'Meet the Met' on Video

To these talents can now be added two more—scriptwriter and video star.

The vehicle for Bob's new claim to fame is a 20-minute video program called "Meet the Met", which the Bureau has produced in association with the ABC.

The presentation is designed to demonstrate to television stations the additional material that can be provided to make their weather segments more interesting and informative.

It had its origins in Meteorology Policy Committee discussions, as a result of which one of the MPC members, Mr Graham White, the ABC's Asst. General Manager (TV), offered the use of the Canberra studios to produce the program.

Bob Crowder wrote a lively script, and with SRTR John Mottram in a co-starring role, a pilot was produced in the CTS. Despite some scenes best described as hilarious, the pilot was pronounced good enough for the professional production to proceed.

The final result is now being shown in regional offices to Bureau staff and local TV producers and weather presenters. It's already been screened in Adelaide, Melbourne Sydney and Perth.

The program features John and Bob discussing a variety of weather elements and forecasting aids—temperature, rain-fall, hail, cyclones, weather charts, satellite imagery—and shows how they can be presented to TV viewers in an entertaining and instructive fashion.

Screenings to date have resulted in lively discussions, and there's no doubt that the program gives TV stations plenty of food for thought in presenting weather information.

P.S. "Meet the Met" should be compulsory viewing for a former ABC newsreader in Perth. According to a local press report, the announcer, who was noted for his individual approach, reduced the weather forecasts one night to: "It will be hot at the top, warm in the middle and cool at the bottom". The ex-newsreader is reported to have subsequently left for Greece to take up a writing career.

Bureau of Meteorology