Background information: During times of inclement or severe weather the television weather team will break into current programming to give weather information. This can be done with a crawl across the bottom of the screen, a map in one corner of the screen showing areas under watches and/or warning or breaking into the show entirely to show the weather broadcaster on air and maps they want to show. Common reasons given that severe weather cut-ins are important: 1. If it saves just one life then it is worth it no matter how many viewers are inconvenienced. 2. Viewers will respect a weather team that is on top of a threatening weather situation. Viewers will watch the station that has the best weather information and the most respected weather talent. 3. The television medium provides an opportunity to get the message out to large numbers of people that could be threatened by the weather. 4. The television station is serving local viewers and the local community, thus this function is a necessity. Common reasons that severe weather cut-ins are complained about: 1. Many viewers will often not be in the region that is experiencing the threatening weather. These viewers are frustrated at having to miss their show or having to watch weather information all over the screen when the weather is not influencing them. 2. If a viewer is recording a show: the weather cut-ins, weather graphics and weather crawls will permanently be on the video. 3. The noises that go off with the weather information can be annoying to hear. 4. If the viewer does not care about the weather (however threatening it is), they have no way to prevent the weather cut-ins from occurring and no way of turning them off in order to see their show without interruption. 5. When full weather cut-ins happen during a critical part of a show or during a very important episode, the viewer has no way of watching what they missed unless the station shows it again at a later time. 6. The weather broadcaster cuts in too much and the weather graphics are annoying. 7. There are other sources to get the weather information such as weather radio. Battery operated weather radio is the best source for severe weather information because if the electricity goes out the television will be of no use. |