May 1987 Weather News on The Weather Channel, PBS AM Weather

This video is a sample of cable and broadcast television recordings from May 18-19, 1987 on The Weather Channel and PBS AM Weather, recorded to videotape as they aired. By the mid-1980's, 24/7 cable weather had only one main source for broadcast weather information: The Weather Channel. There were no competitors to this level at the time. PBS AM Weather was the closest to a secondary outlet, and proceeded TWC by a few years. The AMWX program went in depth with maps, surface and upper air charts, but ultimately the 'AM Weather' program succumbed to passive viewer ratings and more competition from local/regional/national outlets by the early 1990's. Technology evolved rapidly as well.
The colorful thumbnail included from PBS 'AM Weather' is up for a reason. How often do you encounter a flashy thumbnail accompanied by a IMPACT statement that pulls you into a live, modern real-time weather multicast on UA-cam? A major media paradigm shift is underway in terms of how internet and broadcast television weather information is presented, sold and consumed. At the end of the day, it's a mix of information, entertainment, occasionally engaging personalities and business. On UA-cam there are no rules or much if any regulation at this time. The newer formats continue to draw viewers away from traditional outlets, regardless of hype. Has it evolved, revolved or devolved?
Technological and real-time weather information delivery [instant video, reports, etc] are leaps and bounds further than what these broadcasts offered, but just because there are more "channels" and personalities that deliver weather content nowadays, does it benefit the masses or do a disservice? Are there too many options? Is it confusing? Or do people just like to be entertained by a very primitive interest in weather? Opinions vary greatly. Numbers and analytics speak volumes. Either way, all of these broadcasts are product of a bygone era, where at the very least, we can see how far "digital" weather delivery systems have grown for better or worse since 1987.
Video by The Weather Channel and PBS © 1987, All Rights Reserved.

[@Michael-lm2yg]

I always liked watching AM Weather.

[@Legend813a]

Old dialup Kavouras radars from the weather channel, note the timestamp in the upper right corner, they had to download 3 times for ICT, starting with the short range, then medium range, then full range. I don't know it that was standard practice for every site they wanted to display. I don't remember just how long it would take to transfer the data, and there definitely was a loss of resolution when comparing that was shown on the scope at the console and the digitized DVIP, I would love to learn more about the system.