Grumpy Editor

Hurricane Sandy blows advertisers to Weather Channel

Hurricane Sandy blew in a record number of viewers to the Weather Channel along with a boost in advertising revenue and digital traffic, notes Grumpy Editor.

The cable network received an increase in watchers after an 18.5 percent dip from last year. 

Atlanta-based, the Weather Channel tracked Sandy as it roared through the northeast, positioning 10 reporters at various sites for frequent updates. 

"There is no question that as horrible as the storm is, from a business standpoint, we are in the business of weather and more audience tends to mean more revenue," Curt Hecht, chief global revenue officer for the network, told Jon Lafayette, writer for Broadcasting & Cable. 

Lafayette added, “In addition to advertisers traditionally attracted by coverage of bad weather --- notably companies selling insurance and equipment like generators --- new advertisers, including movie studios, were drawn to Weather Channel's big audiences.” 

Launched on May 2, 1982, the Weather Channel broadcasts weather information and related programming, such as “Storm Stories,” around the clock.  NBCUniversal acquired a controlling stake in 2008.

With the storm knocking out power in its New York offices, Lafayette pointed out, Weather Channel sales executives worked from home.

Keeping a close eye on  Sandy was accomplished in the wake of a recent company-wide layoff involving 80 employees.

TV, the morning after, lingers on superstorm Sandy

The morning after superstorm Sandy smacked the East Coast, especially the New York City-New Jersey area, brought Grumpy Editor some interesting observations. 

A sweep of the television dial Tuesday morning started at CNN which framed live coverage with lightning flashes in efforts to stir viewers --- even though no lightning was associated with the historic hurricane as it hit the East Coast. 

CNN also picked up live shots of a WABC, New York, TV reporter sloshing through water in a flooded Little Ferry, N.J. street.  The live action was simultaneously fed to HLN. 

With the New York Stock Exchange closed for the second day, CNBC market experts discussed how post-Sandy trading would affect business. 

The Weather Channel continued to track Sandy as it headed northwest, with 10 staffers at various sites set to give updates. 

NBC still had reporters standing in the brisk wind at Battery Park at the southern tip of Manhattan, with a backdrop of New York Harbor waves churning against a gray sky.

CBS also posted on-camera folks at Battery Park, a favorite location with TV coverage, and then replayed the previous day’s comments by President Barack Obama on how he is going to cut red tape for folks in the storm’s aftermath. 

ABC remained fascinated with the dangling crane atop a Manhattan building under construction and mentioned Sandy brought out the “biggest use of manpower since 9/11” to get things back on track. 

Fox News focused on overlooked Delaware with flooded streets at Rehoboth Beach as waves continued to splash against docked pleasure craft.

Meanwhile, an eyebrow-raising word was heard on CBS radio in the early morning when on-the-hour news led off with the “typhoon” hitting the northeast. 

Typhoon is the term used in the western Pacific area, including China and Japan, along with India, for what is called a hurricane in the U.S.

Hit by Isaac, Times-Picayune uses Ala. backup for printing

Nothing shakes up a newspaper operation more than a power outage, especially during a major news event, such as when Hurricane Isaac hit New Orleans this week, cutting off power for the Times-Picayune, notes Grumpy Editor. 

The newspaper, in the Advance Publications Inc. family with daily circulation of about 141,000, called on the Press-Register, a sister publication in Mobile, Ala., 130 miles away to handle the printing. 

Isaac grew into a hurricane as it reached Louisiana and was downgraded to tropical storm on Wednesday afternoon. 

The howling wind and heavy rain cut power for 83 percent of the New Orleans metropolitan area.

Those able to access the Web kept up with news developments via NOLA. com.

Andrew Beaujon, writing at Poynter.org, reported an email from Ricky Mathews, Times-Picayune publisher, explained the newspaper has not missed a day of publication.  Mathews pointed out:

“We printed in Mobile, Alabama last night (Wednesday) since we have no power at the plant in New Orleans. Our drivers braved high wind and rain to get the papers back to Louisiana. Of course, there will be spotty delivery, but subscribers will get deliveries when conditions permit. We also enabled free access to the e-edition of the Times-Picayune via NOLA.com and communicated that access in advance of the storm.”

Meanwhile, the Times-Picayune, established in 1837, continued with plans to shift to a non-daily in the fall, printing three days a week.

Mathews earlier said the switch was necessary by the upheaval in the newspaper publishing industry and the future focus will be on boosting online news.

Isaac throws curve as Tampa 'hurricane’ muffled for GOP

Out of the 15,000 news folks sent to Tampa to cover the Republican National Convention, now starting tomorrow rather than today because of earlier concerns about inclement weather, it seems 14,999 have turned into weather reporters, observes Grumpy Editor.

They continued to be focused on Isaac --- whether labeled a tropical storm or a potential hurricane --- long predicted to bring wind and rain to the gathering at Tampa Bay Times Forum. 

Since early last week, media have been working Isaac into reports relating to the GOP gathering. 

However, latest forecasts now place Isaac on a course heading toward the New Orleans area, rather than western Florida. 

With all the hurricane talk popping up last week when Isaac was 1,600 miles southeast of Tampa, Bob Buckhorn, the city’s mayor, on Wednesday said he was ready to call off the Republican convention, if necessary, because of the predicted bad weather and much talk (mostly by media) on a direct hit on his fair city. 

That made front-page headlines and grabbed prime time broadcast coverage as Tampa geared up with storm preparations. 

TV cameras stepped up ever-popular shots of far-away wind-blown palm trees --- with fronds that flutter even with the slightest breeze on clear-sky days. 

Yesterday in a turnabout, the Tampa mayor, a Democrat, said he saw no problems with the weather during the GOP convention period. 

That cut the stress for the expected 50,000 visitors to Tampa in connection with the convention. 

But fidgety, Weather Channel-watching Republicans already had pushed today's speakers into Tuesday and beyond. 

Print and broadcast media have been heralding hurricane since the middle of last week. 

Media predicted Isaac "could" become a hurricane on Thursday.  Then hurricane status was delayed to Friday.  Saturday was next with no graduation.  Yesterday it still was a tropical storm on a more western path as it passed Key West, Florida, with few incidents. 

Meanwhile, umbrella sales continued to rise in Tampa.

Media jump on linking Isaac to GOP Tampa convention

Print and broadcast media seem gleeful that tropical storm Isaac, a vast 1,600 miles southeast of Tampa, Florida, yesterday could (note the word could) hit the 2012 Republican National Convention as a hurricane on Tuesday and the mayor (a Democrat, by the way) said he is ready to call the whole thing off, if necessary, because of stormy weather, notes Grumpy Editor. 

Tampa Mayor Bob Buckhorn won’t be doing that, of course, to his fair city that is about to welcome thousands of convention visitors but it gave media a fresh angle, along with a long-range weather outlook, in connection with the upcoming gathering at Tampa Bay Times Forum. 

With 15,000 international press members due, it’ll take more than political and meteorological wind to stop them from going to America’s 55^th largest city, Aug. 27 to 30. 

Also in attendance at the convention will be 2,286 GOP delegates and 2,125 alternate delegates from 50 states, District of Columbia and five territories.

Late yesterday, Isaac was closing in on the Leeward Islands, east of Puerto Rico.

Weather forecasters saw tropical storm Isaac possibly developing into a hurricane today or tomorrow while media jumped in with their own outlook, focusing on the disturbance as posing a threat to the convention at 401 Channelside Drive in Tampa. 

That inspired a number of interesting headlines.  Among them, starting with one injected with a bit of humor: 

New York Daily News: Tropical storm Isaac may cause bigger problems for RNC than Obama 

USA Today:  Isaac could threaten GOP convention in Tampa 

Christian Science Monitor:  GOP’s Tampa convention likely to be wet, but how wet? 

Fox News website:  Tropical Storm Isaac poses potential threat for Republican National Convention 

CNN website:  Tropical Storm Isaac a concern as GOP convention nears 

Tampa Bay Times:  Tropical storm Isaac becomes a concern for RNC 

Washington Post:  Could Hurricane Isaac derail the GOP convention? 

With the Washington Post story, readers getting deeper into the text would note what Dennis Feltgen, spokesman for the National Hurricane Center in Miami, cautioned: 

“There is still way too much uncertainty right now, and it’s too early to know what effect it (Isaac) could have in the U.S. and in Florida. It depends on how much time it spends on land in Cuba. We don’t know what kind of shape it will be in by the time it clears those islands.” 

Still, most media --- in seeking to grab readers or viewers --- zoom right past that flashing yellow light. 

Grumpy Editor, observing the holidays, returns Jan. 3

 

Grumpy Editor is taking time off to celebrate Christmas and welcome year 2012.

He --- and his grumpiness --- will return on Jan. 3.

 

Casey Anthony trial tops Bing’s 2011 most searched list

Already, one month before year’s end, and a Bing top 10 list of most searched news stories for 2011 is the first out of the chute, notes Grumpy Editor. 

Search engine Bing, from Microsoft Corp., tallied news items on high profile trials of Casey Anthony (tops on the list) and Michael Jackson/Dr. Conrad Murray (No. 7) as among those getting the most attention. 

Also sought by inquisitive minds were natural disasters Hurricane Irene (No. 3), Japan’s earthquake and tsunami (No. 4) and the Joplin tornado (No. 6). 

Remembrances ranking high included the 9/11 10-year anniversary (No. 8) and the one-year anniversary of the Haiti earthquake (No. 10). 

How they stacked up for Bing searchers: 

• Casey Anthony trial
• Osama bin Laden death
• Hurricane Irene
• Japan earthquake/tsunami
• Amy Winehouse death
• Joplin tornado
• Michael Jackson/Dr. Conrad Murray trial
• 9/11 10-year anniversary
• Republican candidates Herman Cain, Rick Perry
• Haiti anniversary 

Interestingly, nothing connected to Congress, jobs, taxes, economy or unusual stock market gyrations made the top 10.

 

AP mixes earthquakes, wildfires with global warming

With an unusual amount of extreme weather this year --- including hurricanes, tropical storms, tornadoes, blizzards, heat and drought --- it wasn’t a surprise to see an Associated Press story on nature’s fury appear over the weekend that suggested recent meteorological events were linked to global warming, notes Grumpy Editor. 

And to complete nature’s action so far in 2011, writer Seth Borenstein worked into the story’s second paragraph non-meteorological-related recent Virginia, Colorado and Alaska earthquakes plus record wildfires in Arizona and New Mexico. 

The story cited Germany-based insurance company Munich Re tallied 98 natural disasters in the U.S. in this year’s first half, “about double the average in the 1990s” --- without indicating how many were related to weather. 

Nevertheless, recent “weather catastrophes” gave the writer an opportunity to compose this Las Vegas-style line: 

“Man-made global warming is increasing the odds of getting a bad roll of the dice." 

In summarizing what climate scientists said, toward the end of the text the writer mentioned, “Individual weather disasters so far can’t be directly attributed to global warming, but”… 

Thus, the global warming saga continues.

 

As TV news eyes ratings, Hurricane Irene’s eye fizzles

In going with wall-to-wall coverage of Hurricane Irene over the weekend, television cable news channels --- encouraged by forecasts --- on Friday night initially figured a monster storm would raise havoc on the East Coast and their on-scene reporters would give an historic play by play, notes Grumpy Editor.  ABC, NBC, CBS, Fox and CNN all had their top talent on camera during the weekend.

Wind-blown reporters standing (by tradition) in the rain, often with crashing surf as backdrops, did their jobs.  But fizzling Irene, downgraded to a tropical storm before reaching New York, let them down.

With no catastrophe to report, especially in the New York City area --- where authorities shut down airports and transit operations ahead of the storm --- the main focus became flooded streets, power outages and downed trees.

Disappointment in the tone of reporting came Sunday morning, as one network reporter tried to keep news directors’ spirits up (and viewers glued to TV sets) by cautioning, “There still is concern here.”

One TV meteorologist, mid-day Sunday, confessed Irene would be remembered “not as a wind storm, but as a flooding storm.”

An early indication of possible doom came five days earlier when an Associated Press story warned, “Forecasters say the hurricane could grow to a monstrous Category 4 storm with winds of more than 131 m.p.h. before it’s predicted to come ashore this weekend on the U.S. mainland.”

After Irene reached the eastern fringes of North Carolina, a parade of state and federal officials issued dire warnings and told residents to evacuate.  President Barack Obama made two appearances on national television.

“Breaking news” banners peppered TV screens.

Grumpy Editor noticed several TV appearances of Craig Fugate, head of the Federal Emergency Management Agency.  That contrasted with virtually no media mention of FEMA earlier this year when extensive floods for days smacked the U.S. along the Mississippi River.

With Irene fading and sunshine appearing yesterday morning, a TV newsman went into detailed coverage of a Long Island hotel parking lot under 18 inches of water.

The headline on Howard Kurtz’s media blog for The Daily Beast yesterday summed up the meteorological event with:  A Hurricane of Hype.

Across the Atlantic in London, a Daily Telegraph headline over a comprehensive storm story read:  Perfect Storm of Hype:  Politicians, the media and the Hurricane Irene apocalypse that never was.

 

Look for another ‘Big One’ quake story to appear soon

In the wake of three major earthquakes in the news since Monday night, don’t be surprised to soon see another in a series (with Associated Press the best candidate) pointing to an upcoming “Big One” in California, figures Grumpy Editor. 

Inspiration comes from a 5.3 magnitude earthquake that rattled the Colorado-New Mexico border Monday night, a 5.8 shaker than rumbled along the East Coast on Tuesday and a 6.9 temblor that hit northern Peru’s jungle region yesterday. 

Of the trio, the East Coast quake that sent people into the streets in Washington, D.C., and New York City, stirred up the most action, grabbing hefty national air time and newspaper space Tuesday, yesterday and into today. 

Periodically, AP reminds print and broadcast media --- so they can shake up readers/viewers --- that the “Big One” is coming. 

Grumpy Editor feels another reminder is in the works. 

One alarming example from a past AP story:  “California faces an almost certain risk of being rocked by a strong earthquake by 2037.” 

For that outlook, AP cited a seismic forecast by scientists that pointed to a magnitude 6.7 quake (equal to the 1994 Northridge jolt) or larger within 26 years. 

Another past AP “shake ‘em up” story stemmed from a hypothetical model, worked up by scientists, that indicated a mighty 7.8 magnitude earthquake would “see Los Angeles and its suburbs shake like a bowl of jelly” in less than two minutes and 50,000 people would be injured in Southern California. 

That would exceed the estimated 7.7 magnitude quake that rattled the lower section of the San Andreas Fault in Southern California 321 years ago and a 7.8 earth mover 154 years ago in Central California.

However, further earthquake coverage will take a back seat as strengthening Hurricane Irene moves up along the East Coast, affecting some of the same areas hit by Tuesday's shaker.

Weather and related developments such as power outages and flooding will be the focus of news coverage over the next few days and into the weekend.