producer today, controls the meteorological content of the broadcast, switching from one graphics/animation source to another, and monitoring and displaying active weather warnings and storm reports on the fly.  He’s managing five Titans, a Google Earth and at least three other systems.

At times, Lisa and he, or whoever the weather producer is, may get busier than rodeo clowns with red capes in a bull ring.

And almost invariably, something goes wrong.  A live shot dies, an animation freezes, a graphic fails to come up or incorrect information gets on the air.  It’s Lisa who has to make such glitches invisible to viewers.  To do that, much like a quarterback who comes out of a huddle and sees a different defense than what was expected, she has to be adept at calling audibles–coming up with a new play at the line of scrimmage.

It’s not a whole lot less hectic in the studio.  Marshall, Heather and Nicole, based on the rundown or new directions from Lisa, must stay on schedule, recalling where to stand, walk to or sit and remembering who to “toss” to.  And of course, they have to do all of this with a smile on their face and Lisa yammering in their ear.

Yet somehow, it all works.

Photo: Nicole Mitchell, Marshall Seese and Heather Tesch (l to r).
These were the popular personalities who headlined “Your Weather Today” in late 2008.

HOW IT ALL WORKS TOGETHER–Part III

Forecasters, On-camera Meteorologists and Producers–Tenuous Allies

Lisa Watkins, a gal who put in eight years with the U.S. Navy Reserve, is “Your Weather Today’s” producer.  “The training I received in the military,” she says, “certainly serves me well in the pressure-cooker environment of The Weather Channel.  Out of all of the jobs I’ve had, I would say being a producer here is certainly the most challenging, in every way possible.”  Lisa made her way to the channel via gigs in Grand Rapids, Michigan, and Johnstown, Pennsylvania, her hometown.

Lisa, with input from the on-camera people, WITs and weather producers, plans the entire show.  She creates a story thread, decides which graphics and videos to use, and writes a script.  She also develops a rundown, a blueprint for how the entire show will play out, step by step.  It’s a time-line of specific directions: which on-camera meteorologist is talking; which camera is being used; which graphics or videos are being keyed in; and when (and if) any remote live shots or phone reports will be inserted.  Then she has to oversee and coordinate all of this from a control room, bringing the rundown to life in the form of “Your Weather Today.”

Mike and Lisa are already at work when I arrive.  Other people straggle in with me.  These include the weather producers.  It’s kind of a funny title since they have nothing to do with, for instance, tipping “over the water jars of the heavens,” sending “lightning bolts on their way” or causing you to “swelter… when the land lies hushed under the south wind.” (The book of Job, in case your were wondering.)  Nope.  Nothing quite so breathtaking or awesome.

Weather producers set up and control the graphics and animations run off a system known as Titan.  The graphics include maps overlain with radar imagery, weather warnings and watches, up-to-the-minute data such as temperatures and wind speeds, or tallies of rainfall and snowfall amounts.  The animations display such things as the expected progress of a storm or front, explanations of what’s causing a certain type of weather or the history of a storm system.

Weather producer is a relatively new job, having evolved only during the past few years.  They’re positions typically staffed by some of the younger meteorologists, as opposed to 20-year veterans, for instance.  There’s Sean Fankhouser, a recent Georgia Tech grad and former member of the Yellow Jackets crew; Dina Knightly, a prior licensed pilot and mother of young twins; and Kevin Roth, a Pennsylvanian who arrived at The Weather Channel via Weather Services Corporation in Massachusetts.

John Erdman is another key weather producer.  John is a native of Beaver Dam, Wisconsin, who says “meteorology chose me” after a tornado in 1980 almost turned Beaver Dam into Beaver Flats.  Mike, the executive producer, considers John, who holds a Master’s degree in atmospheric science, to be the archetypical weather producer.

The planning for today’s show actually began 18 hours earlier, immediately in the wake of yesterday’s presentation when producers, weather producers, on-camera personalities and WITs gathered for a short debriefing.  Immediately following the debriefing, there was a discussion of what the headline stories for today were expected to be so production of graphics and animations could get underway   At the end of the meeting, Marshall and Heather took a few seconds to coordinate their wardrobe colors for today.

Now, shortly after 4 a.m., the key players gather for a more in-depth discussion of what’s going to be featured on the show and to get an overview of how it’s going to play out.  When that’s completed, Lisa goes to work on the rundown.

Meanwhile, I begin briefing myself in by examining the current weather situation, studying various models and reading discussions issued not only by Weather Channel forecasters but also by various NWS offices around the country.  As needed, I’ll review material available from the National Hurricane Center, the Storm Prediction Center (regarding severe weather) and the Hydrometeorological Prediction Center (dealing with precipitation and extended-range outlooks).

More of this series will follow.  In the meantime, for those of you open to such greetings: a heartfelt
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.

Photo: Lisa Watkins, Weather Channel producer.
Lisa was the producer of “Your Weather Today” in late 2008, the time frame being discussed below.

HOW IT ALL WORKS TOGETHER–Part II

Forecasters, On-camera Meteorologists and Producers–Tenuous Allies

NO, I DON’T WANT TO SEE THE DAMN AP STORY

Back in the “Wild West” days of The Weather Channel, there were neither producers nor weather producers.  Over time, however, the need for more professionally-polished shows became obvious, and producers were gradually hired onto the staff.  Most had earned their spurs as news or sports producers at local television stations around the country.  Occasionally, a CNN or CNN International refugee would drift in.

Television producers work in a blood-pressure-elevating environment.  Days (or nights) are long; deadlines, omnipresent; and mistakes, visible.  The burnout rate is high.  At times, the producer turnover tempo seemed to rival that of sack stuffers at McDonalds.  Producers would come and go before I could learn their names.

New-hire producers are offered a brief, basic course in meteorology.  Some take to it readily; others get it, but perhaps without much emotional investment; and others, just a few, never catch on.

A number of years ago there was one such “clueless” producer whose meteorological descriptions and explanations would drive me to tears–both of laughter and frustration.  I attempted to be patient with her, but she never seemed able or willing to grasp even the basic concepts of weather.  She also had an annoying habit of leaning on the AP wire service to obtain meteorological details for her scripts.  The AP is a fine operation, but when it comes to things atmospheric, its stories sometimes lack exactness.  To this particular producer, however, the AP was infallible.  So again and again, I and other WITs (members of the Weather Information Team) would have to change her scripts.

She became increasingly annoyed with this, as did we.  It finally came to a head one day.  I changed something major in her script, she got all red-faced and huffy and stormed off.  Seconds later she called me.  “I can show you the AP story that supports what I wrote,” she snapped.

I’d had it by then, too.  I raised my voice, which I almost never do.  “I don’t want to see the damn AP story,” I said.  “I’m telling you what’s right.”  Click.

I lobbied my superiors hard to find her another job after that.  Still, it took months before she finally “moved on.”

Fortunately, that encounter was not typical of the producer-meteorologist relationship.  For the most part, producers readily accept the input of the WITs.  Some, such as executive producer Mike McMackin who oversaw morning programming (he left the channel in mid-2009), became quite skilled at finding their way around in the meteorological world: reading codes, interpreting radar imagery and understanding the fundamentals of the science.

Mike, a North Carolina native, worked at stations in Myrtle Beach, Birmingham and Atlanta before joining the channel where he quickly immersed himself in the world of weather.  I got along well with Mike.  We could not only talk weather easily, but sports and books, too.  Our common interest was fiction, and we were constantly recommending novels and authors to each other.

Still, we had philosophical differences regarding Weather Channel programming. There was an instance in the fall of 2008 where the WITs and producers were at odds over what the lead story should be: a severe thunderstorm outbreak or a late-season heat wave.

The WITs argued for the severe weather threat on the basis that life and property would be at risk.  Mike defended the heat wave.  The warmth, he said, would affect more people.  He also pointed out, quite correctly, that the anomalous heat would be a contributing factor to the development of the stormy weather.  Storms first, the WITs countered.  Let’s headline the action and the danger.

In the end, Mike prevailed.  And that’s illustrative of how, in recent years, the balance of power regarding what goes on the air at The Weather Channel has shifted gradually from meteorologists to producers.  The meteorologists believe it’s gotten out of balance–that they should have greater input.  It’s a meaty issue and one I’ll address in greater detail later.

Photo: Executive Producer Mike McMackin at work at The Weather Channel.
Mike was one of the best in the business, but unfortunately he left the channel in mid-2009.

HOW IT ALL WORKS TOGETHER–Part I
Forecasters, On-camera Meteorologists and Producers–Tenuous Allies

It’s three-thirty in the morning, I haven’t had my coffee yet, and I’m barreling down an eight-lane freeway at 70 mph heading for The Weather Channel. It’s a god-awful time of day to be going to work. But in Atlanta, it’s a great hour to be commuting: the road is virtually empty. That is, until I hit I-285, the beltway, and have to fall in with a convoy of eighteen-wheelers fleeing the capital of the New South before the sunrise snarl. Depending on my mood, I may have anything from Jimmie Hendrix to Franz Joseph Haydn blasting on the car stereo.

But I’m not the only one stirring while roosters are still in REM sleep. The on-camera members of the channel’s popular and highly-rated morning show, “Your Weather Today,” are also making their bleary-eyed drives to work. (No limos for Weather Channel stars.) In late 2008, the on-camera crew consisted of Marshall Seese, Heather Tesch and Nicole Mitchell.

BEFORE DAWN AT THE WEATHER CHANNEL

Using my key card to badge myself into the channel’s corporate headquarters, I say hello to the security guard, trade a few words about the weather (well, what else?) with her, then use my card on two more doors before entering the stale, dead air of the sprawling basement operations area.

There isn’t much activity there at 4 a.m. All television broadcasting now emanates from the new high-definition (HD) studio located in a different wing of the building. So that’s where the on-air meteorologists are now as the initial live show of the day, “First Outlook,” kicks off. (The 3 to 4 a.m. program is taped during the 2 to 3 a.m. segment.) The producers also work in the basement, but they’re separated from the meteorologists by a long hallway. Contact is typically by telephone.

(In the Weather Channel’s previous digs, meteorologists and producers worked side-by-side, which allowed meteorology to be integrated seamlessly into programming. Our physical separation in the new building, however, never made sense to me and many others and is a detriment to operations. But since retiring, I’ve learned that plans are afoot to create pods that will allow all those working on a particular show–producers, meteorologists, and on-camera personalities–to be seated together.)

There’s a couple of meteorologists on duty in the Global Forecast Center. Outside the center, in the open operations workspace, only my overnight counterpart is holding down the fort. Mark Avery, a St. Louis native and former TV weathercaster in Wilmington, North Carolina, is nearing the end of a 10-hour shift.

We trade good morning grunts and I start my workday. Mark and I and a few other experienced meteorologists are members of what’s known as the Weather Information Team or WIT. Team members are called WITs. Or sometimes half-WITs if things are going badly.

A WIT’s primary job is briefing the on-camera personalities and producers to make certain everyone is singing from the same sheet of meteorological music. Each briefing highlights the major weather stories of the day and goes into much more technical detail than you’ll ever see on the air.

Other WIT duties include churning out brief articles for weather.com; proofreading TV scripts for meteorological accuracy; giving occasional media interviews; talking daily with USA Today’s weather editor; helping to determine if, where and when to deploy field crews; and once a week, generating the seven-day outlook I talked about in the previous chapter. WITs, in effect, are The Weather Channel’s behind-the-scenes ringmasters. But without whips.

Other o-dark-thirty arrivals include the producers and weather producers. There is a distinction between the two. Producers are non-meteorologists who plan, put together and oversee the various shows, such as “Your Weather Today,” while weather producers are meteorologists who assist in the development of and “drive” the graphics that support the shows.

In the next entry, subtitled “No, I Don’t Want to See the Damn AP Story,” I’ll address how things don’t always go smoothly.

Photo: The Weather Channel’s briefing area
On-camera meteorologist Marshall Seese is in the foreground; WIT Wayne Verno (standing) is the briefer du jour.