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Stations’ Weather Forecast Looks Cloudy, As Interactive Future Beckons

The business of weather has changed dramatically since former WCCO Minneapolis chief meteorologist Paul Douglas exited the station world in 2008. An entrepreneur with a handful of multi-million-dollar weather-tech startups to his credit, Douglas launched the syndicated weather outfit WeatherNation a few months after he was laid off, with the aim of providing weather content to stations and other media outlets across the country.

He envisioned a large quantity of his business coming from supplying weather talent remotely from his Twin Cities headquarters for stations that perhaps had downsized. But as media consumption habits have changed, with users increasingly accessing weather information when and how they want it on their iPhones and Droids, WeatherNation is more in tune with products for people on the go.

From his vantage point, Douglas suggests that the golden age of tune-in-at-11 TV weather has faded. “The appointment-viewing paradigm is in peril,” he says. “For big weather events, consumers continue to gravitate to trusted sources [on television]. But for the other 320 days of the year, they want instant gratification and convenience.” More on Broadcasting & Cable.

Nov 30, 2009 2:08 AM ET

Cloudy Photo: Flickr/Theophilos

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Posted In: Media & Publishing, TV

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