I think by now I have made my opinion of the way our local TV news handles the weather pretty clear.
I know why they do it. It's about eyeballs.
It's the same reason people say I put certain stories - and headlines - on our front page. There is truth to that statement. Our front page is a billboard we use every day to entice people to buy the newspaper. In one way, that is the front page's job.
But we deliver a product every day that includes all kinds of information, from local news, obituaries, state, national and international reports, opinions, editorials and letters to the editor, and of course our sports report.
It's all part of the package.
That's not what I saw last night on the 6 o'clock news.
In fact, I'm still not sure I saw what I saw.
I am usually a Channel 6 guy. I flip on the TV at 6 and catch the weekend crew, Walter Perez and Sarah Bloomquist, along with Melissa Magee doing the weather.
But last night the NBA game went to overtime, so the local news was delayed.
I flipped over to Channel 10.
What I saw was a bit of an eye-opener.
Everyone knew weather was going to be a big story Sunday. It started with snow (earlier than what most of the folks had predicted by the way). It shifted over to freezing rain and then rain in the afternoon, turning just about every surface into an icy mess.
Still, I was not prepared for the weather assault provided by Channel 10 at 6.
What I saw was 30 minutes of weather.
That's right, it was the only story they did. Instead, we got a full dose of Glenn "Hurricane" Schwartz with the forecast, and an array of reporters standing out in the elements reporting on the icy mess they were encountering, all of this as traffic seemed to be moving right along in the background. Good thing most people don't drive on the sidewalks. They do, however, have to navigate parking lots, which were pretty dicey.
I kept waiting and looking at my watch waiting for them to get of the weather and move on to other local stories.
It never happened.
Then I figured we'd get the sports.
Nope, unless you count some video of folks making their way through the weather to head into the Flyers Wives Fight for Lives Carnival down at the Wells Fargo Center. Or a mention of folks again dealing with the elements as they tried to get to the Philadelphia Flower Show. You can always count on the Flower Show to deliver the worst weather of the winter.
Then it was back to Glenn for a final look at the forecast.
There you have it, 30 minutes of weather.
Someone please tell me spring is not far away.
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