Seven weeks after the death of Tim Hedrick, WKRC-TV has posted his job.
The Channel 12 job description says the station is looking for a chief meteorologist who is an "excellent communicator, (has) a professional on-air presence, possess a strong science background (and is) able to clearly explain the weather story by utilizing graphics and video in a way that helps our audience prepare for various weather conditions."
It's logical to assume that Channel 12 will consider internal candidates, meteorologists hired by Hedrick: morning weatherman John Gumm; Erica Colura, who has subbed at 6 and 11 p.m. since Hedrick left the airwaves in February; and weekend evening forecaster Scott Dimmich.
Hedrick is a very tough act to follow at Channel 12, which has the top-rated newscasts in household ratings morning, noon and night. After Hedrick was hired in 1988, he was promoted as the "Weather Authority" and became arguably the city's most popular TV personality.
Being young isn't necessarily a detriment. Hedrick was only 27 when he was hired as chief at Channel 12.
Gumm, the oldest and most experienced of the three, is the popular, fun-loving forecaster on the top-rated "Good Morning Cincinnati." The Clermont County native, and 1997 graduate of Valparaiso University, came home from New Orleans with his wife and newborn son after Hurricane Katrina in 2005 and joined Channel 12. If they moved him to nights, could it cost Channel 12 ratings points in the morning? And at night? Cincinnati viewers don't like change.
Collura,the youngest of the three, came to Channel 12 in 2013 from Dayton's WHIO-TV. The Pittsburgh area native started in Dayton after graduating from Penn State University in 2010. Promoting her to chief, and keeping her at 6 and 11 p.m., would be the least disruptive to viewers – but that would mean replacing the city's "Weather Authority" at 6 and 11 p.m. with the least experienced late-night forecaster of the four TV chief meteorologists (Steve Horstmeyer, Steve Raleigh, Kevin Robinson).
Dimmich, a Sycamore High School and Penn State grad (2007), was hired by Hedrick in 2011 after working in Hazard KY and Evansville IN. While at Penn State, he spent one summer each at WCPO-TV, WKRC-TV and the National Weather Service office in Wilmington, Ohio. He's a bright, calm communicator who will be a chief meteorologist someday, somewhere.
Who do you want to be named chief meteorologist at Channel 12? Who do you want to watch at 6 and 11 p.m.?
