by Caroline Gabsewics
Staff Writer
Jason Kadah’s demo tape is bad, really bad.
It’s so bad he didn’t think he’d ever got a job in TV.
So bad, that when Kadah has friends over and they are looking for a good laugh, he pops the tape in his VCR (yes, VCR).
Kadah is the newest meteorologist at Ch. 4. As a member of the early morning cast, he’s both weatherman and crew cut up. He started “Tacky Tie Tuesday” and keeps both the on-air talent and producers on their toes with his banter and off-everything humor.
Some people may think he is goofy or more comedian than weatherman, but Kadah said he doesn’t like to consider himself silly or funny, but animated.
“My personal opinion is, there are so many sources for weather and if you don’t offer something different, why would you watch that,” he said. “I’m not trying to be (Jerry) Seinfeld, I just don’t want it (the weather forecast) to be stuffy.”
Kadah has been with Jacksonville’s independent news station since June and he said getting the audience to like you is the hardest thing to do when you are “the new guy.” His sense of humor was evident during his first week on the air: he posted a sign on the weather screen that said “The New Guy” with an arrow pointing to him.
“The biggest challenge is getting people to like you,” he said. “You are the new person coming into everybody’s living room.”
Kadah said he understands there are people out there who may not like the extra flair he adds to his forecasts, but he has learned how to cope with negative feedback during his eight years as a meteorologist.
“If you have been in TV news for more than 10 minutes, you know how to cope,” said Kadah. “Fortunately for me, I have had more positive remarks (in Jacksonville) than negative.”
“Tacky Tie Tuesday” started when Kadah left his internship in San Jose, Calif. and at the urging of his girlfriend at the time.
“When I left my internship a friend of mine had a party and one of the weather guys at the station came and brought me a bag of 30 ties,” he said. “And they were all gross and ugly.”
Kadah’s girlfriend at the time gave him the idea to have a funny tie day, he said. After doing 30 practice takes before making his “horrible demo tape” she suggested a funny tie day. Kadah sent the demo tape to a station in Brownsville, Texas, which gave Kadah his first job as a meteorologist, but not without a caveat: the station wanted a catchy slogan and “Tacky Tie Tuesday” hit the air.
“I know it is so silly and borderline dorky, but it’s so innocent,” said Kadah. “It is something that is my own and people know me for that. It is like Willard Scott and his Smucker jars and me with my ties.”
Today, Kadah has about 200-250 ties in his closet and they are still coming.
“One time a guy sent a tie with real pheasant feathers on it,” Kadah said of his tackiest tie.
Goofiness aside, Kadah says accuracy still comes first.
“As much as I like to shake it up a little, putting out an accurate weather forecast takes precedent,” said Kadah, who has also worked in Fort Myers, El Paso and Allentown, Pa. “I have learned a lot and I take all of that and apply them to local conditions. But tropical storms fascinate me the most.”
Growing up, it wasn’t weather that fascinated Kadah — it was flying airplanes.
“I always wanted to fly planes really bad. My first love is aviation and the airline industry,” said Kadah, who received his pilot’s license and eventually saw how the weather affected flying.
If weather ever becomes a bore, Kadah has a plan. He loves talking and doing impressions and thought of himself as maybe taking over for Bob Barker as the host of “The Price Is Right.” That incessant talking, however, isn’t always an asset.
“It was interesting, we’d be flying and you have to communicate with the controllers on the ground and I was always talking on the radio,” said Kadah, who graduated from San Jose State with an aeronautical degree. “I could tell the controllers would get irritated.”
Kadah got into meteorology after trying to figure out how to combine his interest in science and doing impressions. At the time Kadah was living in the San Francisco Bay area and watching the local news gave him an idea.
Meteorology, he realized, was the opportunity to talk and use his aeronautical background. After going through a supplemental program to get his meteorology credentials at Mississippi State University, Kadah got his first job in Brownsville where they gave him the nickname, “Big Gulp” due to his propensity to swallow hard right after going on air.
“I would say, ‘your weather (gulp) today,’ ” said Kadah. “It was a learning experience.”
Kadah may seem wide awake at 5:30 a.m. but not much could be further from the truth. All of his jobs have been with the morning crew and before he came to Jacksonville, Kadah vowed he would never take another morning position.
“After eight years I am a walking zombie. I am not a morning person, but I play a morning person,” he said. “I really like the team here and I thought if I am going to kill myself, I should like who I work with.”
Kadah’s work day starts at 4 a.m. (he gets up at 3) and ends at 12:30 p.m.
“I’m done after that. I haven’t gotten used to it, I just do it,” said Kadah, who is getting married on a cruise ship in October and would like to stay in Jacksonville.
“At this point, I have enjoyed the experience of moving to different places and learning about different cultures,” he said. “But I am ready to settle in one place.”
In the meantime, Kadah is trying to figure out how to combine being a meteorologist, game show host and aeronautics all into one career.