The Weather Channel: Forecasts Call for Great Storytelling

MediaVillage talked with The Weather Channel39s Nora Zimmett pictured above chief content officer and executive vice president and Howard Sappington pictured above vice president original programming about entertaining and empowering viewers with characterdriven storytelling The conversation also dives into how when it comes to covering sociopolitical weather issues such as climate change The Weather Channel39s approach is to quotfollow the sciencequotMichael Smith How does longform original TV series content fit into your programming and scheduling strategyNora Zimmett We39ve listened to our audience and learned that they39re going to plan their day in the morning with our AMHQ show and during the day when they39re out running around or at work they rely on our live forecast shows like Weather Center Live to plan their activities But at night when they39re at home they39re looking for a leanback bigscreen experience from shows like Heavy Rescue 401 and Storm Stories The Next Chapter with familyfriendly storytelling that everyone can enjoy togetherSmith What39s your approach to originals what formats and topics work for youZimmett One of the things that differentiates us from other nonfiction networks is that we uniquely leverage weather as a character in all our storytelling It39s the protagonist against which human characters must compete in challenges to achieve goals and often to secure ultimate survivalHoward Sappington When we evaluate potential show pitches the show can39t be just weather adjacent like a show about just the outdoors We need to see weather as a key part of the story conflict and resolution Compelling stories of real people working under and surviving in extreme weather conditions work best for usZimmett We39ve discovered that our audience wants characterdriven shows more than purely howto informational shows They love shows that pit man against nature like in our popular show Highway Thru Hell where the Jamie Davis Heavy Rescue crew faces the daunting job of clearing major wrecks to keep a key highway open against blistering weather conditions I believe people sell the story whether it39s our engaging meteorologists during the day or our compelling reallife characters in primetimeSmith What are some other key success factors for your showsSappington Shows like Storm Stories really resonate because of the emotional and often gutwrenching impact of seeing the amazing experiences people have gone through and how they39ve overcome and become strongerZimmett We avoid generic narrator hosts It39s important that we personalize the story telling it through the actual people who suffered through the storms survived the extreme conditions and can offer a unique firsthand perspective Instead of a show in the Arctic or on Everest where most people will never go we choose more relatable topics like hurricane and tornadoes happening in America to show people that they might find themselves in those situationsSappington Characters and stories are key but viewers also like some useful takeaway info like survival tips they can use if they ever faced situations like the ones in our showsZimmett Recently we were doing focus group research in Houston and a woman told us about how she and her daughter survived Hurricane Harvey and were stranded on a rooftop for 14 hours and as scared as the she was her daughter said quotMom I know what to do because I watched The Weather Channelquot It39s so affirming to know that we39re doing our job by both entertaining and educating through storytellingSmith The Weather Channel is all about how weather impacts our lives but is your original content also impacted by current cultural and political trendsZimmett I39m glad you brought that up I don39t think we39re getting into political topics We39re simply getting into science topics that everybody else has deemed political It39s interesting that in this country we think of sciencebased topics like climate change as political once different political parties take a stance on them We don39t advocate for one policy over another we advocate on behalf of science and the planetSmith What inspired your new series of specials Race to Save the PlanetZimmett We believe strongly that talking about climate change is key to fulfilling our mission of protecting and saving lives We started last November with our first Race to Save the Planet special where we talked to 2020 presidential candidates about their climate policies and what science shows us are going to be the problems during their administrationsWe went deeper with a second special on February 1 that specifically focused on environmental justice and how minority communities are disproportionately impacted by environmental issues that are now worsening with climate change A third special will look at battleground election states and why those same states are also battleground climate change statesSmith What are you excited about for the rest of this yearZimmett We39re taking our original series Storm of Suspicion to a new platform when it hits Entertainment Studios broadcast syndication airwaves across America at the end of this year The show idea came to both Howard and me literally at the same day when we said to each other quotLet39s create a CSI crime show where weather is either than main character an alibi for the perpetrator or something that helps officials solve the crimequot Stations around the country fell in love with it so it will be coming soon to a city near youSappington Weather Gone Viral is also entering syndication It takes an entertaining look at some of the funny things in the world and in life that happened around the weatherDon39t stop now Stay in the know with more from WeatherChannelInSitescomClick the social buttons to share this story with colleagues and friendsThe opinions expressed here are the author39s views and do not necessarily represent the views of MediaVillagecomMyersBizNet

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The Weather Channel: Forecasts Call for Great Storytelling

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Michael Smith

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