The Weather Channel Rolls Out New Initiatives as It Looks Back on Its First 40 Years

In the 40 days leading up to its big 40 on May 2 The Weather Channel is releasing a new piece of content each day on linear digital or socialOn April 20 The Weather Channel meteorologist Tevin Wooten took to social media to ask viewers to make short 15 videos introducing themselves and sharing their favorite memories for a chance to appear on the channel Viewersubmitted content will be paired with an interstitial series featuring memories from anchors like Wooten across the channelFurther The Weather Channel is returning to promos of years past including a comedic one that features beachgoers seeing anchor Jim Cantore and running from him in terror due to his typical coverage of terrible weather The series also features some fun blooper reels from days gone byBut while The Weather Channel is having fun with the celebration its teams have their eyes focused on the excitement ahead as they plan what the network will look like in the next 40 yearsThe channel recently made several announcements regarding expansions In March The Weather Channel and CBS News disclosed that they were in partnership to quotbring enhanced weather and climate reporting to CBS News viewers around the worldquotThe partnership with CBS News made sense for both brands said Nora Zimmett President News and Original Series The Weather Group Since Allen Media Group acquired The Weather Group in 2018 The Weather Channel has emphasized covering climate change and sustainability two issues around which CBS News wanted to bolster its own coveragequotA YouGov poll recently named The Weather Channel the US39s No 1 most trusted news source followed by PBS and BBCquot Zimmett noted quotCBS has the same brand equity but has not traditionally delved into weather so we thought a partnership was very natural We can tell stories from a science perspective and rely on the journalism chops of CBS to delve into climate issuesquotIn May The Weather Channel is launching two new services a subscriptionbased Weather Channel app and firstever US Spanishlanguage weather service Leading up to that they debuted a new twohour daily show titled Pattrn on the linear channel borrowing from their socialmedia brand of the same name which debuted in 2018 Pattrn is also available as a free adsupported streaming television channelAnother part of the continued expansion at The Weather Channel is Immersive Mixed Reality IMR technology providing audiences with a quotvirtual viewquot into different weather conditions in communities across the country as that weather developsquotBefore we started our augmented reality about six years ago weather presentation had not changed since the first days of TVquot Zimmett recalled quotWe thought that there had to be another way to explain weather to people so they feel they39re a part of it We39re not just telling them what39s going to happen we are showing them Everything we had previously done as an industry was in two dimensions but it never fully captured the storyquotOn The Weather Channel39s 40th birthday it will launch a new directtoconsumer subscriptionbased app It also will launch The Weather Channel en Espaamp241ol which will be the first 247 weather service programmed specifically for Spanishlanguage speakers in the USquotThis is something that has not been done in the USquot said Suzanne Ruiz EditorinChief The Weather Channel en Espaamp241ol quotHispanics will now be able to access regionspecific content in Spanish Our viewers in the US are going to be able to have and use this for free across top streaming platformsquotFor Hispanics in particular this information is critically important especially when dangerous weather is hitting their families in other parts of the world such as a hurricane cutting through the CaribbeanquotWeather hits our families hardquot Ruiz said quotThis is going to be a source for us to get information and stay connected to our loved onesquotquotIt39s amazing how much weather affects some of the largest populations of Spanish speakers in this countryquot Zimmett asserted quotThe top10 states affected by billiondollar disasters have the highest ratios of Spanishspeaking people And climate change is making everything worsequotAt launch The Weather Channel en Espaamp241ol will be available on YouTube TV and on Weather Group39s Local Now app with more distribution expected to follow In addition The Weather Channel is working with the National Weather Service and the Federal Emergency Management Agency FEMA to issue weather alerts in Spanish something that currently does not existLooking ahead besides the IMR technology and overall content expansion The Weather Channel is working to bring viewers personalized weather forecasts that are so precise they will help them plan their mornings at home walking the dog as well as their afternoons traveling across townquotImagine a world in which all of that was orchestrated to take the guesswork out of my day so I could fine tune all of my activities based on weather guidancequot Zimmett concluded quotWe are fast forwarding our technology to meet the needs of our viewers creating a personalized and customized experiencequotClick 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 Rolls Out New Initiatives as It Looks Back on Its First 40 Years

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Paige Albiniak

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