Holding Pandemic News Viewers Long-Term With Weather
After more than 30 years as a television weatherman, Jeff Lyons was accustomed to people honking a horn or pulling a goofy face from time to time as they passed by his outdoor live shots. He thought unexpected guests were a thing of the past when he moved his nightly forecast for WFIE Evansville, Ind., into his dining room last month amid the coronavirus pandemic. Then, three weeks into his new routine, Lyons’s 11-year-old cat Betty showed up.
The data doesn’t lie. As local TV news viewership has slowly but steadily declined, the local weather segment has endured as the most ‘must-see’ aspect of many local newscasts. Research by media consultants and by Pew Research shows that local weather is the most valued topic covered by local newscasts. It might be tempting to stop right there. Thanks for watching, goodnight. But it would be perilous to take this narrow view.
Brad Smith of Videa explains why local broadcast weather news is adding viewers and why that’s a good opportunity for advertisers.
Exclusives
Audience research consistently shows weather is a primary driver of news audience in every TV newsroom. And in many markets, members of the weather team are some of the most popular people on air.
WDAF ‘Weather Story’ Promos Are Different
Used exclusively by NBC/Telemundo station meteorologists, the StormRanger radar trucks are honored for revolutionizing the timeliness and accuracy of local weather forecasting and reporting.
While consumers with GPS-enabled smartphones expect real-time weather reports down to the street-corner level, station meteorologists say it’s not that simple. Most of what one gets from apps is just model data that hasn’t been subject to human interpretation. Sifting through the various models and presenting a forecast that incorporates local knowledge is where station meteorologists excel. “The local knowledge that experienced meteorologists can lend to the product is invaluable,” says Justin Keifer, chief meteorologist at WMBB Panama City, Fla.
Historic wildfires have burned all summer long in California, but meteorologists across the state are focused on the immediate impact and are cautious about pointing the finger squarely at climate change.
Capitol Broadcasting’s NBC affiliate WRAL Raleigh, N.C. (DMA 25), has released a major update to its popular weather app, providing an all-new user experience, “including easier access to popular features, customizable designs, animated graphics and voice alerts,” according to the station. The app is a complete overhaul, delivering interactive radar plus 7-day and hourly forecasts. […]
WIAT Weather Promo Blends Serious, Casual
WTXF’s Weather Anchor Celebrates 20 Years
AI Can Bring Relevance To Weather Coverage
It’s time we face the facts as media weathercasters: Our viewers’ habits are changing, and nothing we do will pull them back to the traditional, one-platform, linear TV viewing habits. We are in a unique position in that, as more content providers branch into also providing on-the-go weather reports, we are becoming both less valuable and more valuable. We should be embracing the new evolution of on- and off-air weather reporting in the form of augmented intelligence (AI). We must learn to embrace the new or risk becoming uncompetitive in a breakneck market.
Geotargeting and push notification features are among the many incremental steps forward that broadcasters are embracing to make their weather products as relevant as possible in a world where weather information is increasingly consumed on mobile devices — and not necessarily via TV apps.
Weathercasting Forecast: A Flood Of Data
Newly available data from the GOES-16 weather satellite and other weather sources are making new data management strategies essential for meteorologists to get at what they need to make their predictions. Vendors have responded with various approaches each aimed at helping meteorologists separate the wheat from the chaff. Above KATU Portland, Ore., alerts viewers. (Baron Services photo)
Weather, And Promoting It, Differs Everywhere
If your competitor has the most experienced meteorologists in town, and has marketed that position successfully, you can’t own it. So maybe your best option is to find another position that you can own, one that is unspoken, subtle and not so serious. Here are seven successful weather promotion strategies you can file for a rainy day.
Marketing TV Meteorologists: What’s Your Story?
KCCI Unveils All New Storm Chaser
Hearst-owned CBS affiliate KCCI Des Moines, Iowa (DMA 69) has rolled out the latest generation of the KCCI Storm Chaser weather vehicle Wednesday on KCCI 8 News at Six. The new Storm Chaser has been custom equipped with the latest technology, including an all-weather 360 degree panning camera, on-board weather tools, live radar reception and […]
Weather Needs Both Tech And Storytelling
In weather coverage, technology continues to drive differentiation (and lower barriers to entry) between systems and platforms while viewers are expecting more than just the seven-day forecast. Weathercasting must add more storytelling at the local level, helping viewers not just know the weather but understand how and why it will impact their lives.
AccuWeather’s critical weather updates and information are now available to Android TV viewers through its new hyper-local, customizable TV app.
Differentiation once only meant that you stood out from your rivals across the street. It’s not that simple anymore. Broadcasters now compete for elusive demographics across multiple fronts, and audiences almost always have a portable computer in their pocket or purse that’s with them everywhere they go. Factor in tablets and the web, and weather content is everywhere. How can you reach the biggest possible audience? An essential part of that is differentiating your weather presence, regardless of platform.
Univision launched its national weather hub today, aimed at delivering weather forecasts to the company’s TV and radio stations, along with digital properties and national network. Based out of Univision’s Houston facility, which also houses affiliate KXLN, the weather hub boasts 3,000 square feet of space on the third floor with approximately seven employees.
AccuWeather Debuts Digital Content Program
AccuWeather introduced the AccuWeather Digital Content Partner Program, providing exclusive, interactive digital content to participating partners. This new program provides unique, engaging content to support partners as a top source in providing breaking news and weather content from AccuWeather’s library of interactive severe weather videos and explanations of weather events to proprietary AccuWeather Ready preparedness […]
The Weather Co. is introducing major enhancements to its Max Engage solution for news stations, which will now include the power of IBM Watson, a cognitive digital solution. Using Watson technology, weathercasters will be able to find the information they need through natural language queries. Updates to the Max Engage system include the ability to […]
WKAQ Refreshes Look, Augments Weather
Picture This: Graphics Move Beyond Quality
The graphics systems broadcasters rely on daily to make news, sports and weather reports more appealing and informative have advanced quite far — so much so that quality has become a given. To differentiate themselves, vendors now are focusing on the finer points like tighter workflow integration. But that’s just one of the many trends broadcasters can expect in graphics systems on the exhibit floor at the 2017 NAB Show. (Ross Video photo) Click here to access TVNewsCheck’s NAB 2017 Resource Guide listing of broadcast graphics vendors and products, or here to download it as a PDF.
WUSA Weather Promos Are Moody And Cinematic
The interactive in-app radar, developed with The Weather Co., offers users access to weather information by seamlessly connecting public, fixed and mobile radar information in one place.
WPVI Forecaster Offers Pre-Snow Wine Forecat
Watch Tonight At 10, On Facebook
Every weeknight at 10, WDBJ, Gray’s ABC affiliate in Roanoke, Va., offers the public a chance to interact, ask questions and talk about the weather with its chief meteorologist, Brent Watts via Facebook.
