The Southern Ontario/WNY Radio-TV Forum » Another Frustratingly Cloudy Forecast From CTV News

RadioActive · January 22, 2024 8:35 pm

[rant] Yes, this is another rant about CTV not having a weather person in for days, so if this bores you, stop reading here.

Because they just keep getting worse. They had no weather person in this weekend, forcing the anchors to do the forecast over maps they clearly hadn't seen. It resulted in a confusing forecast at a time of year when one storm is following another.

Then on Monday, there was another episode of how not to do it. This time, Michelle Dube made an effort to tell us what's coming, only to lead to even less clarity. With a far bigger storm in the offing Tuesday, she told viewers (and this is an exact quote this time) over the Forecast Radar map, which you can see below:

"If we zone in closer, here’s what’s heading our way for your Tuesday. So it’s going to stop around noon Tuesday, so really, mid-to-later morning, like nine o’clock the snow should start to come into our region…and really, we’ve got the bulk of it around noon."

So it's going to stop around noon, but the bulk of it will start around noon. Clear? Like the skies, it isn't.

I've checked Lindsay Morrison's Twitter feed and she last posted on Jan. 15th. But there's no word on whether she's officially on mat leave yet as she expects her family's next child and I wish her well. But the people at CTV know it's coming. Why in the world have they not taken some action to temporarily replace her? Where is Michelle Jobin or the sometimes-appearing Jessica Smith? Or someone else from one of the farm stations? I'm sure they'd jump at the chance to be on air at the flagship.

To be honest, nobody really needs a weather presenter when it's summer and tomorrow's conditions are 25 degrees and sunny for the 8th day in a row. But winter is a different animal where this stuff matters. At least to me, who needs to plan my day around a snowstorm. Accurate information would be helpful. Instead we get people who clearly have no idea what they're talking about talking about it day after day after day.

Yes, I'm aware I post on this way too frequently and most here won't care. But it's a pet peeve of mine and it's frankly inexcusable for a big city newscast. Especially the biggest in the country.

I've honestly tried to think of even a smaller market station that does this on a regular basis, like a London or a Thunder Bay. But I'm pretty sure they have actual honest-to-goodness weather people in most of the time. This is the #1 market in Canada on supposedly the #1 newscast in that market. What an ongoing embarrassment for CTV. And it's entirely self-inflicted. I just can't figure out why. [/rant]

Capricasix · January 22, 2024 10:23 pm

Lyndsay must have had her baby by now, because when she tweeted her pregnancy announcement in early July, she looked to be about three or four months along.

Radiowiz · January 22, 2024 10:48 pm

They really should just go to CP24 weather for Toronto. TSN for sports, also.

dieter · January 23, 2024 12:24 am

Lyndsey posted the baby photo on Instagram just before Christmas.

https://www.instagram.com/reel/C1R73POAhPd/

mic'em · January 23, 2024 8:24 am

The Weather Network has never recovered from the hack from months ago, the maps they show don't even cover the southern Georgian Bay area now. The closest urban area they show any information on is Barrie. Anyone who lives in Collingwood, Wasaga, Blue Mountains etc will tell you the weather in Barrie can be quite different .

RC · January 23, 2024 8:53 am

mic'em wrote:
The Weather Network has never recovered from the hack from months ago, the maps they show don't even cover the southern Georgian Bay area now. The closest urban area they show any information on is Barrie. Anyone who lives in Collingwood, Wasaga, Blue Mountains etc will tell you the weather in Barrie can be quite different .

The Weather Network has never recovered from entering into the 2010s when they started pre-taping everything, and showing more ads than forecasts…. and lengthened the local to 3 minutes to cram one-time segments into.

In the U.S., The Weather channel, while still not 24 hours a day, at least reverted to going heavy into live programming most of the day.

TWN could probably grab back some of the audience looking for 90s nostalgia if they tried a little harder.

RadioAaron · January 23, 2024 10:41 am

RC wrote:
mic'em wrote:
The Weather Network has never recovered from the hack from months ago, the maps they show don't even cover the southern Georgian Bay area now. The closest urban area they show any information on is Barrie. Anyone who lives in Collingwood, Wasaga, Blue Mountains etc will tell you the weather in Barrie can be quite different .
The Weather Network has never recovered from entering into the 2010s when they started pre-taping everything, and showing more ads than forecasts…. and lengthened the local to 3 minutes to cram one-time segments into.

In the U.S., The Weather channel, while still not 24 hours a day, at least reverted to going heavy into live programming most of the day.

TWN could probably grab back some of the audience looking for 90s nostalgia if they tried a little harder.

I'd be really curious to know what their proportion of revenues are for web/app vs. TV ads.....or even cable fees at this point. TV ads distant third?

Stinand · January 23, 2024 10:45 am

Reallly I have an app for that.

RadioAaron · January 23, 2024 11:04 am

Also curious to know if those on you on Rogers or Bell still see the local weather overlays on TWN? The move to delivering TV "cable" by IP seems to have killed it off in a lot of cases. Quicker to just go to CP24 for me now.

YMCA · January 23, 2024 12:49 pm

mic'em wrote:
Anyone who lives in Collingwood, Wasaga, Blue Mountains etc will tell you the weather in Barrie can be quite different.

That's very true. Here's a link I find handy for finding out the conditions in real time:

https://www.collingwood.ca/culture-recreation-events/experience-collingwood/downtown-webcam

Who needs teevee weather forecasts? One minute spent on Environment Canada's weather site (or app if you're a youngun that lives on the phone) tells you what's going to happen. 30 seconds to view the forecast for your location, 30 seconds to check the radar.

RadioActive · January 23, 2024 1:05 pm

For those of us who do like TV weather, it's the fourth straight day since Saturday that CFTO did not have a weather person. That may be a record for the Toronto market.

Binson Echorec · January 23, 2024 1:14 pm

The only question I have is why you continue to watch CTV News if their weather situation aggravates you this much.

Conversely, over the weekend, Global News had their weekend weather person anchoring the cast. When it came time for the forecast, they didn't bungle it the way you describe how it happens on CTV.

Danny Petty · January 23, 2024 1:26 pm

RadioActive wrote:
For those of us who do like TV weather, it's the fourth straight day since Saturday that CFTO did not have a weather person. That may be a record for the Toronto market.

Wrong. I caught portions of their supper-hour shows (on CP24) both Saturday/Sunday, and Jessica Smith was in studio.

ED1 · January 23, 2024 2:17 pm

Binson Echorec wrote:
The only question I have is why you continue to watch CTV News if their weather situation aggravates you this much.

Conversely, over the weekend, Global News had their weekend weather person anchoring the cast. When it came time for the forecast, they didn't bungle it the way you describe how it happens on CTV.

Global normally has a fill-in weather person (they usually get whoever does weather on CHEX or another weather presenter elsewhere), so having the anchor read the weather is sort of rare - unless Corus is trying to save money, and they looked at what CFTO is doing and figure that it's OK.

torontostan · January 23, 2024 4:03 pm

ED1 wrote:
Global normally has a fill-in weather person (they usually get whoever does weather on CHEX or another weather presenter elsewhere), so having the anchor read the weather is sort of rare - unless Corus is trying to save money, and they looked at what CFTO is doing and figure that it's OK.

Global's anchors are already too busy recording newscasts for 10 different cities (ok..... slight exaggeration), which doesn't leave a lot of time for recording unique weather forecasts. Take your pick: do you want a dedicated local anchor also doing their own forecast, or would you fancy an anchor 300 km away but with a separate weather host? I'd take the former.

mike marshall · January 23, 2024 4:08 pm

YMCA wrote:
One minute spent on Environment Canada's weather site (or app if you're a youngun that lives on the phone) tells you what's going to happen. 30 seconds to view the forecast for your location, 30 seconds to check the radar.

We’re with you. We believe in God and Environment Canada. Val’s got the app on her phone, I have it on my iPad.
Quick and easy-peasy.

Walter · January 23, 2024 7:41 pm

Who cares who delivers the weather? From what I've seen over far too many years, none of them know squat-all. You want the weather? Look out the window.

Last edited by Walter (January 23, 2024 7:42 pm)

Muffaraw Joe · January 23, 2024 10:07 pm

I have the weather network app on my cell, it is rarely correct...and what is worse, is the amount of weather alerts in red on the app. At this point in time with these red alerts, I won't leave home until mid-April! I should be safe to venture outside then.

Tomas Barlow · January 23, 2024 10:59 pm

Danny Petty wrote:
RadioActive wrote:
For those of us who do like TV weather, it's the fourth straight day since Saturday that CFTO did not have a weather person. That may be a record for the Toronto market.
Wrong. I caught portions of their supper-hour shows (on CP24) both Saturday/Sunday, and Jessica Smith was in studio.

He made an assumption instead of checking the facts. I’m stunned.
Since he’s obviously trying to make it sound worse than it is, If someone says something is going to be over at noon, and we will have the bulk of the snow by then, I would submit those two things mean the same thing. We’re going to have the majority of the snow by noon at which point it will taper off. Simple.

Last edited by Tomas Barlow (January 23, 2024 11:18 pm)

YMCA · January 25, 2024 2:30 am

mike marshall wrote:
We’re with you. We believe in God and Environment Canada....Quick and easy-peasy.

Struth!

They nailed it yesterday, as they almost always do. I can't imagine why anyone would rely on TV weather forecasts over what's available every day from many reliable sources.

But then again, lots of people pay premium prices for vinyl records.

mace · January 25, 2024 11:18 am

I use the Clime Weather app. You can see the weather systems moving from 40 minutes ago to current and you can zoom in on the map to see street names. For the U.S. all warnings and watches are posted. I occasionally watch the U.S. weather channel. Far more informative than ours when it comes to major weather events such as hurricanes, tornados and snowstorms/blizzards. Did you know they name their snowstorms?

paterson1 · January 25, 2024 12:01 pm

Why are we making such a big issue about this? Weather forecasts, the vast majority of the time, are correct. This past month I have found the Weather Network and my local CTV station were both exactly right forecasting the temperature, when it was going to rain, snow or pelt down freezing rain. Local radio has been bang on as well. So why all this handwringing?

I really can't get excited about whether CTV Toronto has a weather person for the 11:30 news or not. Lots of other places to get weather forecasts 24/7.

ED1 · January 25, 2024 12:24 pm

paterson1 wrote:
Why are we making such a big issue about this? Weather forecasts, the vast majority of the time, are correct. This past month I have found the Weather Network and my local CTV station were both exactly right forecasting the temperature, when it was going to rain, snow or pelt down freezing rain. Local radio has been bang on as well. So why all this handwringing?

I really can't get excited about whether CTV Toronto has a weather person for the 11:30 news or not. Lots of other places to get weather forecasts 24/7.

The accuracy of the forecasts isn't the issue here.

The issue is that the supposed #1 broadcast TV station in the biggest market in the country can't seem to find someone to present their weather, and the anchors that do end up presenting the weather don't really seem to do a great job of it - it's not good television. Whereas other stations in the market (including their own sister stations), and stations in smaller markets seem to be able to find fill-in weather anchors despite whatever financial constraints their parent company is facing.

CFTO seems to have given up local weather not only to the competition, but to the weather apps on your phone.

paterson1 · January 25, 2024 1:22 pm

Everything you say is correct ED1. It is odd why the #1 newscast in the largest market doesn't always have a weather forecaster to do the weather. And some of the anchors put no effort whatsoever doing the casts. It looks amateurish and reflects badly on the station and some of the anchors who obviously think doing the weather or sports is beneath them.

But that decision was made by CTV Toronto/Bell Media. Maybe this will bite them in the ass eventually in the ratings, assuming they actually care. Rightly or wrongly they likely view that CP24 is the source for local news and sports and the OTA channels are more and more reserved for entertainment programming. CP24 has been and maybe still is the most popular news channel in Southern Ontario. Even here in K/W you see CP24 in bars, restaurants, doctor's offices all over the place.

Bell Media has lots of money but have cut way back on broadcast TV and radio local news/weather/sports coverage. They seem to have shifted the big spends in TV/streaming on produced drama, comedy and reality programming. Programming that has the possibility of being sold elsewhere.

Last edited by paterson1 (January 25, 2024 1:24 pm)

ED1 · January 25, 2024 2:36 pm

paterson1 wrote:
Everything you say is correct ED1. It is odd why the #1 newscast in the largest market doesn't always have a weather forecaster to do the weather. And some of the anchors put no effort whatsoever doing the casts. It looks amateurish and reflects badly on the station and some of the anchors who obviously think doing the weather or sports is beneath them.

But that decision was made by CTV Toronto/Bell Media. Maybe this will bite them in the ass eventually in the ratings, assuming they actually care. Rightly or wrongly they likely view that CP24 is the source for local news and sports and the OTA channels are more and more reserved for entertainment programming. CP24 has been and maybe still is the most popular news channel in Southern Ontario. Even here in K/W you see CP24 in bars, restaurants, doctor's offices all over the place.

Bell Media has lots of money but have cut way back on broadcast TV and radio local news/weather/sports coverage. They seem to have shifted the big spends in TV/streaming on produced drama, comedy and reality programming. Programming that has the possibility of being sold elsewhere.

I feel like we are witnessing the (slow) hollowing out of CFTO News, and in a few years we'll reach its logical conclusion where responsibility of producing the newscasts on channel 9 will be handed over to CP24 (but still branded as CTV News Toronto).

Radiowiz · January 25, 2024 3:08 pm

ED1 wrote:
paterson1 wrote:
Everything you say is correct ED1. It is odd why the #1 newscast in the largest market doesn't always have a weather forecaster to do the weather. And some of the anchors put no effort whatsoever doing the casts. It looks amateurish and reflects badly on the station and some of the anchors who obviously think doing the weather or sports is beneath them.

But that decision was made by CTV Toronto/Bell Media. Maybe this will bite them in the ass eventually in the ratings, assuming they actually care. Rightly or wrongly they likely view that CP24 is the source for local news and sports and the OTA channels are more and more reserved for entertainment programming. CP24 has been and maybe still is the most popular news channel in Southern Ontario. Even here in K/W you see CP24 in bars, restaurants, doctor's offices all over the place.

Bell Media has lots of money but have cut way back on broadcast TV and radio local news/weather/sports coverage. They seem to have shifted the big spends in TV/streaming on produced drama, comedy and reality programming. Programming that has the possibility of being sold elsewhere.
I feel like we are witnessing the (slow) hollowing out of CFTO News, and in a few years we'll reach its logical conclusion where responsibility of producing the newscasts on channel 9 will be handed over to CP24 (but still branded as CTV News Toronto).

Actually, no. It's surprising that they have not simply gone to CP24 for weather and TSN for Sports, but their regular anchorage will most likely continue to remain the same.
They have their reasons for not simulcasting on CP 24 @ Noon.
Things are slightly different.

Muffaraw Joe · January 25, 2024 8:18 pm

I tend to like Ryan Hall Y'all, a US based YouTuber with a ton of followers. I find he is super accurate and his passion for weather coverage is quite remarkable. He will be outside, chasing storms, he has contests for viewers and loves his work.

He also explains what the "F" is happening weather wise. He tracked every possibility of the major Christmas storm from December 22nd, he went live for up to 10 hours and had correspondents checking in.

Toronto got off lucky on that storm, we went from rain on the 22nd to minus 25 by Christmas Day.

I find he is worth following on YouTube,

Here is latest cast...

Just click the link...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vM20uBOSwVA

Also, here is the link to his channel with over 1.7 million subscribers, beat that CTV News.

https://www.youtube.com/@RyanHallYall

Last edited by Muffaraw Joe (January 25, 2024 8:24 pm)