Well it appears I got the alcohol part right just not the nitrous oxide.

Posted on Fri, Nov. 19, 2004





Weather forecaster Mathis fired

'They cut me loose. No severance, no nothing.'

MARK WASHBURN

TV/Radio Writer


Mark Mathis -- whose unpredictable, improvisational weather forecasts on Charlotte's Fox affiliate amused some viewers and infuriated others over the last two years was fired this week by WCCB-TV, two weeks after checking into rehabilitation for alcohol and substance abuse problems.

"They called me here at the hospital and basically said they're `terminating your employment with Fox,' " said Mathis, 38, in a telephone interview Thursday from a Texas rehabilitation facility. "And I said, `Why?'

"Because in the contract, that says you've publicly humiliated the television station by announcing you're going into treatment for alcoholism.

"They cut me loose. No severance, no nothing."

Despite the clowning during some of his performances, Mathis had said he's never been under the influence while on the air, but had fallen into a late-night, after-work partying habit.

Morality clauses are common in contracts in the broadcast industry, particularly those involving on-air talent, the public faces of stations and networks. Such clauses generally cover a variety of possible indiscretions, ranging from behavior at public appearances to legal matters.

"Mark agreed to a contract," said John Hutchinson, vice president and general manager of WCCB (Fox Charlotte, Channel 18), who hired Mathis in 2002 to bring the station a more distinctive, provocative image.

"He knows full well that he failed to fulfill a number of commitments he made to us in that contract. And he also knows that the company has gone the extra mile more than once."

Mathis, who made more than $90,000 a year, said Hutchinson told him Wednesday that he was being fired.

"I harbor no ill feelings whatsoever toward John Hutchinson," Mathis said. "He's the finest boss I have ever had. Period."

On-set buffoonery

Mathis cut an unusual course through the polite-and-proper universe of Charlotte television news. While his forecasting competitors projected an image of studious meteorology built on up-to-the-raindrop technological wizardry, Mathis bounded onto the set of WCCB's 10 p.m. newscast with clownish abandon.Once he poked fun at the theatrics of TV reporters who stand out in hurricanes for live shots: Pretending to be reporting amid lashing gales, he leaned awkwardly in front of a studio screen showing a film clip of bending palms and blowing debris.

Another time he sang the forecast, using a medley of Broadway show tunes, beginning with "It's Too Darn Hot" and ending with "(The Sun'll Come Out) Tomorrow.''

His antics brought in viewers who welcomed a little comedy relief in the news and others who detested his performances but couldn't help but tune in to see what he'd do next.

"Whatever I did, I would hear things like, `I can't stand you,' " Mathis said Thursday. "One lady told me to double up on my medication or stop taking what I was taking. Some people said I was loud, obnoxious and rude, but it was like a car wreck. They couldn't turn away.

"But I'd always return their phone calls and explain that I just didn't want to keep on doing weather the way I'd done it for 15 years, and they'd be very nice ...

"The people who loved it, absolutely loved it, and the ones who hated it, absolutely hated it. I think overall we were on the side of love or I'd have been gone a long time ago."

Mathis' departure came at the start of the November ratings sweeps, a critical time for stations because audience is measured with an eye toward setting advertising rates. In the first 10 days of the rating period, WCCB's 10 p.m. news ratings are off 27 percent from last November and the station is trailing the other two local newscasts in that time period on WAXN (Channel 64) and WJZY (Channel 46).

Previous treatment

In March 2003, Mathis disappeared from the air for a month after making a joke at the expense of Gastonia. The station did little to set straight reports that he'd been suspended for the remark or to dispel the mystery over his sabbatical.

But his absence had been scheduled. Mathis planned to go to rehab for a drinking problem.

A month later he returned to Channel 18 with trademark flair at the beginning of "Fox News Edge," a magazine-style show he co-hosted with Ashley Anderson.

The show opened with video of a limo pulling up to the studios and a bound-and-gagged Mathis being deposited on the station's front steps. A moment later, he hopped into camera range.

"I was in Texas," he told the audience with mock seriousness, "visiting my folks. That's all!"

On Thursday, Mathis said that he doesn't think he did enough after that hospitalization to maintain his sobriety, but this time he will overcome his disease.

"I realize that what I have is truly an illness, and you treat it and you get better...

"Via this illness I have, I've made some mistakes and I blame no one. I take full responsibility. It stings. And I'll miss the folks over at Fox. I loved and adored them ...

"I am excited about what God has in store for me next."