Weather Systems: More Than Just Forecasts

Broadcast meteorologists want to have a conversation with their viewers when delivering the weekend forecast or discussing catastrophic weather event like Hurricane Sandy, according to leading broadcast weather system providers.

“The metaphor is if two people are at a Starbucks, they put an iPad between them and start pointing things out,” says Lee Rainey, AccuWeather VP of marketing.

“We’re now able to do that with weather maps, showing the realistic terrain and showing the weather information on the map with the presenter standing behind it, looking straight at the viewer, unlike the traditional, standing at the blackboard format that’s been used for so long.”

At this year’s NAB Show, AccuWeather and its competitors Baron Services and Weather Services International (WSI) showed off new and updated products that focus on interactivity, social networking and deeper integration of traffic and weather reporting.

WSI — which is owned by the Weather Co. — expects to compete more aggressively in the market after acquiring Weather Central in August 2012.

“In the broadcast space, both companies had fairly robust on-air and digital offerings, but Weather Central was very strong in interactivity,” says Mark Gildersleeve, president of WSI. “One of the big pieces of news from the show for us was we essentially brought over all of the great interactivity that Weather Central had and incorporated that into the Max Weather platform that WSI offers.”

When weather vendors use words like “interactivity,” they’re referring to allowing a meteorologist to move from one set of content to the next without a script. For example, if a meteorologist is showing a seven-day forecast, he or she might also want to touch a specific day to break down that day’s forecast. “When it’s more interactive, it’s more interesting for the viewer,” Gildersleeve says.

Acquiring Weather Central doesn’t just benefit current WSI customers. Existing Weather Central customers can now take advantage of WSI’s social media module, which lets a meteorologist insert tweets and Facebook updates from people stuck in traffic or in bad weather onto an interactive weather map. It’s one of 10 modules that’s now included in WSI’s Max Weather Suite.

“There’s always more interest in bringing more social content in and displaying it on air,” Gildersleeve says.

Existing Weather Central products will retain the original name and branding, but all new customers will buy products under the WSI brand name.

This video shows WSI’s social media integration.

AccuWeather’s big story at the NAB Show was its StoryTeller interactive touch screen system, which is in use by at least one station in each of the top 10 broadcast markets.

Touch screen technology is driving AccuWeather’s system development, Rainey says. “It’s the challenge that broadcasters have nowadays. They no longer have the monopoly on video. People used to only see video on TV at 6 and 11. That’s not the way people consume either information or video any longer. They’re used to interacting with it on their iPad or their phone. The challenge for a broadcaster is to give their format that same type of spontaneity.”

While it continues to be the company’s forte, AccuWeather is actually moving outside the bounds of weather.

At the show, AccuWeather demonstrated the StoryTeller Entertainment app, which included interactive graphics showing results and commentary from ABC’s Dancing With The Stars, in addition to various sports and news apps. Apps can be customized to tell any kind of news story. For example, the timeline app is designed to handle events measured in minutes, hours, days or even centuries. At the show, a demonstration showed a timeline of the history of the papacy that could have been used during coverage of Pope Francis’ election.

AccuWeather plans to release at least one new app every quarter, says Mark Joll, AccuWeather product manager.

The StoryTeller weather app can display seven-, 15- and 25-day forecasts, in addition to lifestyle features. “If you’re a jogger, or like to ride bikes, we have different meters that show if it’s going to be a good day for outdoor activities,” says Ryan Ayres, VP of display systems and services.

But in terms of weather coverage, the real benefit of StoryTeller is its ability to track severe weather, Ayres says. “When you’re in a severe weather event with a normal weather system, you wait for a new warning to come in, but you’ve already had your show updated. With StoryTeller’s interactivity, as new warning pops in, you can see it come in, you can touch it and you can show the viewers the different types of warnings. It could be a tornado warning, or hail, severe winds…. You can actually add value by being able to interact with the content.”

The following video shows a demonstration of StoryTeller’s traffic app in action:

Baron Services, which prides itself on the strength of severe weather forecasting, released updates to its flagship Omni Weather System and added touchscreen ability to its VIPIR (pronounced viper) weather system.

Ardell Hill, Baron president of broadcast operations, says Omni Weather 4.0 brings a much-needed graphics boost to its weather solution.

“The depth and level of expertise in our graphics has really accelerated…. They look like they were produced in a New York art house. They’re a product of our folks working with the stations to see what they want them to look like,” Hill says.

“We can tailor the look and 3D imaging and our 3D modeling and integrate it with live, real-time weather data driving those elements of the graphics that makes some really stunning presentations, Hill adds. “When you can see waves go from calm, rippling water to 4-, 5- or 10-foot waves, and see that graphically presented in real time during a hurricane, that’s quite a deal for stations on the coastline.”

The decision to add touchscreen capabilities to VIPIR seemed logical, given the popularity of smartphones and tablets, says Robert Baron, president-CEO of Baron Services.

“Using a finger to plot a storm track, touching the screen to add a data overlay and zooming into storms, combined with an extremely high level of customization make VIPIR touch screen an exciting new way to make the weather come alive for viewers,” Baron says.

The following video shows the VIPIR touch screen in action:

Even as the NAB Show has grown and expanded its reach to other industries, weather systems continue to play an important role and receive substantial foot traffic, Gildersleeve says.

“Weather is the No. 1 reason why people watch local news. If you’re a broadcaster, the most important content category for you is weather if you’re trying to regain share. It’s the category that every consumer turns to virtually every day.”