Yesterday, we published a post about the less than stellar debut of Channel 9's new severe weather "Dream Team." Apparently our critique resonated with a bunch of people. In just 24-hours, the post garnered over 12,000 pageviews and was liked more 700 times on Facebook.
Here are some snippets:
To say that Channel 9 had too many cooks in the kitchen would be an understatement. (Their coverage) was like watching a group of people have an argument on a reality show; there were lots of screamers, not enough listeners and you really wanted to change the channel...
There were several awkward moments where Gary tried to pull a CNN and use a gigantic touchscreen to show what was happening on radar. He couldn’t get the device figured out and was obviously frustrated. It was like watching your grandpa attempt to figure out an unfamiliar remote control and TV set-up...
The Channel 9 weather crew was supposed to be a Dream Team, but right now they’re looking like this season’s Lakers. They seem to be heavy on egos, but low on teamwork and chemistry. Let’s just hope they get everything figured out before Gary England tears his achilles. That would suck.
Despite the awkward and sometimes painful to watch storm coverage, Channel 9 did win the ratings war. We know this because their Vice President & Chief Operating Officer Rob Krier sent a rousing email to the station's staff congratulating them for the "banner day" and "dominating in the ratings."
Here it is:
Yesterday and today were banner days for Griffin Communications and our two stations, Oklahoma’s Own News 9 and News On 6. We were aggressive across all platforms and it showed in the ratings.
In Oklahoma City and Tulsa from the time we started coverage we were number one. Our coverage spanned from 3:30PM in Oklahoma City until 10AM this morning in Tulsa. We had the only tornado live on the air and the only aerials of damage.
TULSA
KOTV KJRH KTUL KOKI
5P 11.3 3.4 5.7 2.3
6P 11.6 5.2 5 1.6
10P 19.9 5.9 5.9 4.3
Severe Wx 15.7 4.2 2.7 3OKLAHOMA CITY
KWTV KFOR KOCO KOKH
5P 16.5 13 7.2 3.2
6P 20 17.8 10.2 5.2
10P 18.1 13.2 7.3 1.2
Severe Wx 19.6 12.7 10.2 5.8Our 10P news in both markets had a 30 share in both markets.
Online we dominated with News9.com seeing 1.4 million pageviews and NewsOn6.com seeing 942K. This is without the numbers from our apps or mobile sites. When compared to our competition these numbers are even more impressive. Our online numbers are more than all the competitors combined!
OKC
News9.com 1,418,594
NewsOK.com 675,227
KOCO.com 396,064
KFOR.com Numbers blockedTulsa
Newson6.com 890,624
Tulsaworld.com 164,519
KJRH.com 109,700
Fox23.com 49,966
KTUL.com Numbers blockedCongratulations and thanks to all who worked hard to help keep Oklahomans safe.
Rob
Yeah, our Chief Meteorologist couldn't figure out the iPad and our two storm chasers spent the entire day yelling over each other, but we won the ratings war. What a banner day, huh?
Actually, I'm not surprised that News 9 had the highest ratings. For one, they usually do. Two, they have the most recognizable weather figure in Oklahoma. And three, they just stole David Payne and Jim Gardner from Channel 4. I'm sure a lot of people tuned in just to see how they all worked together, and just like me, I'm sure a lot of those people felt like they were watching chubby people have sex. I'm a devout Gary England follower – I took a f*cking pilgrimage to his home town for his birthday – but if you guys don't get you're act together, I may have to start flipping over to Channel 4 a little more often. And I'm sure I won't be the only one.
Not everyone at Channel 9 shares Rob's excitement. I followed up with some Moles to see if the email was legitimate. Here's what one of them said:
Our GM sent that to all staff this morning. The email was followed by a 'celebration' of cupcakes and lemonaide.
It's a mixed mood in right now. We had so many emails, calls and social media messages from people last night who said the coverage was awful but the 'celebration' continues due to the ratings.
I can say this... That Reed Timmer stunt surprised a lot of people at 9. No one saw that coming.
First of all, cupcakes and lemonade? Dean Blevins probably thought they were talking about hookers or strippers. Seriously, that had to be a girl's idea. Any self-respecting man would have brought in pizza and a keg of beer.
Also, about that Reed Timmer stunt. You know how Rob claimed in his email that News 9 had the only tornado live on the air? If that's the case, how can he explain this:
Anyway, hopefully News 9 gets their act together. I'm going to treat Wednesday night as their first scrimmage or a mock run, but they better improve fast. Channel 4 has a guy rolling around in a car with armor and spikes, and there's a slight chance Damon Lane may wet his pants on the air. I'd rather watch those things than hear Gary England call a touchscreen a "rascal." That still make me sad.
