Posted: 5/30/2013 4:08:02 PM EDT
OK, here we go again, OKC tv stations going postal about tornadoes, but the tornadoes were outside their viewing area again!  I was looking at where they were, and thinking "those people don't watch OKC TV stations, so I checked, sure enough, they don't! Is it worth a mention? Yes Is is worth running a text crawl across the bottom of the screen? Yes Is it worth a little map up in the corner or the screen? Yes, but its not worth going apeshit when the weather isn't in your viewing area! |
I really dont mind them covering a storm whether its in their viewing area or not. like was said, some people can only get okc stations. If your tired of the coverage and nothing is near you, change the channel 
Thats what i do when i get full of hearing about a storm no where near me nor headed to me. What news station is that far south by sulfur? |
| I can't get over the air local stations, and direct tv only has OKC stations. During the Moore tornado they stopped covering us. They did so tonight. Saw ropy tiny tornadoes form right over my house and golf ball hail. OKC didn't report it. All I could do was watch radar with the Internet going in and out. Something has to change. |
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Quoted: Is it worth a mention? Yes Is is worth running a text crawl across the bottom of the screen? Yes Is it worth a little map up in the corner or the screen? Yes As I said in the original post it deserves coverage, but it doesn't mean preempting regular programming. Which is why I seldom watch the local channels. |
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of what other possible use are the local stations? certainly not for the programming. KOCO bumped the Indy 500 to a sub station for footage of some goober walking around tore up stuff. this really pissed me off! i was with the family and had it on the dvr. I sit down and start watching it and i get Obama walking around. Who cares!!! |
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And just to add my thoughts on it. Local TV stations are a private company, they dont even have to cover the weather if they dont want to. It isnt their responsibility to keep everyone safe. If you cant get reliable weather from the TV, I suggest getting a good NOAA weather radio, they are not very expensive.
Also, since we had a few deaths in the moore tornado, our little hiccup of storms we had tonight made fox news, which I think is a bit ridiculous |
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While I was watching they were watching a spinning super cell between where I live in north OKC and Edmond which sure qualifies in my book and the storm that was moving through Norman was enough for NWS to issue a tornado warning in the areas around Moore which I'm pretty sure everyone found worth watching in that area.
I'm guessing you are referring to them following the storm that came through the OKC viewing area and then strengthened as it moved up towards the turnpike into Kansas and the other storm moved northeast towards Tulsa. Yeah, you can argue that once it got that far north they could drop coverage but I think the recent tragedies have got everyone going to extremes. I have no problems with watching storms that are out of the area but moving towards and I have no problems with any of the coverage I saw today for several reasons. After they moved far north I quit watching so I don't know how long they stayed with it but I have family in that area so if a tornado or potential tornado is heading for them I want to know it but I can see where others wouldn't. |
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And just to add my thoughts on it. Local TV stations are a private company, they dont even have to cover the weather if they dont want to. It isnt their responsibility to keep everyone safe. If you cant get reliable weather from the TV, I suggest getting a good NOAA weather radio, they are not very expensive. Also, since we had a few deaths in the moore tornado, our little hiccup of storms we had tonight made fox news, which I think is a bit ridiculous Actually, the fact they are privately owned doesn't matter. They are regulated by the FCC, and must attain, and maintain their license to broadcast thru them. There are requirements they must follow, including identifying themselves every so many minutes, and there are guidelines for public safety info. You'll have to do some research to see what all that entails but the FCC does require some things. Regardless, even after Moore and Shawnee, oklahomans can't find anything better to fuss about that missing Jersey Shore or Desperate Housewives, etc, because there is tornadic weather in the state. Hopefully the one family that was relying on that news coverage will be ok losing their lives, in the name of keeping a 500 mile left hand turn race on the air. |
| Some people live a hell of a long ways from the metro, this is the only TV stations we have. Get over it, you aren't the only person in the state who needs to keep up with the weather. What really sucks is when we have a storm coming right at us and some bad wreck happens on I-40 all the focus is turned on that and leaves everyone in the path of the storm blind unless you have the radars pulled up on the net. |
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Quoted: While I was watching they were watching a spinning super cell between where I live in north OKC and Edmond which sure qualifies in my book and the storm that was moving through Norman was enough for NWS to issue a tornado warning in the areas around Moore which I'm pretty sure everyone found worth watching in that area. I'm guessing you are referring to them following the storm that came through the OKC viewing area and then strengthened as it moved up towards the turnpike into Kansas and the other storm moved northeast towards Tulsa. Yeah, you can argue that once it got that far north they could drop coverage but I think the recent tragedies have got everyone going to extremes. I have no problems with watching storms that are out of the area but moving towards and I have no problems with any of the coverage I saw today for several reasons. After they moved far north I quit watching so I don't know how long they stayed with it but I have family in that area so if a tornado or potential tornado is heading for them I want to know it but I can see where others wouldn't. The storm I'm referring to was down around Hennepin, and eventually went on towards Davis and Falls Creek. Those towns are well out of their normal viewing area, and information available online shows those cities, like Davis, don't get the OKC stations, someone mentioned that their Direct TV had the OKC stations. This time it wasn't a huge deal, they pre empted the news. On a previous occasion they were tracking a storm in TX, that went through far west OKla, Elk City, and moved into Kansas, all 3 major stations preempted programming for the entire prime time, 7-10pm, and the storm never did enter their viewing area. Elk City and most far west towns watch the Amarillo TV stations. At no time did this storm even threaten to enter their viewing area, it really made me mad! |
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Sorry to tell you but at our farm SW of Elk City we can only get OKC TV so that is what we depend on out there to keep up with the weather. This would be 30 mile SW of Elk City. This, alot of people that are too far out to get our stations OTA still depend on channel 9 on cable for weather information. I have family in the Texoma area, and when the weather is bad they watch KWTV, not the Texas channels that are technically local. |
| You should live in Oklahoma and be subject to Arkansas stations. All you get is how the Hog roles in the mud and they don't report bad weather until one of the neighbors calls it in by then it is to late. Now that we have Tulsa station it is worth a little interruption. |
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Bet you aren't bitching about the weather coverage now. Aww cmon, get this weather junk off, I want to see American Idol, or whatever comes on right now! I don't have time to worry with these twisters, I want to see Army Wives. Waaahhh! It's really sad that there is even a rant thread like this, coming from Okies. Everyone living in the state should understand the dangers of the storms there, and should be understanding when they cant watch the craptastic shows on tv. For the people ranting about the weather interuptions, if it really gets your panties in a wad, perhaps you should move to an area with much milder weather. Its freaking Oklahoma, this is the norm from April-end of June. Quit sounding like a bunch of liberals wanting things banned. Flip the channel or do something with your kids. |
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While I was watching they were watching a spinning super cell between where I live in north OKC and Edmond which sure qualifies in my book and the storm that was moving through Norman was enough for NWS to issue a tornado warning in the areas around Moore which I'm pretty sure everyone found worth watching in that area. I'm guessing you are referring to them following the storm that came through the OKC viewing area and then strengthened as it moved up towards the turnpike into Kansas and the other storm moved northeast towards Tulsa. Yeah, you can argue that once it got that far north they could drop coverage but I think the recent tragedies have got everyone going to extremes. I have no problems with watching storms that are out of the area but moving towards and I have no problems with any of the coverage I saw today for several reasons. After they moved far north I quit watching so I don't know how long they stayed with it but I have family in that area so if a tornado or potential tornado is heading for them I want to know it but I can see where others wouldn't. The storm I'm referring to was down around Hennepin, and eventually went on towards Davis and Falls Creek. Those towns are well out of their normal viewing area, and information available online shows those cities, like Davis, don't get the OKC stations, someone mentioned that their Direct TV had the OKC stations. This time it wasn't a huge deal, they pre empted the news. On a previous occasion they were tracking a storm in TX, that went through far west OKla, Elk City, and moved into Kansas, all 3 major stations preempted programming for the entire prime time, 7-10pm, and the storm never did enter their viewing area. Elk City and most far west towns watch the Amarillo TV stations. At no time did this storm even threaten to enter their viewing area, it really made me mad! Yeah, I didn't see any of that. However, at the moment I am glued to the TV and I've got BOB's all ready to go 
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Quoted: The only reason it's tamed down recently is Nden is down and out but when he's back you guys will be right back to talking dirty to each other and spending quality time together at the truck stop that's become so popular amongst you guys. well sometimes ya get lonely,no wimmenz around and ...... |
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It's not easy to say what a station's practical viewing area is because so many people in outlying towns get their TV via cable. Elk City is a good example - it's outside the OTA viewing area for all stations except for an OETA translator. Their cable system carries Ch. 4, 5, & 9 but no Amarillo stations.
The Pauls Valley/Hennkin area is an example of the opposite. Theoretically (per the FCC web site maps) they are in the coverage area for all but a couple of the lower power OKC stations. In reality it's a marginal area where terrain influences what stations you can get OTA, so cable is in a lot of households there. Generally TV stations assign one engineer the job (no extra pay for the extra duties) of going to outlying towns with a portable antenna on a 30 ft. pole to find out if they fit the definition of "must carry," and if the cable system doesn't carry their station a nasty letter is forthcoming informing the cable co. that they darn sure better START carrying the station. Coverage maps for public consumption are also quite a bit different from the real FCC DTV maps. The "public" maps are distorted circles centered on the station's tower. The engineering maps are more realistic with a fractal shape that are generated based on actual terrain. There can be dark areas behind close hills and there can be fingers extending outward where the signal horizon is stretched because the terrain falls away. Those are the coverage areas that TV stations have to live by. |