BaltimoreWxGuy Posted January 17, 2012 Share Posted January 17, 2012 Not sure why but Justin Berk has been let go at ABC 2 WMAR..heres the statement ""Friday, January 13 was Justin Berk’s last day as a Meteorologist on ABC2. Justin made many contributions to the station and the community during the years he was here. ABC2 wishes the very best to Justin." - Station Management" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ian Posted January 17, 2012 Share Posted January 17, 2012 hmm Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WxUSAF Posted January 17, 2012 Share Posted January 17, 2012 Get it to snow or GTFO? JB2 can't deliver and is shown the door? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
usedtobe Posted January 17, 2012 Share Posted January 17, 2012 hmm That's rather terse for as long as he was there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ian Posted January 17, 2012 Share Posted January 17, 2012 That's rather terse for as long as he was there. yeah.. peculiar. he's still tweeting and facebooking tho i guess he'll have to address it in some fashion now? == On Friday, Berk made a bet with Gene Norman, the chief meteorologist at KHOU in Houston, on the outcome of the Baltimore Ravens-Houston Texans playoff game. Terms of the bet dictated the loser had to wear the opposing team’s jersey on the air. “About that bet w/ Texas weatherman,” Berk wrote on Facebook, “there is more to the story. I won’t be in on Monday, so hang on here for more.” http://www.mediabistro.com/tvspy/meteorologist-justin-berk-out-at-baltimores-wmar_b36017 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
donsutherland1 Posted January 17, 2012 Share Posted January 17, 2012 That's rather terse for as long as he was there. Given the terse statement, one wonders whether he was let go because ratings were falling for the weather broadcasts and budgetary issues were involved. Yet, any ratings decline would have been due to the prolonged warmth/absence of winter weather, not Mr. Berk's forecasting. It's tough to have a compelling reason for viewers to tune into TV weather forecasts when the weather is rather uneventful from a winter weather perspective. This move will be a loss for WMAR's viewers. I very much hope that Mr. Berk will quickly be picked up by another station. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WxUSAF Posted January 17, 2012 Share Posted January 17, 2012 If Justin was let go because of that bet, will Tony Pann get let go because he's sporting the Flacco fu-stache? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mappy Posted January 17, 2012 Share Posted January 17, 2012 If Justin was let go because of that bet, will Tony Pann get let go because he's sporting the Flacco fu-stache? As big of a snow lover/weenie as Justin is, that still sucks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ian Posted January 17, 2012 Share Posted January 17, 2012 not sure how it could be about the bet specifically.. seemed rather benign. maybe he's going to texas. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BaltimoreWxGuy Posted January 17, 2012 Author Share Posted January 17, 2012 Given the terse statement, one wonders whether he was let go because ratings were falling for the weather broadcasts and budgetary issues were involved. Yet, any ratings decline would have been due to the prolonged warmth/absence of winter weather, not Mr. Berk's forecasting. It's tough to have a compelling reason for viewers to tune into TV weather forecasts when the weather is rather uneventful from a winter weather perspective. This move will be a loss for WMAR's viewers. I very much hope that Mr. Berk will quickly be picked up by another station. AGree with your statement, mainly the first couple sentences. Justin was a bit unique, he did a great job of interacting with the public and explaining the possibilities and weather to people who dont understand it to the degree some of us do. I have had some head butts with Justin over the years, for whatever reason it seemed to me that he always forecasted on the extreme side of things. And IMO he was rather pedestrian in his overall forecasting. I dont know if that was a factor or not, but either way you dont want anyone to lose his/her job regardless of whether you liked him or not if he was indeed let go and not a mutual parting. Anyways best of wishes to him either way Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ji Posted January 17, 2012 Share Posted January 17, 2012 hmm way to go Ian....not your fault though. He busted too much Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
H2O Posted January 17, 2012 Share Posted January 17, 2012 Snow weenies just lost an ally. Now who will replace Tom T? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Srain Posted January 17, 2012 Share Posted January 17, 2012 Given the terse statement, one wonders whether he was let go because ratings were falling for the weather broadcasts and budgetary issues were involved. Yet, any ratings decline would have been due to the prolonged warmth/absence of winter weather, not Mr. Berk's forecasting. It's tough to have a compelling reason for viewers to tune into TV weather forecasts when the weather is rather uneventful from a winter weather perspective. This move will be a loss for WMAR's viewers. I very much hope that Mr. Berk will quickly be picked up by another station. If that were the case, Gene Norman along with all the local Houston Broadcast Mets would have been long gone following our endless drought and lack of weather for many months. I suspect budget issues are the underlying factor as is the case in the current braodcast media market general decline across the Nation. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
usedtobe Posted January 17, 2012 Share Posted January 17, 2012 not sure how it could be about the bet specifically.. seemed rather benign. maybe he's going to texas. I think Don probably hit on the reason. The stations ratings possibly being down and him costing more than the station was willing to pay or he somehow ticked off someone high up in station management. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ian Posted January 17, 2012 Share Posted January 17, 2012 I think Don probably hit on the reason. The stations ratings possibly being down and him costing more than the station was willing to pay or he somehow ticked off someone high up in station management. hopefully it's not the boring winter.. and if it is hopefully someone remembers you're the winter expert at cwg when that chopping block starts moving. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WxUSAF Posted January 17, 2012 Share Posted January 17, 2012 Now who will replace Tom T? I don't think Tasselmeyer is a snow weenie at all. He's a great met, but he (and the rest of WBAL's crew) busted HARD on the PSUHoffman storm last year...forecast totals were way under reality. He's usually fairly late jumping on the bandwagon for bigger storms and tends to hedge his bets (which is not a bad philosophy in our area). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
usedtobe Posted January 17, 2012 Share Posted January 17, 2012 hopefully it's not the boring winter.. and if it is hopefully someone remembers you're the winter expert at cwg when that chopping block starts moving. I am pretty expendable but I certainly don't cost much. Tom Niziol is probably happy he's not started yet as the TWC winter weathter expert. It's hard being an expert when nothing is going on. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
H2O Posted January 17, 2012 Share Posted January 17, 2012 I don't think Tasselmeyer is a snow weenie at all. He's a great met, but he (and the rest of WBAL's crew) busted HARD on the PSUHoffman storm last year...forecast totals were way under reality. He's usually fairly late jumping on the bandwagon for bigger storms and tends to hedge his bets (which is not a bad philosophy in our area). Wasn't a knock on TT at all. I know he is fairly well reasoned and cautious with a lot of his snow calls. He is like our Bob Ryan IMO. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BaltimoreWxGuy Posted January 17, 2012 Author Share Posted January 17, 2012 I don't think Tasselmeyer is a snow weenie at all. He's a great met, but he (and the rest of WBAL's crew) busted HARD on the PSUHoffman storm last year...forecast totals were way under reality. He's usually fairly late jumping on the bandwagon for bigger storms and tends to hedge his bets (which is not a bad philosophy in our area). Tom T is my favorite Meteorologist in Baltimore...sure he and WBAL may have busted on a few storms but who hasn't? IMo hes still the most realistic one in the area and will go with the higher snow call if he has confidence in the set-up Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fozz Posted January 17, 2012 Share Posted January 17, 2012 Tom T is my favorite Meteorologist in Baltimore...sure he and WBAL may have busted on a few storms but who hasn't? IMo hes still the most realistic one in the area and will go with the higher snow call if he has confidence in the set-up Yup. He was pretty much the first met in the area to call for 20"+ totals for each of the big 09-10 storms, IIRC. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mappy Posted January 17, 2012 Share Posted January 17, 2012 Yup. He was pretty much the first met in the area to call for 20"+ totals for each of the big 09-10 storms, IIRC. But then completely botched last January system, he kept saying it wouldn't do much while Tony Pann was calling for more. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fozz Posted January 17, 2012 Share Posted January 17, 2012 But then completely botched last January system, he kept saying it wouldn't do much while Tony Pann was calling for more. I remember that, I didn't know what he was thinking when he called for 1-3 the day before the storm. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mappy Posted January 17, 2012 Share Posted January 17, 2012 I remember that, I didn't know what he was thinking when he called for 1-3 the day before the storm. Yup and I remember that Tony had to back down his rather accurate forecast because I can imagine he was getting pressure from Tom over it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mitchnick Posted January 17, 2012 Share Posted January 17, 2012 wx personalities don't usually attract tv viewers I would imagine, unless you are more of a "tv personality" than met so it's likely $ related Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ji Posted January 17, 2012 Share Posted January 17, 2012 i would be happy to take over the winter weather expert at CWG for 10-15 bucks an hour Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sparky Posted January 17, 2012 Share Posted January 17, 2012 Pretty certain wmar is the lowest rated news station in baltimore. Always has been that way. WBAL, Tom t's station is highest rated. Tom isn't going anywhere. JB's station does not even produce a noon news anymore. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Symblized Posted January 18, 2012 Share Posted January 18, 2012 Apparently WMAR's general manager tacks this up to a contract dispute. It sounds like that after a few months of back and forth, the two sides couldn't come to an agreement, so they fired him. Lynnette Charles will fill in for now, but they're looking for somebody long term. http://www.baltimoresun.com/entertainment/tv/z-on-tv-blog/bal-justin-berk-wmar-weatherman-leaves-station-20120117,0,3391912.story Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MDstorm Posted January 18, 2012 Share Posted January 18, 2012 Apparently WMAR's general manager tacks this up to a contract dispute. It sounds like that after a few months of back and forth, the two sides couldn't come to an agreement, so they fired him. Lynnette Charles will fill in for now, but they're looking for somebody long term. http://www.baltimoresun.com/entertainment/tv/z-on-tv-blog/bal-justin-berk-wmar-weatherman-leaves-station-20120117,0,3391912.story Maybe they can lure Norm Lewis back...... MDstorm Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ian Posted January 18, 2012 Share Posted January 18, 2012 im waiting for berk's side.. the social media aspect is interesting as there is a grand outpouring of support for him on FB. but if it was a contract dispute he's probably just as much to blame as the station. i wonder if he has something else already lined up. he's a good guy.. hope things work out for him. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MDstorm Posted January 18, 2012 Share Posted January 18, 2012 im waiting for berk's side.. the social media aspect is interesting as there is a grand outpouring of support for him on FB. but if it was a contract dispute he's probably just as much to blame as the station. i wonder if he has something else already lined up. he's a good guy.. hope things work out for him. I hear Weatherbell is hiring due to the massive increase in subscriptions. MDstorm Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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