The Weather Channel exploits risk for viewers

I'm not the only one having a lot of fun with this month's Risk theme.  The Weather Channel, which I'm sure isn't even aware of Nablopomo, let alone participating in it, is as well.  Of course, they have a motivation, as I pointed out when I repeated Next Media Animation's observation.

The Weather Channel doesn't get many viewers when the weather is nice. Instead, the network banks on its major storm coverage. Hurricane Irene gave The Weather Channel its best full-day ratings ever.
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Weather Channel reporters are known for turning up the drama, even when conditions are less than dangerous.

I concurred, predicting that I "expect[ed] more dramatic coverage from The Weather Channel in the future, not less."  The following shows that I'm right, at least so far.

First, here's another clip from Hacking the Planet, Can We Control Mother Nature?

The cast of the new show Hacking the Planet describes the latest attempts by scientists on the cutting edge working to prevent, weaken, or redirect dangerous weather events.

Next, here's The Weather Channel's oblique exploitation of Russian meteor strike, What Happened to Dinosaurs?

65 million years ago an asteroid hitting just off the Yucatan Peninsula is thought to have caused the extinction of the dinosaur. See more on Forecasting the End Thursday at 9pm only on The Weather Channel.

First, the terminal Cretataceous extinction was not the largest extinction in the history of the planet.  That distinction belongs to the terminal Permian extinction, which killed off 95% of the species on the planet, more than the 75% estimated to have joined the non-avian dinosaurs in oblivion.  Second, "Forecasting the End?"  2012 may be over, but the exploitation of the End of the World continues.  Speaking of which, It's time that I revive the Corporate PR label for this entry.  After all, that's all these videos are.