From The Mailbag

September 26, 2005, 9:00 pm
Posted by James Spann in General Thoughts
Rating: 5/5   Votes : 1
From the mailbag…

After Sunday’s tornado outbreak we had our usual mixed bag of e-mail notes, from both the tornado coverage haters, and those who appreciate the “wall to wall” coverage:

“You have no idea how fed up so very many in your 'viewing area' are with your total disregard for the wishes of the majority of viewers to, yes, be made aware of any impending weather problems, but NO to completely pre-empting network programming.

For instance, I have already phoned your station about tonight's SEASON PREMIERS of "Extreme Home Makeovers" and "Gray's Anatomy", and received the usual response about "your policy". Why is that OTHER local channels can accomplish the exact same thing by either a scroll across the bottom of the screen, or a small 'window' in a lower corner of the screen? One example was your blocking out the season finale of "Dancing with the Stars"... “

And… another point of view:

“My family and I live in Buhl on Sipsey Valley Rd. N. I would like to thank you so very much for the team coverage. I thought at one time we were goners..... I don't think I have ever been as scared as I was. My family and I watched all three storms form. They seemed to form right in our front yard I could'nt believe it. The last storm that formed hit right at the end of our driveway looking left all four houses were damaged. When the sky turned a funny greenish grey color I called my sister in Gadsen and told her I loved her and this was it. We heard it when it hit we did'nt know what it hit but we were praying just let everyone be ok. God's GREAT HE MADE A CARING TEAM ABC33/40.

Thanks for all you do.Thank you again. It's great to know that James you have a EVER LASTING voice that keeps us informed. YOUR GREAT KEEP UP THE WONDERFUL JOB YOU HELP KEEP all of us safe by knowing whats going on no matter where we are on the map."

By the way, ratings showed that ABC 33/40 had a huge audience during our long form coverage; considerably more people watched our weather coverage than any other program Sunday night, including “Desperate Housewives”. We thank you for your confidence in our coverage.. it is a responsibility we do not take lightly.
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Posted by Brien  
on September 26, 2005, 9:21 pm
How Ironic..... Complete Home Makeover, Desparate Housewives, Gray's Anatomy.... all terms that could come to mind after a tornado touch down on people that have not been made aware of an approaching storm....the same people too busy watching network television to take "safe place" warnings seriously.

Stick to your guns (and radars, and camera's and screens) guys. Your intelligent viewers know what is most important! Thank you for your service and dedication.

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Posted by  
on September 26, 2005, 9:28 pm
I am in total agreement there.

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Posted by New Mike  
on September 27, 2005, 5:10 am
Too bad you can't post the email addresses of those who would rather die watching "Desperate Housewives" or "Dancing with the stars", than being aware of their surroundings and know when to go to safety...

Priorities...

Seems like theirs is a little off...

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Posted by  
on September 27, 2005, 6:14 am
These complaints would probably stop if ABC 33/40 and the ABC television network could work something out, as far as rebroadcasting programming. You guys have been doing this for nine years. Can't you work something out?

Personally, if I ran the ABC network, I would have considered putting reruns of the shows, and waiting another week to do the season premieres. But they got to keep their schedule going.



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Posted by  
on September 27, 2005, 7:12 am
Was the digital channel broadcasting long-form weather coverage as well? Perhaps putting the regular network programming uninterrupted on the HD channel and keeping the weather coverage on the analog channel would solve some worries. One of the other networks did this with a NASCAR race and a landfalling hurricane this season, which worked out quite well.

If anyone gets sick of watching the weather coverage, there are plenty of other stations around town that don't break in when people are in danger...

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Posted by  
on September 27, 2005, 1:18 pm
Personally, I like having weather coverage. In fact, here in Alabaster, we got this big heavy rain around 3:00 in the morning on Monday and I got up to make sure there were no warnings or watches we needed to be concerned about and turned on 33/40 FIRST. However, I was really surprised because they DIDN'T have any coverage on at that time. I figured, if James Spann, and the 33/40 team wasn't covering it, then it must just be a heavy rain and we don't need to worry. So I went back to bed.

It is nice to have someone to count on.
Thanks

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Posted by alan m  
on September 27, 2005, 2:48 pm
James, I just wanted to tell you that even though I was not immediately affected by the severe weather Sunday, your coverage kept me glued to your station. I am a deputy sheriff from Shelby county and I must admit that you probably know the roads and geography better than I do, which I think is amazing. By the way, your live coverage of the tornado on the towercam was the best 'reality' show of the season.

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Posted by Carolyn F.  
on September 27, 2005, 6:06 pm
James,
Even if the bad weather did not get to me or my family here in St. Clair County, I still watched your coverage and thought it was great. Continue on with the great weather coverage.


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Posted by A Big Fan  
on September 27, 2005, 9:08 pm
James, its the personal touch & feeling you give. If I remember correctly James, I have a close friend that had family killed during the April 8, 98 tornado. He told me that you came out and talked & cried with them the next day or so after, and that touched him deeply. He was one of them 'it will never hit here so why bother watching' and now you are the ONLY one he watches now and will believe.

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Posted by  
on September 28, 2005, 4:40 pm
James.. I'm sure glad you and John and Brian was there and explaining about the Tornado that you saw on screen. I've never seen one up close, don't ever want to. If a storm is coming and lives are at stake, then who cares what's on the Networks.
I would hope that people think that lives is more important than who whose wearing less on Desperate Housewives. :) Great Job.


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Posted by  
on September 28, 2005, 7:50 pm
I thank you all for your tireless coverage. I live in Northport and when you reported the tornado Sunday afternoon, we ran to the backdoor and saw it to our west. We knew from your coverage, it was west of us moving north. It was my first time to see a tornado and I can't believe how large it was. I would hate to see an F5 because this one looked huge! It was the same tornado you were showing from your webcam. Please keep up the good work! Had this come through our subdivision or any of the other neighborhoods, it would have been disastrous, but thanks to your excellent coverage we knew we were not in danger. Please keep up the good work!

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