Primetime viewers peeved by Charlotte stations' weather alert interruptions

By Mark Washburn - Mark Washburn

CHARLOTTE -- "Scrubs" was a washout, the sexy surgeons of "Grey's Anatomy" frolicked invisibly and "30 Rock" was a no-show.

As a line of thunderheads pummeled the uplands northeast of Hickory on Thursday night and tornado warnings were issued, two Charlotte stations interrupted prime-time for what has become a reality drama in its own right -- wall-to-wall projections of menacing radar splotches.

WSOC (Channel 9) and WCNC (Channel 36) were deluged with complaints from viewers about the pre-emptions, which lasted from about 8 to 10 p.m.

But at WBTV (Channel 3), something strange happened- regular programming.

After viewer complaints when it scrubbed much of the Duke-Clemson game during the ACC playoffs in March for storm coverage, WBTV has changed its break-in policy. If there is real danger, the station will scratch programming and cut to weather coverage. But for mere turbulent weather, the station will rely on a text "crawl" across the bottom of the screen to notify viewers.

"We have taken the stance that if there's a tornado warning, we need to be tracking that storm," said Dennis Milligan, WBTV's news director. "Problem is, you wind up hijacking people's programs for something that's not really happening.

"I've got four expert meteorologists who know this inside and out. We're relying on them to be more discerning about our coverage."

Thursday night, they analyzed the storms and decided they were not a major threat. Reporters kept in touch with authorities in the affected counties and were told there were no damage reports. During commercial breaks, the station provided updates.

Milligan said the station's new approach comes in part because the National Weather Service seems to be issuing more frequent tornado warnings.

"In the last year the weather service has been more hair-trigger. It's almost like every storm front that comes through, they're calling tornado warnings."

Probably true, said Larry Gabric, meteorologist in charge of the weather service's Greer-based forecast center, which monitors Upstate South Carolina and most of Western North Carolina. Advances in technology give meteorologists a better picture of storms that could spin off tornadoes.

"I would say we do issue more warnings," he said. "We're seeing more information than we ever saw before."

Broadcasters have long been caught in a "damned it they do, damned if they don't" paradox when it comes to severe weather. But research shows that weather coverage is one of the key draws for viewers. And stations spend heavily on sophisticated gadgetry to parse storm movements and generate eye-catching graphics.

While stations said some viewers praised the coverage Thursday night even though the storm was far from them, many others were in the unsatisfied customer category.

"One of the WCNC newscasters scolded the viewers to stop calling the news desk," viewer J. Garvey Pyke of Charlotte noted Friday. "Scolded by the TV -- how great."

Obligation vs. annoyance

While stations acknowledge that viewers complain about the interruptions, they say they feel an obligation to cut to weather coverage when there is the possibility of a tornado. Policy at both WSOC and WCNC is to break in and stay with weather coverage until tornado warnings are lifted.

Federal broadcast policy instructs stations to warn viewers about severe weather, but that can be accomplished by a simple line across the bottom of the screen.

"It's not enough to do a crawl," said Mary Alvarez, news director at Channel 36. "Our meteorologists can pinpoint exactly where the storm is and where it's going. If we tell you it's going to be in your area in the next five minutes, that can't be told in a crawl."

At Channel 9, news director Robin Whitmeyer said the station got a "sizable" number of complaints Thursday night, but remains committed to broadcasting weather threats throughout its 22-county coverage area that reaches from the Virginia line to Chester.

Thursday night's storm was severe, and went on to kill one person in Greensboro, she said.

"Our number one priority is getting information out to the community, and I don't apologize for that. That's our responsibility. I can totally understand when people get upset."

Second storm struck

A second tornado warning was issued about 2:45 a.m. Friday when a fast-moving storm hit Gaston County, but most stations were between meteorologist shifts. Only WCNC was able to break in with Larry Sprinkle and that wasn't until about 3 a.m.

At News 14 Carolina, Time Warner Cable's news outlet, meteorologist Jeff Crum was on the air immediately because he had stayed late anticipating more storms.

Policy at WCCB (Fox Charlotte, Channel 18) has long been to post a weather crawl during bad weather and break in only when there's a major threat.

"It's one thing to be cautionary, and it's another thing to alarm people," said Ken White, news director. "With weather, we have to be careful. Otherwise you become the boy who cried 'Wolf!' all the time."