Acceptable registrations in the queue through March 16 at 11:00a ET have now been activated. Enjoy! -M.W.

Terms of Use have been amended effective October 6, 2019. Make sure you are aware of the new rules! Please visit this thread for details: https://www.mibuzzboard.com/phpBB3/view ... 16&t=48619

Ellen Bacca named first female Chief Meteorologist in West Michigan

Discussion pertaining to Grand Rapids, Kalamazoo, Muskegon, Battle Creek, Big Rapids, and Michiana
BirdieKingBobo
Posts: 152
Joined: Mon Apr 19, 2021 12:34 pm

Re: Ellen Bacca named first female Chief Meteorologist in West Michigan

Post by BirdieKingBobo » Wed Jul 28, 2021 9:03 am

WZZM shortchanged their best meteorologist in Laura Hartman. WZZM became a laughing stock when On Target Weather and that Weather Deck came into play.... Can we just burn the damn weather deck down......



User avatar
MWmetalhead
Site Admin
Posts: 11872
Joined: Sun Oct 31, 2004 11:23 am

Re: Ellen Bacca named first female Chief Meteorologist in West Michigan

Post by MWmetalhead » Wed Jul 28, 2021 9:26 am

The weather deck is stupid; I agree.

I didn't mind the target, though. I liked the fact the weather team was held accountable for forecast accuracy.

The weather ball is even more stupid than the deck. The physical weather ball is obstructed from view from most directions. The on screen weather ball graphic is tacky as hell. During sunlight, the live shot of the weather ball is useless. Imagine how much money the station spent restoring that stupid thing, only to place it in a completely moronic location.



gotigers
Posts: 63
Joined: Tue Jan 06, 2015 9:40 pm

Re: Ellen Bacca named first female Chief Meteorologist in West Michigan

Post by gotigers » Wed Jul 28, 2021 12:57 pm

The WZZM weather deck is kind of gimmicky, but at least it's an actual outdoor studio with a green screen. The Lansing knockoff "weather patio" at WILX is literally Andy Provenzano and a camera outside. Instead of a green screen, they use a double box shot (like what you'd see when an anchor and a reporter in the field are on screen at the same time). They put Andy in one box and all the usual "full screen" graphics are squished into the other box. My eye sight isn't the greatest and I can barely see the numbers on the maps. Luckily, it's only used at 5:30.



User avatar
Bull Shannon
Posts: 167
Joined: Fri Dec 17, 2004 11:31 pm

Re: Ellen Bacca named first female Chief Meteorologist in West Michigan

Post by Bull Shannon » Wed Jul 28, 2021 5:52 pm

MWmetalhead wrote:
Wed Jul 28, 2021 9:26 am
The weather deck is stupid; I agree.

I didn't mind the target, though. I liked the fact the weather team was held accountable for forecast accuracy.

The weather ball is even more stupid than the deck. The physical weather ball is obstructed from view from most directions. The on screen weather ball graphic is tacky as hell. During sunlight, the live shot of the weather ball is useless. Imagine how much money the station spent restoring that stupid thing, only to place it in a completely moronic location.
IIRC, the weather deck and the target were two of the main reasons why Bill jumped ship - they were too gimmicky for his tastes. Even the target is more gimmicky than anything else because it doesn't really follow any solid metrics - just vague criteria for 'close', 'very close,' whatever.

At least WZZM has transitioned away from the "On Target" branding for their weather.



User avatar
48125er
Posts: 304
Joined: Thu Aug 04, 2011 5:50 pm

Re: Ellen Bacca named first female Chief Meteorologist in West Michigan

Post by 48125er » Wed Jul 28, 2021 8:34 pm

Bull Shannon wrote:
Wed Jul 28, 2021 5:52 pm
MWmetalhead wrote:
Wed Jul 28, 2021 9:26 am
The weather deck is stupid; I agree.

I didn't mind the target, though. I liked the fact the weather team was held accountable for forecast accuracy.

The weather ball is even more stupid than the deck. The physical weather ball is obstructed from view from most directions. The on screen weather ball graphic is tacky as hell. During sunlight, the live shot of the weather ball is useless. Imagine how much money the station spent restoring that stupid thing, only to place it in a completely moronic location.
IIRC, the weather deck and the target were two of the main reasons why Bill jumped ship - they were too gimmicky for his tastes. Even the target is more gimmicky than anything else because it doesn't really follow any solid metrics - just vague criteria for 'close', 'very close,' whatever.

At least WZZM has transitioned away from the "On Target" branding for their weather.
Don’t forget at that time WZZM had staff Intros in their opens that had funeral home type music and bland graphics
From 3:57 to 5:20.
https://youtu.be/6w9bKDhY_NI



inmyopinion
Posts: 88
Joined: Fri Mar 04, 2016 10:25 am

Re: Ellen Bacca named first female Chief Meteorologist in West Michigan

Post by inmyopinion » Fri Jul 30, 2021 9:32 pm

Bull Shannon wrote:
Wed Jul 28, 2021 5:52 pm
MWmetalhead wrote:
Wed Jul 28, 2021 9:26 am
The weather deck is stupid; I agree.

I didn't mind the target, though. I liked the fact the weather team was held accountable for forecast accuracy.

The weather ball is even more stupid than the deck. The physical weather ball is obstructed from view from most directions. The on screen weather ball graphic is tacky as hell. During sunlight, the live shot of the weather ball is useless. Imagine how much money the station spent restoring that stupid thing, only to place it in a completely moronic location.
IIRC, the weather deck and the target were two of the main reasons why Bill jumped ship - they were too gimmicky for his tastes. Even the target is more gimmicky than anything else because it doesn't really follow any solid metrics - just vague criteria for 'close', 'very close,' whatever.

At least WZZM has transitioned away from the "On Target" branding for their weather.
Stop, Bill left because 8 threw him a ton more money and 13's inept management let his non-compete lapse so he could literally take the pay raise and be on air the following week. Money talks, always, and there's nothing wrong with that either as long as it's legal.



inmyopinion
Posts: 88
Joined: Fri Mar 04, 2016 10:25 am

Re: Ellen Bacca named first female Chief Meteorologist in West Michigan

Post by inmyopinion » Fri Jul 30, 2021 9:36 pm

MWmetalhead wrote:
Tue Jul 27, 2021 12:22 pm
Hands down the best TV meteorology crew in the state.

ZZM, despite being down a person, is also darn good.

WXMI has lost some good people lately, and I haven't watched WWMT enough in recent years to form an opinion.
Michael (Don't call me Catherine) Behrens already has a better delivery and on screen presence than George Lessons. He will be running that department sooner than later. George may be the cheesiest on-air person in the history of GR Television.



User avatar
MWmetalhead
Site Admin
Posts: 11872
Joined: Sun Oct 31, 2004 11:23 am

Re: Ellen Bacca named first female Chief Meteorologist in West Michigan

Post by MWmetalhead » Sat Jul 31, 2021 7:13 am

To 48125 - no graphics package will EVER be worse than the one WOOD-TV used in the early/mid 90's shortly after the switchover from WOTV to WOOD-TV.

The music package & voiceovers were great (Paul Anthony) but those humungous italicized, grainy, oversized sans serif captions, and the mutilated "8" logo, were a complete visual disgrace. I wasn't a fan of the wallpaper used for the full screen graphics, either. Would love to know the moron(s) responsible for picking out or developing that hideous visual "look."



Sholmes
Posts: 83
Joined: Wed Dec 25, 2019 4:33 pm

Re: Ellen Bacca named first female Chief Meteorologist in West Michigan

Post by Sholmes » Sat Jul 31, 2021 8:30 am

inmyopinion wrote:
MWmetalhead wrote:
Tue Jul 27, 2021 12:22 pm
Hands down the best TV meteorology crew in the state.

ZZM, despite being down a person, is also darn good.

WXMI has lost some good people lately, and I haven't watched WWMT enough in recent years to form an opinion.
Michael (Don't call me Catherine) Behrens already has a better delivery and on screen presence than George Lessons. He will be running that department sooner than later. George may be the cheesiest on-air person in the history of GR Television.
Would that be Catherine (I sold my journalistic soul to Tegna)

Sent from my SM-G970U using Tapatalk




TeleCine
Posts: 28
Joined: Tue Dec 14, 2004 7:35 pm

Re: Ellen Bacca named first female Chief Meteorologist in West Michigan

Post by TeleCine » Sun Aug 01, 2021 10:07 am

The word "chief" is offensive and disrespectful to Native Americans. She should be called the "Main Meteorologist."



User avatar
MWmetalhead
Site Admin
Posts: 11872
Joined: Sun Oct 31, 2004 11:23 am

Re: Ellen Bacca named first female Chief Meteorologist in West Michigan

Post by MWmetalhead » Sun Aug 01, 2021 1:14 pm

I noticed the phrase "Indian Summer" is never used anymore.

Last November was a textbook Indian Summer for SE Michigan...we had two days reach 80 degrees...yet I never heard the phrase uttered even one time on local TV or radio!



humblenewsman
Posts: 18
Joined: Wed Jul 20, 2016 10:48 am

Re: Ellen Bacca named first female Chief Meteorologist in West Michigan

Post by humblenewsman » Sun Aug 01, 2021 8:00 pm

TeleCine wrote:
Sun Aug 01, 2021 10:07 am
The word "chief" is offensive and disrespectful to Native Americans. She should be called the "Main Meteorologist."
I applaud the responsible use of your Thesaurus to capture the perfect synonym that works for you. I used it often while in the Newsroom.



User avatar
Radio Chili
Posts: 56
Joined: Sat Apr 23, 2005 11:28 am
Location: Way down in the sunny South.

Re: Ellen Bacca named first female Chief Meteorologist in West Michigan

Post by Radio Chili » Mon Aug 02, 2021 12:20 am

Is it okay to use 'Native-American Summer' as a replacement term?



EricGRR
Posts: 17
Joined: Fri Apr 02, 2021 9:41 pm

Re: Ellen Bacca named first female Chief Meteorologist in West Michigan

Post by EricGRR » Fri Aug 06, 2021 11:07 am

Sholmes wrote:
Sat Jul 31, 2021 8:30 am
inmyopinion wrote:
MWmetalhead wrote:
Tue Jul 27, 2021 12:22 pm
Hands down the best TV meteorology crew in the state.

ZZM, despite being down a person, is also darn good.

WXMI has lost some good people lately, and I haven't watched WWMT enough in recent years to form an opinion.
Michael (Don't call me Catherine) Behrens already has a better delivery and on screen presence than George Lessons. He will be running that department sooner than later. George may be the cheesiest on-air person in the history of GR Television.
Would that be Catherine (I sold my journalistic soul to Tegna)

Sent from my SM-G970U using Tapatalk
I agree that Michael Behrens has great delivery. I just watched a couple clips on YouTube as I don’t watch ZZM often and am very impressed. My guess is he will move on to a bigger market if ZZM doesn’t promote him within his next couple contract renewals.



User avatar
MWmetalhead
Site Admin
Posts: 11872
Joined: Sun Oct 31, 2004 11:23 am

Re: Ellen Bacca named first female Chief Meteorologist in West Michigan

Post by MWmetalhead » Sat Aug 07, 2021 8:18 am

I've seen Mr. Behrens a couple times now. Cannot yet form an opinion on forecast accuracy, but his on-air delivery is excellent. Completely agree with you, EricGRR.



Post Reply Previous topicNext topic