WCCO Vet Syndicates Weather
Downsized meteorologist Douglas storms back with WeatherNation
By Michael Malone -- Broadcasting & Cable, 6/23/2008 4:40:00 AM
Laid off as the chief meteorologist at WCCO Minneapolis three months ago, Paul Douglas is back in the weather game with syndicated service WeatherNation.
With three decades of experience to draw on, Douglas is targeting stations, cable networks and Web sites with cutting-edge weather content that is broadcast out of Excelsior, Minn., via a high-speed fiber-optic link.
“It's one-stop shopping for weather content,” he said, adding that programming is available in HD or standard-definition, for Web players such as Flash and QuickTime and for mobile devices.
As stations are typically making due with smaller staffs and budgets, WeatherNation's timing appears to be favorable. Douglas said the service -- which includes 3-D Doppler radar and a 65-inch interactive touch screen -- could replace the last meteorologist on a station's depth chart.
The typical cost for a station would run $25,000-$50,000 per year.
“We're not threatening the primetime talent,” Douglas said. “It's more the No. 3 or No. 4 meteorologist doing weekend mornings.”
WeatherNation partners can choose their weather services a la carte, right down to the meteorologist and the set. The service currently has six staffers, three of them serving as talent. Douglas is the CEO and will appear on-air.
This week, WeatherNation will partner with weather-station maker La Crosse Technology to launch TheWeatherClub.com -- which Douglas called “Facebook for weather enthusiasts.” The WeatherNation Web site also launches this week.
WeatherNation will derive revenue from subscription fees, leaving ad revenue to partners. Douglas said broadcast outfits may make up 30% of WeatherNation's client base, with cable, pure-play Internet and newspapers also in the mix. “[Versus] could do weather updates for hunters,” he added.
WeatherNation president and chief operating officer Todd Frostad said potential corporate clients, such as Major League Baseball, are also a focus: “We could tell you: If you're sitting in section 120 at the ballgame, bring a visor.”
As every station plays up its hyperlocal philosophy, many will be resistant to a meteorologist in Minnesota forecasting the weather in, say, Miami. Douglas pointed out that The Weather Channel's Atlanta base and AccuWeather's State College, Pa., home have not hindered those outlets' credibility. He said he can access a “real-time visualization” of the Earth that offers a seven-day outlook for thousands of cities worldwide, adding that WeatherNation will be upfront about its location.
“We're not going to pretend we're in each of the markets,” he said.
Douglas' track record helps his company to stand out from other startups. Besides being a very popular Twin Cities meteorologist (he spent 25 years in the market), he sold 3-D graphics system EarthWatch for $3 million in 1997 and more recently sold mobile weather application Digital Cyclone to Garmin for $45 million.
And whether it's the cyclone in Myanmar last month or the floods in Iowa and Missouri in recent weeks, weather has never been bigger news. Douglas mentioned a 25% increase in “extreme weather events” in the past 60 years, citing a study from Environment America.
“Something has changed -- it's not our imaginations,” he added.
Some consultants believe the forecast could be favorable for WeatherNation. Mark Toney, senior vice president at SmithGeiger, knows Douglas from their time together at WBBM Chicago in the mid-1990s. “He's a terrific weather guy and certainly a successful entrepreneur,” Toney said. “The difficult economic time might just be right for this to work.”
The effusive Douglas said he's been pondering the concept for decades, and his dismissal from WCCO -- one of a couple of hundred casualties at the CBS owned-and-operated stations March 31 -- freed him up to concentrate on WeatherNation.
“I haven't been this excited in 30 years,” he added. “I'm hoping to prove there's life after local television.”
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