TWC - The Weather Channel New Format Just Doesn't Cut the Mustard
The ever changing logos of TWC pop up when you look on Google. It's a smorgasbord of memories that dance before your eyes. Depending on how old you are... you can remember when you first started watching. According to statistics though... the majority of TWC viewers can remember when and why they first started watching. Bottom Line: Demographics of TWC are mostly aging baby boomers and their parents who loved watching back when have mostly passed on ...
Yes, lots of young weather minded kids will put on TWC during a blizzard or a hurricane to see Jim Cantore in the raging surf trying not to be blown away.. And, most put it on when one of their parents or grandparents scream out "turn on TWC I want to hear about Hurricane Oscar" and since we didn't get to Hurricane Oscar this year or any year recently the TWC has a problem. Last year's solution was to name "Winter Storms" going with the reality that winter produces a more reliable number of "winter storms" than the Hurricane Season ever produces on any given year. Statistically a smart move. No one wants to watch Cold Front #19, but "Winter Storm Oscar" gets more attention.
This year the little piggy went to the market and decided to get a make over in the hopes of attracting new, young viewers. There is just one thing they don't seem to get. The young potential viewers are checking weather on their cellphone on an ever changing array of APPS (including TWC APP) and most young, new, potential viewers do NOT watch television the traditional way. Many young people don't even own a TV as they watch series by the season on their newest phone. There are some who watch on their tablet or iPad and a few watch on PCs ....but most do not watch TWC anymore.
This was particularly pointed out to me one day when my youngest son came in and announced that FOX NEWS and CNN have the same demographics as TWC. Busy cooking dinner I replied "Oh, really... why do you say that?" His response was "they have all the same commercials for the same old age diseases." True, perceptive child that he is ...he is right. And, since then I realized that the reason I don't know which channel is on just by walking into a room without looking is that usually there is a commercial on and usually it IS the SAME commercial. High Blood Pressure. Low Blood Pressure. A plethora of drugs with "warnings" streaming across the screen and Grandma cannot get up and needs a "damn chain around her neck" (note that's what my mother calls it ...) and even my mother didn't watch TWC, but she did watch the Miami Heat play on TV. Think about it... even Grandma didn't want to pay for TWC or CNN. She watched the local news. My generation watches Fox and CNN. My kids get their news from FOX too...the APP. And, to be honest I get my news from my Twitter Feed usually.
Feedback on TWC is awful...
@weatherchannel Just to tell #TWC your new Local on the 8's format is LOUSY =Monochromatic,too light,too fast Can't read it !
So FL
Sorry, @weatherchannel , but I'm not caring for the new format, especially on the Local8's. Put it back, toss out AlRoker. You are TWC.
"@TWC_PRteam : Absolutely do not like your new graphics theme!"
Let's look at the commercial on TWC as I write this article.
Dyson Ball Vacuum cleaner... hmnn every 25 year old trying to make it on his own really wants one of those.
I have young kids...trust me that is not on their wish list or even on their radar.
And, if they bought it ...it would be on Amazon after comparing prices on different websites for the best deal!
And, TWC is not on their radar either. And, it's for SURE not on their iPad. Know why? Because if there is anything my kid's with kids want it is their own iPad as their kids have taken over their iPad.
Hmnnn... sad, but true...
So, what is the real problem with their new format other than it's new and many people don't like change?
Is it true that the same contractor who developed the http://healthcare.gov website are the same folks that created TWC's new graphics?
The colors are vague and hard to see for most of their typical viewers. Not sure who TWC consulted with, perhaps the designers of the Obamacare Website... but most people watching TWC on TV have problems with their eyes and their vision is getting worse and clean, decisive graphics are important.. unless they think people just like to listen to the music on Weather on the 8s.
@TWC_PRteam @weatherchannel New set, new graphics, same old ridiculous reality shows pretending to be "weather related". Who's fooling who??
I'll toss a few more throughout my blog..you get the idea. For the most part... people do not like it on Twitter. Always a few who do... most do not it seems.
And yes, older people like to watch CNN and FOX so TWC has added in "Breaking News" into their format. Mind you my son gets his news from his Drudge App and Breaking News App.
So...TWC catering to it's supposed audience started adding in NEWS!
I guess this was really important news this morning.
Yes...when I put on TWC this morning while waiting for Weather on the 8s...this was the breaking news...
...the new "weather format" is even worse than the News...
screen small... light colors do not work with people who have vision problems
I know people who watch TWC have vision problems as they advertise drugs for eye problems...
and why do I need a picture of clouds that are bigger than the regional map
The ONLY good thing here is Mike Bettes.. I think it's Mike Bettes... he's way over there......
okay so if you were in a rush to watch TWC...which is better .. be honest..
Yes I prefer Mike Bettes, but I don't watch The WEATHER Channel to see him
Graphics on the local channel are easier to see, faster... I like the clouds on my APP not my TV
BAD BAD GRAPHICS... and boring... and I like purple...
narrow fonts, pale colors...what were they thinking?
My ex-husband used to do graphics and he thought he did amazing work and he did.. but an older woman would come over named Judy from a large organization that gave him work and she would say all the time:
"Make the FONT BIGGER!" "No one can read this!!"
Well, to be fair we could... most people I knew could ...but the average person reading it was over 50 and they could not...they needed bigger, clearer fonts and he adjusted it even if it aesthetically didn't look as nice because... older people can't see well. These new graphics are a fail, fail for a station whose average viewer is most likely over 50. Maybe they really do think people just turn it on for the music. And, what is that 40% thing? I keep thinking it looks like the App on my phone that takes a slow motion picture for me to choose the best shot...
I'm sorry, but when I want to see the weather and I'm in NC I put on Channel 14. Every ten minutes the local Cable News channel does Weather on the Ones... and their is WEATHER with all the info quickly, professionally shown. Yeah...it might be a little "old school" but hey wanting to check the TV for the weather is "old school" and by the way...so is the TV in my bedroom. Truth is I don't watch much TV and when I do it's when I get around to it ...so basically all I watch on TV is ESPN, FOX or CNN.
If TWC really DID weather I'd watch it more, but I can usually rely on it being canned, old, repeats of segments on prospecting, fishing and truckers. Sorry, "Freaks of Nature" just doesn't really grab me... Honestly, is that what you think people want? Some do... I have a friend who leaves TWC on in the background 24/7 and only turns it up when Jim Cantore comes on or there is breaking WEATHER news. She is not watching TWC to find out about the latest "porn bust" and if she wanted to know more about the breaking Miami Dolphins Football Scandal...she would check it out online on her PC... duh... Note, she doesn't even watch regular TV anymore................
What doesn't TWC get? People want WEATHER and that is basically the ONLY reason a person would watch TWC because there are 300 channels out there on Cable that can do the freak shows and the adventure shows way better than TWC.
Bluntly put.. people put on TWC to watch WEATHER. IF the logic behind the changes at TWC was accurate ESPN should change their format.. add in some shows to attract others on gardening (it's sort of a sport...) and perhaps a "segment on the Ladies of the Home Shopping Club" and drop those NASCAR updates for "How to buy a Snowmobile" and add in some episodes on the Hobbies of Retired Football Players and show Marino golfing rather than talking about this week's games. Maybe Jimmy Johnson can do a reality show about fishing in the Florida Keys rather than having him talk on the problems the Miami Dolphins coaches are having this season.
http://articles.sun-sentinel.com/2011-07-16/sports/fl-jimmy-johnson-fishing-0717-20110716_1_fishing-buddies-fishing-lines-fishing-photos
Hey... maybe ESPN needs to rethink it's format. And, while they are at it... FOX can stop bashing Obamacare and start doing taped segments on busting child porn rings and add in taped, repetitive segments on "How to go Ice Fishing" add it some DIY segments for the Pinterest gang :)
No... I don't think so..
The average TWC viewer likes LARGE SCREENS with MAPS and old school formats. And, when they die and when they are gone... there will be no TWC as we know it. Sorry, but true. In fact, TV as we know it will most likely cease to exist.
My kids shop online.
My kids check their news on their cell phones.
There is a question that defines baby boomers.
What was the biggest invention that changed your childhood.
@TWC_PRteam A parody of a 50s marketing campaign?: glitzy sets, cartoony graphics, washed-out colors, unreadable fonts, childish slogans?
Old baby boomers born 1945 - 1956 will say: Television.
Younger baby boomers born post 1957 will say: Microwave.
To see how up to date someone is ask them how they read their mail.
1) I use a mail opener and sit at the kitchen table and organize my mail into piles.
2) On my PC on www.aol.com
3) On my laptop
4) On my iPad
5) On my cellphone
6) Is this a trick question? Who reads mail? "Huh?" "Don't bother me while I'm checking Tumblr"
Do you use your phone for:
1) phone calls duh...
2) pick up my missed messages
3) text messages
4) email
5) Twitter & Facebook
6) Gaming, TV and getting Weather Alerts to find out if it's gonna rain during tailgating...
You get the idea.
How are you even reading this blog?
You know what the next big thing is??
@TWC_PRteam A parody of a 50s marketing campaign?: glitzy sets, cartoony graphics, washed-out colors, unreadable fonts, childish slogans?
Do you really watch TWC or check out the girls and what they are wearing? Tell the truth..cause the clothes are getting skimpier and am beginning to think pretty soon we are going to see them used as models on Victoria Secrets. And, by the way... I didn't watch TWC yesterday because they had some prospecting episode on that I did watch once several months ago when bored... I was online shopping for new tee shirts on the VS site. Perhaps if they did a Sports Illustrated Calendar with TWC Girls on the cover more people might notice.
As for most of the older women I know who used to watch TWC, they gave it up when their old favorites were taken away by the NBC grinches.
Yep... I have an "Aunt" who actually stopped watching TWC when they got rid of Dave Schwartz. She told me and I quote, "it's not fun anymore, I can watch the 6PM News if I want to know if it's going to rain" and by the way...she gets her weather from www.wsvn.com as she stopped going to Accuweather when Joe Bastardi left... Hey it is what it is... it's a TV channel. Who watches TV these days? Older people watch TV. Yes, they make a fortune on their apps and website...but the TV Channel should cater to it's viewers and it is not.
The current changes at TWC do not cut the mustard...they are not even in the ballpark.
It's not just me...
Besos Bobbi
Ps... I just wrote this now because I was at my daughter's house for a few weeks while helping my brother with my mother who just went into a care facility. They don't have a TV.. well they have one but it's connected to my grandson's iPad and it's used as a larger than life rattle. Really. It projects what is on the iPad onto their huge screen TV which is now a HUGE larger than life Baby Rattle gone Live...
My grandson and a friend's child using "their" iPad which is held hostage by babies eating breakfast the way baby boomers read the sides of cereal boxes. Maybe if TWC starts advertising TWC on Baby Apps and Games for the iPad maybe a new generation will want to watch one day.......and if they do watch...what will they be watching on? Won't be on a Cable TV Channel.. Thinking long term TWC has a HUGE problem. Thinking short term they should be catering to their viewer base and realize that the graphics are hard to see and no one puts on TWC to watch the News.... It's all about the Weather...duh.....
Besos Bobbi
http://www.theguardian.com/notesandqueries/query/0,5753,-2242,00.html
Other views on the new changes at TWC:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/capital-weather-gang/wp/2013/11/14/the-weather-channel-is-getting-back-to-weather-sort-of/
posted by BobbiStorm @ 7:26 AM
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