Tuesday, January 28, 2025

Audiences want weather experts to live in their community. Media parent company agrees to keep local coverage local.

American audiences prefer local weather experts.
(Photo via AL.com)
The Weather Channel might be a great source for coverage of tornadoes and hurricanes for a national audience, but local audiences prefer TV weather experts who live and work nearby and understand their communities, reports Howard Koplowitz of AL.com.

That’s the takeaway from a recent decision – quickly abandoned – by Allen Media Broadcasting to have staff based at The Weather Channel provide local coverage for its TV stations across the country. Allen Media also owns The Weather Channel.

As WAAY (Huntsville, Ala.) General Manager Mike Wright told Koplowitz, “In a rare moment these days, the parent company actually listened to those of us on the ground in these markets where they own a station, like WAAY 31. . . . But what was more impactful was the feedback from the local community – the hundreds of you who took time to express your concern.”

Wright told Koplowitz, “I get it, there’s uncertainty with the economy at times and companies are scaling back. . . but some things you just can’t cut or compromise."

Allen Media operates 27 broadcast TV stations in 21 U.S. markets, AL.com reported.

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