Local television weathercasts: it’s time for change

It has never been clearer. It can’t wait any longer. Local TV news must change its daily weathercast.

New research conducted exclusively for the 2022 Magid Weather Institute™ shows that for the first time ever, a source other than a local weathercast is used as frequently for weather information – 48% of respondents said they use a weather app.

Where’s the value?

Consumers are as interested in local weather information as they always have been. But viewers tell us that the current weathercast is mostly a repetition of what they already know – and the things in the segment that are new don’t have value.

The value is in the impact. An app or a website can give you a lot of data, but it can’t connect the dots to your life. The daily weather consumer is looking for the value a television meteorologist can bring by explaining what’s going on and how it will impact their life.

More relevance, less repetition

Does that mean it’s time to eliminate the daily weathercast? Absolutely not.

Magid explored different approaches to the daily presentation when there’s no severe weather happening. We asked the audience, which is very familiar with the daily approach now, to consider moving all the data to graphics on a ticker; moving the segment around in the newscast each day; an in-depth or story-focused segment that doesn’t have all the traditional forecast elements; even dropping the daily weathercast completely.

The results were clear: while there wasn’t much appetite to throw out the current approach, even among younger viewers, more than half the respondents “liked” each of the options – telling us the audience is giving permission to make some changes.

Now it’s up to local stations to seize the opportunity. Magid knows weather. And we can help.