8.6 The TV of tomorrow: Weather apps aren’t the worry. They’re the answer.

Friday, 23 June 2023: 9:45 AM
Sonoran Sky Ballroom Salon 5 (Arizona Grand Resort & Spa )
Matthew Cappucci, MyRadar, Orlando, FL; The Washington Post, District of Columbia, DC; and S. Garimella and M. Linden

Local TV news continues to shed viewership as the public flocks to the instant gratification of mobile apps and internet for comparable content. This is of existential concern to traditional broadcast meteorologists, who disseminate critical, timely and reliable forecasts over television airwaves at prescribed times throughout the day.

Social media and mobile applications dominate the market as the public’s preferred first source of news and weather information. Even during breaking and/or critical weather situations, television is often a secondary or tertiary source that the public consults to confirm information found on mobile platforms.

This presentation aims to identify the role of weather apps not as the competition of traditional weather broadcasts, but rather the platform and medium through which video forecasts can thrive in the future.

MyRadar is the most highly-rated weather application in the Apple store. With 50 million downloads and 15 million monthly users, it is the preferred first source of weather information for an enormous population.

In the past 6 months, MyRadar has devised and implemented a novel video strategy that is netting an average of 3 to 5 million views per month. We have future plans that may allow for a doubling of viewership in the next 12 to 18 months.

The television model is antiquated, and the current era is one ripe for experimentation. We’ll break down our strategy, our format and our results.

- Indicates paper has been withdrawn from meeting
- Indicates an Award Winner