Rick Mitchell Out at KOCO

[Stormtracker_Tony]

Even though this board is dead, pretty surprised there's been no mention of this....but word is, Rick Mitchell is leaving the OKC market and taking on a chief position in Dallas.

Rather odd to see a chief slot open in OKC. Pretty curious as to what the deal is. Sure it's a bigger market physically speaking, but with OKC always being unofficially known as the number 1 weather market, sure doesn't seem like money would be an issue. I would imagine one in a chief position in OKC could easily pull in the wages of one in a physical top 5 DMA. Perhaps he got tired of the whole rat race of excessive competitive fighting?

Anyone have the inside scoop of why he's giving up arguably one of the most desired positions in the field? And any word on a replacement?

In any event, I wish him the best in his new market! He's a very solid guy, one of the best in the business and I know he'll do well in the Big D.

[Tornadocane]

Let's just say I am a very valuable source to why Rick is out.

Yes, OKC is a great wx market. Easily the most competitve in the entire world. But, this market puts a strain on your life. The job of chief here is one where your job is your #1, not your family. You can only miss so many family functions before it begins to impact you greatly.

They work us very hard here... you are not allowed to take time off from March 15-June 15th, as well as February, July and November. So, you have very little time to really enjoy life the way you want to. There have been times when they call us back from vacation because of the wx ..even during the holidays.

Rick is doing something fanastic for him and his family. I am sad to see him leave, but very excited for him and this new season in his life.

[The Mockingbird]

I think that's the same rationale many of us used when we left the industry entirely.

[WisconsinWX]

That seems entirely logical. I know one market in OKC only has 3 on-air mets. That sounds like a logistical nightmare. Imagine in the comp days (or burnout) that would come from being on that staff - even with 4 mets that would still be fun at first, and then likely annoying after many years.

[Stormtracker_Tony]

Originally Posted by Tornadocane

Let's just say I am a very valuable source to why Rick is out.

Yes, OKC is a great wx market. Easily the most competitve in the entire world. But, this market puts a strain on your life. The job of chief here is one where your job is your #1, not your family. You can only miss so many family functions before it begins to impact you greatly.

They work us very hard here... you are not allowed to take time off from March 15-June 15th, as well as February, July and November. So, you have very little time to really enjoy life the way you want to. There have been times when they call us back from vacation because of the wx ..even during the holidays.

Rick is doing something fanastic for him and his family. I am sad to see him leave, but very excited for him and this new season in his life.

Kinda figured it would be somewhere along those lines. I knew a guy that worked at KFOR many years ago (this was probably late 70s/early 80s) and I asked him why he gave it up. His response was "it seems like the dream job until you've tried it a year or so...then you're ready to run far away and never look back". Granted he was not married at the time, so the workload wasn't his problem, it was the amount of competition and bickering. Competitors were always down his throat, the government agencies were getting in wars with them, you'd get ripped a new one from competitors or the government agencies if you ever misspoke or overlooked any slight meteorological property. He said every weathercast, he felt like he was giving a graded presentation against his meteorology professors just waiting to nail him in front of his peers.

Even though this was decades ago, it seems the competition has only increased over the years and likely still that type of stress with the job. Especially with a chief job!