Downsizing at The Weather Channel
[Guest post by DRJ]
I didn’t realize it but NBC Universal recently purchased The Weather Channel and last week it fired about 10% of TWC personnel in a cost-cutting reorganization. The cuts included most of the people who were the public face of TWC’s environmental series Forecast Earth:
“NBC Universal made the first of potentially several rounds of staffing cuts at The Weather Channel (TWC) on Wednesday, axing the entire staff of the “Forecast Earth” environmental program during the middle of NBC’s “Green Week,” as well as several on-camera meteorologists. The layoffs totaled about 10 percent of the workforce, and are among the first major changes made since NBC completed its purchase of the venerable weather network in September.”
The link states that Forecast Earth was TWC’s only show devoted to climate change and its primary contributor was climate expert Heidi Cullen, who apparently still works at TWC.
Dr. Cullen is famous – or infamous – for urging that “broadcast meteorologists be stripped of their scientific certification if they express skepticism about predictions of manmade catastrophic global warming.” Here’s Dr. Cullen’s December 2006 blog entry where she made her remarkable suggestion that climate change skeptics should be decertified by the AMS.
It’s sad to see people lose their jobs but I hope NBC Universal takes this opportunity to refocus TWC on bringing viewers timely weather information. Leave the partisan politics to MSNBC.
— DRJ
NBC becoming reasonable? I think they’re getting ready for their “This Was the Day the Oceans Began to Recede” series.
Patricia (ee5c9d) — 11/23/2008 @ 12:53 pmI was reading on Friday that some of the former global warming folks are now predicting a massive Ice Age putting parts of Europe under 1000+ feet of ice.
JD (5f0e11) — 11/23/2008 @ 1:31 pmI think I’ll add gloves and sweaters to my Christmas list.
DRJ (a50047) — 11/23/2008 @ 1:36 pm2. No doubt the cold is the result of man’s evil AGW ways. Imagine what havoc algore and his minions have wreaked on society while fattening their own wallets. One notes Congress crucified the US auto industry with unreasonable standards that amde them less competitive. I also blame Madison Ave. and the millions of sheeple who think they need to drive aircraft carriers.
In any case, there has to be belt-tightening to keep the prime on-air “talent” like the incandescent Katie Couric. I recall similar cutting of the lowly peons at CBS years ago. Thankfully NBC is surely cutting that excess fat and keeping the super nova like Olberdouche and Chrissie Matthews.
Wondering why various Hollywood has beens and never was’s feel the need to harp about evil Americans ruining the planet through use of fossil fuels and yet they and wads such as Adrianna Huffho, algore, obama and the breck girl are fine using enormous amounts of fuel to jet about the globe.
madmax333 (0c6cfc) — 11/23/2008 @ 1:40 pmNow that Obama won the election there is no more need to trumpet global warming.
Daryl Herbert (4ecd4c) — 11/23/2008 @ 2:39 pmCullen is a certifiable dingbat – I remember entering a few posts on her blog after she wrote that infamous “stone the non – believers” column. Her replies to the many disagreeable commenters were truly hilarious – she never was able to mount a credible defense of her dogmatism, and finally resorted to ad homenim attacks.
Dmac (e30284) — 11/23/2008 @ 3:00 pmWell, I awoke to ½ inch of snow this morning; that proves that golbal warming isn’t here!
The chilly Dana (556f76) — 11/23/2008 @ 3:14 pm_________________________________________
In honor of the ex-employees of TWC, and a salute to all those environmentalism-is-my-religion folks like Cullen, Gore and Obama — and a cheer in particular to those in that same crowd who drive around town in gas-guzzling SUVs, or live in big houses that run on huge amounts of electricity (cough–AlGore–cough) — I post the following:
I’m going to guess that if our new president ends up moderating his views on issues like the military and Iraq, he’s going to compensate for that by being quite dogmatic — and happily so — regarding domestic, or quasi-domestic, issues along the lines of the Kyoto Protocol and global warming. And that in spite of controversies like Iraq, and how long our troops should stay there, being in some ways more ambiguous and non-partisan (ie, even a lot of conservatives are chomping at the bit to get the US out of Iraq) than the notion that carbon dioxide is ruining our planet and we must act NOW, NOW, NOW!
Mark (411533) — 11/23/2008 @ 4:01 pm_________________________________________
Isn’t it a bit strange that man-made AGW supporters managed exactly no US Senate votes in the Clinton administration as the Kyoto vote was 95-0 against?
Of course both Dubya and McCain seem on board for the AGW agitprop, but doesn’t anyone on the left see algore’s hypocrisy over the years? Not to mentioning being $300 mil richer due to his deification as Lord Savior of the planet. And look at algore tenn. spread or The Silk Pony’s NC estate. At least W walks the walk with his Texas ranch actually being green friendly.
Also one recalls that if you factor in the pollution resulting from mining nickel for those prius-type car batteries, the Lincoln Navigator is a greener car overall vis a vis the total pollution released overall.
One can see the likelihood that bleeding heart liberals feel the pain of Shanghai workers toiling for $1.50 an hour vs. a Detroit semi-skilled auto worker’s $35. But why can’t the 3rd world improve their overall living standards without asking for Americans to fall toward much lower living standards?
madmax333 (0c6cfc) — 11/23/2008 @ 4:48 pmMark – That was sooooooo much fun to read.
JD (5f0e11) — 11/23/2008 @ 5:20 pmNot to be rude but i personally celebrate the failure of people like Cullen.
It is fitting in this world when such repulsive people who would take away others right and privileges for spurious reasons get theirs revoked.
May she go homeless and hungry for her arrogance and totalitarian tendencies.
Da'Shiznit (089453) — 11/23/2008 @ 9:23 pmAlthough I’m not so sure that a takeover by NBC is good, any change to The Weather Channel may be welcome. Once upon a time people tuned in to TWC because of the pleasant, cheerful but subdued on-air personalities, or for the soothing jazz playing during the local forecast information every ten minutes. Now they run the same old tired half-air docu-programs even more often than “I Love Lucy” re-runs on TVland. What little real personality the current talking heads have gets snowed under by the useless impositions of an over-zealous and apparently unfettered FX director (“Let’s add a ‘blowing wind’ background sound-byte here as they discuss the blustery Northeast”).
Keeping Cullen on staff, unfortunately, indicates to me that the new owners will be as misguided about running the network as were their predecessors.
Dagwood (23a52b) — 11/23/2008 @ 9:29 pmThe changes may be due to a chilly prospect that the AGW people were wrong on the science and the sunspot theory was always a better explanation. We will soon know as we seem to be at another Maunder Minimum. You can see with what pain that writer acknowledges the possible role of solar radiation in cooling and warming of earth.
By the way, Wikipedia is NOT a good source for the topic of AGW since a member of the editorial board is an AGW fanatic and edits any entry to delete opposing views.
Here is a better paper on the topic.
Mike K (2cf494) — 11/24/2008 @ 8:40 amSo, global cooling is caused by global warming?
JD (5f0e11) — 11/24/2008 @ 9:22 amComments are disappearing, or at least not appearing, today.
Mike K (2cf494) — 11/24/2008 @ 9:28 am[…] Global Warming Heh, The Optimist will love this one. I didn’t realize it but NBC Universal recently purchased The Weather Channel and last week it […]
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