Snow falls in the distance as dusted pine tree branches fill the screen. The voice of Emmy Award-winning meteorologist Tim Heller introduces the day’s forecast in Green Bay, Wis., noting that Firestone Tires, whose logo occupies the bottom right-hand corner of the video, has sponsored his report.
“Whether you’re battling the snow or tackling icy roads, Firestone Winterforce tires will give you the solid grip you need,” Heller says, closing the report.
It was technically
not
Heller who narrated the forecast reels, however. Firestone tires may have sponsored the report, but it was actually brought to us by generative AI, leveraged in The Weather Company’s new, automated weather forecasting solution, ReelSphere. The platform helps media organizations deliver weather reports that audiences crave — particularly on digital channels — assisting meteorologists with their ever-growing workload of creating unique content on all platforms. Crucially, ReelSphere also gives ad sales teams additional sponsorship opportunities to generate greater revenue streams for stations.
Weather Coverage on Digital Channels: a Vital Resource
In a recent webinar, “Unlocking Profit Potential: Maximizing Revenue with Streaming Weather,” Vmeetsolutionspublisher Kathy Haley opened the conversation by saying that, at recent events, she’d heard frequently that streaming offers TV station groups the chance to expand their audiences to new demographics and multiply revenue.
“Weather is the number-one reason that people tune into local newscasts,” Haley continued.
“It’s the reason they follow their local meteorologist’s social feeds, and it’s a major reason that they tune into local TV apps and websites. Weather offers a compelling opportunity to create content on streaming, but most local meteorology teams are strapped for time, and they can’t create as many reports as they would like to.”
Justin Tuggle, Director of Sales for Strategic Solutions at The Weather Company. Explained how ReelSphere is designed to specifically address this challenge. The platform quickly produces content fit for broadcast, streaming and mobile with limited human resources required.
ReelSphere might not have been viable without the broadening of many minds.
“A year ago, we were talking about AI to broadcasters, and it was a hard stop,” Tuggle said. “In just 12 months they have done a complete 180-degree pivot. As people become more comfortable with AI, and more people are using AI, they’re more receptive to leveraging AI into their workflows and tools.”
This growing comfort level with AI is arriving just as an increasing number of news organizations roll out all-weather FAST channels. Haley posted a poll asking webinar viewers — a mix of production, news and sales executives as well as general managers — how many of their stations offer a weather-focused FAST channel. The results surprised and impressed her, as 40% confirmed that their station offered one, with another 26% indicating a weather FAST channel was in the works.
“That really goes to show the value of weather and providing a 24/7 weather FAST channel experience to viewers and also the revenue ramifications of having that additional channel be there for viewers,” said Tuggle. “They can go sell sponsorships and increase monetization opportunities as they grow their audiences for their weather channels.”
AI Efficiency to Automate and Optimize Newsroom Workflows
Tuggle also noted that with less concern about granting tech companies access to private information — an issue that’s being addressed — newsroom leaders are more readily recognizing the efficiency that AI provides. It automates workflows, which translates into value. This is especially key when it comes to weather because meteorologists must now create content for social, mobile, web, and streaming channels, almost never with the benefit of more manpower on staff.
The Weather Company has been utilizing AI to build weather forecasting models for years, and it’s earned high marks for accuracy, Tuggle said. ReelSphere not only creates the automated weather reports, but they also are adaptive, considering weather, as well as location, day of the week, time of day and other variables to create a unique piece of content for any consumer location. And with personalized data as well, ReelSphere also generates personalized ads that accompany the forecasts.
If you live in Pebble Beach, Calif., and enjoy golf, you might get a forecast centered around the famous course there, sponsored by Callaway, as was the case in a fourth demo video that Tuggle presented during the webinar. The spot even included overhead shots of the course and at one point outlined precisely where and when winds were going to pick up — a key bit of information for anyone hitting the links that day.
“When it’s breezy, swing easy with Callaway’s Supersoft Golf Balls,” the narrator said as an ad flashed in the top-right corner. Tuggle called this highly personalized presentation a “lifestyle forecast,” with the backgrounds being totally customizable.
On broadcast, “you could run this weather content in a pre-roll, mid-roll, post-roll ad,” Tuggle noted. “Or even some people are looking at this as a slate replacement solution. So instead of seeing that, ‘We’ll be right back’ messaging on a streaming FAST channel — which is not a great user experience — they can run a local weather forecast, where that viewer is getting their weather forecast, and then the advertiser has a sponsorship opportunity, and then the station is creating another sponsorship opportunity that they can go monetize. We’re calling that a win-win-win scenario.”
Customization is Key
ReelSphere’s value is also heavily tied to the ease of workflows that it offers users. Haley asked Tuggle how long it takes for a meteorologist to put these reports together and get started.
“There’s some setup on the front end to get your station look and branding and all of that integrated into templates, but then it uses the same weather data and graphics that the on-air meteorologists use to create all of their forecasts every day,” Tuggle outlined. “We just set the template up, let it run, and then it adapts and changes on a consistent basis based on how those different variables are changing in the locations you want.”
Answering an audience question, Tuggle also said that ReelSphere can be programmed to produce traffic reports — more content audiences demand. The weather reports don’t have to be in Tim Heller’s voice either. As highly regarded as he may be, a station will probably want their trusted meteorologist’s voice to handle the narration. With the advanced generative AI in ReelSphere, Tuggle said cloning a voice is not a problem at all, requiring audio clips of just a few minutes in total time to fully capture the voice and unique inflections.
“And we’re automating text scripting as part of our proprietary solution, based on the weather,” Tuggle added. “So that scripting is changing as the weather changes, the day of the week changes, all of those variables are affecting the script, and you, the meteorologist, or whoever is using it, has the ability to augment that dynamic script.”
Severe Weather in Dallas
In another demo forecast from ReelSphere, focused on the Dallas/Ft. Worth, Tex., area, Heller cautions the audience about severe weather threats, including “powerful tornadoes.” A map image gives way to captioned photos of a “basement,” “bathroom” and “closet,” as Heller instructs viewers to “know the safe places to go during a tornado.”
And in San Mateo, Calif., it’s Heller voicing another rainy weather report, this time for mobile viewing. “Lower chances of showers will make early evening a preferred time for getting outside for the rest of the day,” he says.
A Range of Applications
As the webinar neared a close, Haley read results of another poll, which asked viewers how they might utilize ReelSphere. 85% of them envisioned using the solution on their streaming or FAST channels, while 77% said they could see using ReelSphere for mobile, 62% for social, 46% for linear and 70% for web.
The figures didn’t surprise Tuggle. He said ReelSphere was initially designed for streaming, but as they exposed the technology to more and more publishers, additional use cases for the other media were also developed.
Perhaps the most important realization for ReelSphere’s makers was the advantage its technology could provide staffers of small stations with exceptionally tight margins. It could help keep the lights on there.
“Those small markets where they can’t find a meteorologist for the weekend, or they want to update their website or augment what meteorologists are reporting, would benefit greatly from ReelSphere, said Tuggle. “Weather data’s good for six hours, seven hours, and then it’s stale. With ReelSphere we could have the meteorologist still updating the website every six, seven hours, but in between, we have a ReelSphere weather video that’s updating every hour. And it could be local weather or lifestyle content that’s highly sponsorable. You can create all kinds of new weather sponsorships and you’re giving the viewer more up-to-date weather.”
For more information on ReelSphere, contact Justin Tuggle, justin.tuggle@weather.com
Watch the full video of
“Unlocking Profit Potential: Maximizing Revenue with Streaming Weather” here.
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AI and automation fuel new audiences and revenue with weather programming
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AI and automation fuel new audiences and revenue with weather programming
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