TV news treats the weather like it's a joke (hot, places, weatherman)

[desertsun41]

Have you ever noticed that when the local news comes on, they are all real serious with the squinting eyes and the straight face while telling the top stories?

Then you know it's weather time when the camera focuses on a 3rd person standing next to the table. They all start laughing and giggling over stupid chit chat. Then this dumb looking Meteorologist stands there telling a few jokes before pointing at numbers on a board and just reading them.

Do these news stations really have to employ expensive Meteorologists when all one has to do is cull the weather report from the AP or NOAA and report it with some charm?

[Nivalis]

It's all about the ratings, and the silly weatherman/sexy weather lady brings them! I know that when I watched TV as a kid, the weather was the only part of the news that I bothered watching. I didn't experience any silliness, but I would assume that in hot media markets or places with hostile weather, the personality of the station's meteorologist will determine which station the viewers will watch.