The countdown for Troy has begun

Troy Dungan, our faithful News 8 weathercaster will be stepping down for good this Wednesday, July 18th. He has been with Channel 8 for 31 years, informing Metroplex viewers about the weather and calming us down in those severe weather events. He has had a great run with the station and other events, including the Santa's Helpers Toy Drive at Christmas time. Channel 8 is giving him a great sendoff with providing us with memories of Troy from the past 31 years each night at 6pm. Pete Delkus, who has been gradually taking over the weather center with the 5pm and 10pm weathercasts will now take over the 6pm as well on Thursday, July 19th.

When I first came into town, I did not watch WFAA much in the beginning. My loyalty was with another station. After a while, I did make the switch from that station to Channel 8 because I could not take the hype from their news department anymore. I came to like the way that Troy presented the weather because it was very clear, slow and precise. There was no fluff, just the essentials. He also showed a lot of confidence in his forecast and relayed that confidence to the viewer so you could actually "Trust Troy" as Channel 8 wanted you too. Troy will be missed in this market. He has provided a great service to this area and he has definitely made his mark.

Troy will still be around. He is contracted to have at least 25 days on-air (most likely when Pete needs a vacation) at Channel 8 and will be helping out with Santa's Helpers. He has mentioned writing a book (not about weather) and maybe putting together some pieces for the station.

You can watch some goodbyes from Troy's on-air co-workers at his website. It is cool to hear some of the stories that his fellow staff have about him "behind the scenes".

Picture from WFAA

To Victory and Beyond!

So last night, some friends and I went to Victory Park to watch a broadcast of WFAA's 10 newscast. It was pretty cool.. We did not hear what they were saying, but we could see all of the behind the scene's actions. There was a cop outside of the studio doors, making sure that no deranged lunatic tried to get into the station.

Inside, the floor crew was preparing, getting cameras where they needed to be and then the talent started to appear and get themselves ready. Brett Shipp, a reporter, walked up and into the building while we were waiting. We saw him go inside, put on his tie and then start memorizing his lines for his (virtually) 2-second talk-up to his taped story. Then Macie Jepson and John McCaa took their places at the anchor desk. Macie Jepson is really tall! Despite the 3 inch heels that she was wearing, she is a tall lady. She seemed really nice. As she was walking out to their van, she waved to goodbye to us.

Pete Delkus appeared and walked over to the weather center to start prepping for his segment. He even came outside and did a little stand up giving the viewers a tease for weather. He told us all to come closer so we could be on TV. I did not choose to do so, but still managed to make it on TV. You could see my arm in the background as they went to break. He was pretty nice.

Watching the weather segment was pretty interesting. As Pete was talking, he walked over to the computers and started to manipulate the radars to try to demonstrate what he was talking about and after that, he walked over to the green screen. He then did his thing and then walked back over to the desk. This was as I expected, nothing out of the ordinary in my opinion. It was just cool to see it in person.

If you are in the Metroplex and are somewhat curious about how a TV newscast works/happens, I would suggest checking it out.. If not for that, just for the whole plaza because it is just pretty cool..the TVs and all of the colors that come from that square.. and just looking at the skyline at night...I could spend many hours just staring at the AAC...it is just an awesome style... but I digress...