Apparently, You DO Need A Local Weatherman (Or Woman) To Know Which Way The Wind Blows

So often in life, it comes down to prescient and prophetic song lyrics to remind us of the ongoing circles of our lives.

In the case of today’s blog post, it’s fittingly a tune written by Bob Dylan exactly six decades ago.  You might remember the iconic video for the song “Subterranean Homesick Blues” where a very young Dylan is flipping cue cards containing statements about the world around him.  It’s famous, and it’s spawned millions of social media memes that copy Dylan’s unique messaging.

One of the most quoted lyrics in the song is this one:

“You don’t need a weatherman to know which way the wind blows.”

It became the genesis for the naming of the radical group, “The Weathermen” (or the Weather Underground) in 1969 out of Ann Arbor, Michigan.

And scanning the media news headlines over this past weekend, it was hard not to have thoughts about local weathermen – and weatherwomen – in markets all over the country.  I’m not talking about protestors blowing up buildings – these days, they blow things up on social media.

Here’s the backstory of how a group of broadcasters trained to tell us about the weather are getting their jobs back after being terminated by a media company intent on saving lots of money but not serving their communities.

The broadcaster in question is the Allen Media Group, owned by Byron Allen.  The company owns nearly two dozen TV stations all over the U.S.  Its original plan was to ax all its local meteorologists and go with the more cost-efficient option of using a national Weather Channel feed instead.

That decision stirred up a tsunami of emotions in market after market after many viewers had their say on social media.  There isn’t much more precious content out there than local weather.  As someone who’s spent the past 50 years flying in and out of local markets, I’ve had dozens of clients explain to me that one of the distinguishing factors that sets their community apart is this:

“The weather here is weird.  As we say, if you don’t like the weather, just wait 20 minutes.”

Yes, everyone thinks their local weather is the weirdest, most unpredictable, and most changeable.

So, the idea of their local TV weather coming from a corporate center out of Atlanta was a bridge too far.  The social media blowback turned out to be powerful, pushing back against Allen’s mass layoff of roughly 100 hometown meteorologists.  And it garnered national attention.

The New York Post featured the social media feed of Amber Kulick, a Huntsville, Alabama, weathercaster who received a stay of execution from her bosses at AMG.  At least for now.

A little update for everyone, Allen media has went back on the decision to let go of all local meteorologists so I will be staying in Huntsville on the air. Thank you to everyone who reached out and made your voice heard 🫶 pic.twitter.com/Chc6vV4Eyu

— Amber Kulick ⛈️ (@AmberKulick_wx) January 23, 2025

This odd walk back by a major broadcaster may be part of a string of similar movements that underscore a renewed emphasis on local media.

You may have read Nora O’Donnell is stepping down from her D.C.-based network gig at CBS.  Forced to take a massive pay cut a few years ago, O’Donnell is leaving the network’s news set as the powers-that-be are in the process of retooling their new approach.

She will be replaced by co-workers John Dickerson and Maurice DuBois in an approach being described as “locally” driven.  The pair – now based in New York – will frequently connect with reporters in local markets to bring viewers on-location reporting.  So think about that – a network news program being recast as having a local feel.

Relying more on digital, this transition will feature “enhanced graphics, virtual sets, and new interactive storytelling tools to create a more immersive viewing experience,” according to a recent MSN story.

Breaking away from the TV network format of a monolithic anchor sitting on a set, this new version of Evening News will hand off feature stories to “a rotating team of correspondents, each specializing in key subject areas, such as politics, international affairs, technology and investigative journalism.”  Another content piece – “expert commentary” – is also part of the CBS plan to revamp its network news ratings.

What does a shift to “local” portend for radio?  We’ve continued to see interest in hometown news steadily amp up in our Techsurveys, especially since the onset of the pandemic, coming up on five years ago.

While the COVID virus was global phenomenon, its most powerful and lasting effects were felt locally.  How else to explain this unmistakable trend (upper right on the chart below about what listeners want to see on their dashboard screens) in Techsurvey over this time period?

This apparent trend might be especially germane to public radio stations, especially those ensconced in the “NPR News” format.  How can these stations bolster their local reporting chops when 70% (or more) of their program schedule comes from various networks and syndication organizations?

It also begs the question of whether NPR might not be better served shifting its news operations away from D.C. where its been headquartered forever and focus on market(s) less impacted by the forces in the nation’s capitol that have long made news coverage from there affected by its unique political environment.

The so-called “flyover states” have always been something of a snide inside joke at news operations based in hubs like New York, L.A., and D.C.  All of a sudden, news operations including Fox News and CNN are rethinking that logic, imaging what a broader geographic approach might look like.

Of course, the election turned out to be a major influence in the way some news organizations are rethinking their coverage, perspective, and target audiences.

A local, boots on the ground perspective may, in fact, be part of the missing ingredient.  That’s why it’s interesting to pick up on the growing trend to double-down on local coverage.

All this calls into question whatever the Allen Media Group was thinking when they tried to improve their bottom line by firing pretty much every weatherperson in their company.  As a story late last week in TV Technology pointed out, the company was excited to hand over the local weather in its 27 markets to a national network.

In fact, here’s how Tom O’Brien, president of The Weather Channel, framed the arrangement:

“We are proud to announce that Allen Media Group is leveraging the full resources and expertise of The Weather Channel to make our local weather news the very best. We are one hundred percent committed to delivering next-level weather news to our local television stations 24/7.”

Until AMG blew the deal up following a tsunami of social media vitriol that never showed up on the Weather Channel’s radar.

Even average viewers knew how idiotic and short-sighted this move was, especially given the insane weather conditions most of the country has experienced in just the four weeks following the ball drop in Times Square.  Here’s one of them who didn’t need a weatherman to know the Allen Media Group had made a serious tactical error:

Laying off Weather People in tornado prone areas is very dangerous. People based in Atlanta don’t know the local areas in markets like Tupelo, Mississippi #AllenMediaGroup #WTVA #WLFI #WADN

— Lee Watson_357 (@leewatson904) January 17, 2025

How do these foolhardy, cockamamie schemes ever see the light of day?  Because these crazy boondoggles are usually hatched by the CFO – someone staring at spreadsheets when they should have been staring at the skies.

I’m sure they added those 100 meteorologist salaries together, along with their promised benefits and budget expenses, causing someone at Allen Media Group’s corporate offices to exclaim the infamous line that almost always come back to bite you:

“But look at all the money we’ll save!”

Anybody who’s been through the budget cut follies a few times has seen those babies flying out of stations along with the bath water.  It is truly sad when companies purge themselves of valuable assets in the name of fiduciary responsibility.

Local weather matters.  No matter what side of the climate change debate you’re on, most people would readily admit the weather pretty much everywhere has been freaky these past few years.  I never watch local TV except when severe weather threatens my hometown community of Metro Detroit.

That’s when I’ll turn on Channel 7 News (WXYZ-TV) hoping to get the story from meteorologists Dave Rexroth or Mike Taylor (pictured), two members of their staff whose names I actually know.  I want to hear the latest weather situation from a source with galoshes on the ground.  I’m not alone, as Allen Media Group found out the hard way last week.

But for the Allen Media Group, this story has a kicker – something I didn’t read in any of the coverage about these fired weathermen and weatherwomen.  It turns out AMG actually owns the Weather Group, the company that operates The Weather Channel.  They paid $300 million for the cable channel back in 2018. In fact, Tom O’Brien is president of both the Weather Channel and Allen Media Group.  This may be about a company not just trying to save money but also trying to maximize their investment in the Weather Channel.

That doesn’t make their cost-saving plan any more sensible.  But it does shed even more light on how expediency and bottom line first tactics can get a brand in trouble.

In the case of Allen Media Group, the only accurate forecast is “shit storm” – what happens when the audience is left out of the equation.

In so many ways, Bob Dylan was as prophetic an artist and writer as anybody in the Classic Rock community.  But on this issue of local weather, he may have missed the point:

You DO need a weatherman (or woman) to know which way the wind blows.  Byron Allen and Tom O’Brien would reaffirm it.

P.S. Below is the original video for “Subterranean Homesick Blues.”  Dylan sings the line in question at the 1:00 mark.  The song was also included in the Dylan biopic out now, A Complete Unknown. – FJ