Francis Name Chief Met at KARK; New Hires Made in Wx Department
Source: KARK KARK-TV Channel 4 is pleased to announce the promotion of Mike Francis to Chief Meteorologist. Mike has more than 15 years of meteorological experience. He received his Bachelors degree in Meteorology from the University of Oklahoma. While there Mike worked at the National Storm Prediction Center and the National Severe Storms Laboratory.
Weather is Mike’s passion. Having chased storms across tornado alley he has witnessed more than fifty tornados first hand. Mike is a decorated veteran. As a member of the 82nd Airborne Division, he served in both Iraq and Panama. Mike will move to KARK 4 News at 5, 6 and 10pm on May 23rd.
There will soon be a new face on KARK 4 Today. Harry Bounds will join Melissa Simas, Matt Mosler and Tracy Douglass. Harry is originally from Alabama and is very familiar with our local weather patterns. Harry is also a veteran. He served 6 years in the U.S. Navy. His first day will be May 14th. Harry received his meteorological training at Mississippi State University.
Harry isn’t the only new member of the KARK 4 Weather Authority. Meteorologist Greg Dee will be joining the team on May 28th. Greg is currently the Chief Meteorologist at WDHN in Dothan, Alabama. He was named a “Hometown Hero” for his life-saving coverage of a deadly tornado that struck Enterprise, Alabama. Greg has a Bachelor of Science degree in Meteorology and a Masters in Geography.
posted by ATN @ 5:18 PM
89 comments
89 Comments:
That's great for Mike. He's a fantastic person and the best meteorologist in the state in my opinion. He definitely has a passion for reporting the weather.
"That's great for Mike. He's a fantastic person and the best meteorologist in the state in my opinion. He definitely has a passion for reporting the weather."
Shouldn't you be asleep Mike?
GO MIKEY!!!
shoot now KARK has to come up with a COMPLETELY new batch of promos for everything since this Bounds guy is taking over the morning, interesting move...time will tell if it pays off
Good to know KARK has all these military men in case, I don't know, the Ruskies invade or something.
Well, should the need arise, someone has to protect you. Another slacker on this blog.
KARK missed a great opportunity to hire away Meredith Mitchell from KTHV. She is a much better meteorologist than Mike Francis, plus she is the hottest babe in the region!
welcome to the DeathStar Greg and Harry.......one word of advice: rent don't buy
KARK missed a great opportunity to hire away Meredith Mitchell from KTHV. She is a much better meteorologist than Mike Francis, plus she is the hottest babe in the region!
please tell me you're kidding.
Rob and Ben will be busy . . .
Meredity Mitchell has a horse's mouth and can't stand up straight.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=KEvOik-ffBY
If this is the Harry Bounds KARK hired - 11 and 7 have NOTHING to worry about. Another Nexstar bargain. Same goes for the guy from Alabama.
I'd be worried if I worked at 4.
perhaps you don't realize that whole same market clause thing that wouldn't allow 4 to show off MM for at least a year or so...so really who cares?? and she's not hot, unless she was running the Preakness
Yup, 7:10, that's the guy. They probably got these two for half the price of Brett and Jason.
Exactly right...it all comes down to $. KARK is News 4 Discount.
Harry is a great guy and will fit in very well and maybe bring a little more to the table for a very bland morning show.
Hmmmmm.....A CHIEF METEOROLOGIST leaving his post for a regular METEOROLOGIST POSITION...That's like a down grade, like a demotion..I wouldn't have taken it...but some would..Leave a higher post for a lower post, It had to be a cut in may I would assume...Anyways, His Loss..
Who are you referring to? Brett? He is doing no such thing...bigger market, better position...
His favorite word is "Absolutely" in the youtube link above. That's typically what folks say when they are uncomfortable being on-air. I'd say his demo at youtube was pretty bland; an ingredient necessary to work at 4.
And, as everyone knows, absolutely does not mean "Yes."
Absolutely means "Finally."
Everyone knows that, don't they?
Bland morning show...
Only because Tracy Douglas is on there with her uninteresting stories to clog up what would be a decent newscast.
Who cares what makeup you buy? Trial and error, ladies. If you use the cheap kind and can't get laid, try the expensive kind. If you can't get laid then, you're probably ugly.
Take it from Tracy.
Meredith Mitchell isn't a meteorologist is she?
She is sooo hot she could be a meteor(ologist).
Tracy is the ONLY thing that is interesting not just on Ch. 4's morning show, but on any of these lousy morning shows in this market. And she's the most beautiful on-air person in the market (sorry Meredith Mitchell-lover.)
Is a master's degree in geography harder to achieve than, say, a master's in P.E.?
Isn't Meredith Mitchell the one with the horse face and terrible accent?
So where is Brett going?
"And she's the most beautiful on-air person in the market . . . "
Not even with all that mascara does she come close to a "looker."
Why was Mike during the storms Saturday? Jason's more than capable of handling the situation.
And how tacky is it of them to have promos for Mike being the new chief while Brett is still there?
While I'm griping, does that woman's voice on their promos annoy the heck out of anyone else besides me?
It's a weather "Team" or battle of the egos.
Mike is the new Chief which means he is responsible for their coverage even if it's J.K.'s shift. Same holds true for Ned and Todd and Meredith and Ed.
In watching all three do their respective thing, KATV had the best coverage, KARK second and KTHV third.
It does look like that if one of the cheifs' come in that the weekend person is not capable of handeling things. However, it isn't that way
Big mistake on that promotion.
In THV's case, Ed would need to come in. Meredith is still very new and probably doesn't have much experience with severe weather. She can barely get through a noraml forecast.
Tracy kind of reminds me of that "Elvira" character that used to introduce horror movies with all the makeup and other attributes. She is not even a meterologist, even though she plays one on tv.
At least she doesn't talk like a chipmunk and has much better hair than .........Meredith !!!!!
'
To 6:31:
Tracy has more talent in her little finger than you do all together. Happy Mother's Day, you donkey's behind.
Talk about behinds . . . oh, well, that's another thing.
Mike is the WORST gobber in the state. I feel sorry for the evening crews. Get ready for a ratings slide! At least we won't have to see Mike hitting on Melissa in the mornings anymore!
Talking about behinds is Melissa pregnant ????????????
Not Simas. Unsure about Dunbar-Gates.
Talking about behinds is Dawn pregnant?
Is it me? Or does Melissa Simas hate Mike Francis. She seems so annoyed and creeped out by him during every broadcast. Its so weird.
It's because Frances tries way to hard to be funny or cute. It just aint his thing. It does seem Melissa gets creeped out by him. He should stick to covering the severe weather rather than trying to be cutesy imo.
Melissa hates most everybody. I think she is dying to get out of Arkansas and back to the northeast
You have to admit, Simas has had it rough. Silly Mike Francis on one side, then, cocky Matt Mosler on the other. I think she's only comfy when Tracy is around.
well than maybe moving out of a time slot that is more serious and straight to the point will help mike from trying NOT to be funny during the evening...in the morning you're supposed to peppy and wake everyone up, but now with him being in more of an informational role maybe he'll relax
Meredith Mitchell needs to make a switch to KARK and replace Simas on the morning show.She is much hotter and more easy going, plus she is a native.
Keeping Mabeline in business thru purchases of mascara. Doing a tradeout with them will help.
And maybe Simas will relax! Unless she has racial issues!
Although Ward looks younger, aren't Ward and Douglas about the same age?
Ward looks younger? You are out of your blessed mind.
"well than maybe moving out of a time slot that is more serious and straight to the point will help mike from trying NOT to be funny during the evening...in the morning you're supposed to peppy and wake everyone up, but now with him being in more of an informational role maybe he'll relax"
I hope you're right! I don't have a problem with Mike's weather forecasting abilities...its just how he presents himself. During segment segeways, he tries so hard to be cute and funny but its a dismal failure and during his actual weather forecast presentation, he gets distracted with stupid stuff. Its so frustrating to watch.
I wont have a problem with him in the evenings. If stays serious and delivers his forecast with focus and tact.
We don't even NEED weather people. Just a crawl at the bottom would be fun. I mean, they CANNOT accurarely forecast more than three days out, anyway. How about more hot babes anchoring?
Like Meredith Mitchell!!!!
We don't even NEED weather people. Just a crawl at the bottom would be fun. I mean, they CANNOT accurarely forecast more than three days out, anyway. How about more hot babes anchoring?
And, since the forecast comes from the NOAA, anyone could do the forecast by reading what NOAA says and typing the forecast on the screen. It's a $10 per hour job. That way we don't have to put up with any weatherman/weatherwoman-actor-wannabe telling us the forecast.
Right...we don't need meteorologists. And the next time tornadoes come plowing through Arkansas (hopefully toward YOUR house) we'll just ignore you and attend your funeral later.
I hope every single person that bashes a meteorologist either dies in a storm or has a close relative that gets killed. That'll wake you up. Ignorant hillbillies.
saw Harry this morning....ugh! He must work cheap.
WOW! Mike Francis, you need to calm down and not take what we say on this board so seriously. You should never wish death on anyone!
Even if you think being promoted to Chief Weather Report Reader makes you a necessity!
And don't insult us hillbillies by calling us ignernt!
I think he/she was trying to get the point across that a tv weatherperson is not needed in this age of Internet and weather radios. Too bad someone did not understand.
"I hope every single person that bashes a meteorologist either dies in a storm..." "That'll wake you up"
and he/she is calling US ignorant!
After seeing Harry, I think getting rid of weather people is a good idea!
I feel sooooo safe now!
Okay, let's allow these WEATHER GENIUSES to prove themselves! Is any weatherperson brave enough to put a forecast on here.. one week out.. and get the high and low temperatures RIGHT within two degrees either way? Nope, they will not. Because they cannot do it!
Mostly because the guys and gals at the National Weather Service haven't printed it yet.
We live in ARKANSAS and the weather is always changing don't you know. Channel 4 has the best weather and news people in the business. No one is making you watch them.
Hey, I listen to NOAA weather radio that is set for my county and the counties around me. They get it on the air before any tv station.
Then, the broadcast stations pick up on it and, if you notice, the tv weathercasters always say, "the National Weather Service has issued a . . . for . . . "
Then the weathercasters say, "Yep, there it is."
Case closed.
It's sad that KARK had the chance to move up in the mornings, especially with the turnover at KTHV, but the KARK crew just didn't have the talent to attract new viewers. They're really quite boring. Let's see, who enjoys hearing "And here are some of the headlines making news...."
YIKES !!
It is actually:
"Here are some of the stories making headlines."
Delivered with all the energy of Melissa reaching for another smoke, or, Matt heading off to Wednesday night services.
I like the new guy at 4
"They're really quite boring. Let's see, who enjoys hearing "And here are some of the headlines making news...."
Then, here comes their daily, in-depth discussion of politics.
Gag!
Hey, come to think of it, 5:49 is on to something. Channel 4 does a lot of local news... In depth discussions about serious issues... with anchors that seem to waste their time studying current events. Wow, that is weird... You're right 5:49. Why would they put that crap on the air?
If you put any stock in what the early morning news readers have to offer in the way of discussing politics, then you are starved for information.
No, not starved. I'd say you are a KARK Today fan then you are more apt to be a consumer of news. I'd also say each morning show offers something unique. If Channel 4's more thoughtful approach to morning news is not what you like, then there's a different (quality) show on 7 and another unique (quality) show on 11.
And then you woke up.
Channel
four is going down the tubes fast and just wait till Jancey goes on maternity leaveAre we going to get a steady diet of Claussen and Betton. That team actually doesn't inspire us or throw a lot of fear into the competition. Does it ?????
How about Simas at 5, 6, and 10 until Jancey returns, then leave Melissa at 10 and move Sonseeray to the morning show and
Courtney Collins to the weekend anchor spot and all will be well in the world !!!!!!
Just wait until they air the photo(s) of the baby(s) on every newscast for a couple of days, just like they're family to everyone.
Nauseous!
If we're gonna' have a Courtney, let's make it Courtney Timmons. Wow!
just because he is a black man i know all of you haters out their don't like the change.
Says who? You're the one bringing up racism! I think he's a nice change from Weather Doofus.
Any stations doing their newscasts live from Riverfest, or, having booths to meet and greet ???
Did everybody see Brett's sendoff last night? He handled it with class. Nice job, Brett, and good luck.
Where did Brett and Jason go????
HEY MIKE FRANCIS !!!!
Great job forecasting the Riverfest weather. On Friday, you predicted a 20-30 percent chance of rain the following day. Sure enough it rained for at least half the day.
What a bonehead!
You can't even predict the weather 18 hours in advance, for one of Little Rock's biggest events of the year. Please resign !!!!
Let's talk about that Masters in Geography degree. How hard is that one to get?
That's really got to come in handy when forecasting.
Beth and Tracy are probably about the same age, but there is a huge difference.
Beth stopped trying to look young when that last collagen/botox injection made her look like she went 12 rounds with Holyfield.
Tracy still hasn't stopped trying to look young. I can see her next "forecast" now:
"Well Central Arkansas, I'm in for another blustery boob job while another plastic front moves in from the northwest. But look for the eye to lift towards the early evening and the lips to just erupt due to the heat of the afternoon. Back to you, Matt and Melissa."
But my goodness, why wear all that mascara? Does she not ever look in a mirror or watch herself on tv? You see, if there were "real" producers at her station, they would not let her wear all that.
What's this with the hand mic being out of sync?
It's amazing that nobody will say where Brent and Jason went. Now, we are stuck with baldie who thinks he is a weather man/contractor. Wake Up, KARK!
You just lost another viewer!
Try to get Bozo to do the weather....at least, he would be tolerable to watch and listen to.
Wow, this board contains the sorriest sack of losers. You're all belching about TV weatherpeople? What value do you really bring to this planet?
More value than you, Mike :)
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