Hearst-Argyle Launches Weather Site

KMBC Kansas City unveils a new weather microsite Thursday, and parent Hearst-Argyle will roll out the model–dubbed First Alert–at its stations over the course of several weeks. (Its NBC stations, with their own WeatherPlus sites, will not feature First Alert.) 

Users are excused if the First Alert template looks a bit familiar; in fact, the home page a dead ringer for the iPhone home screen. Two dozen squares are set up in a grid pattern, offering everything from live radar to skycams to travel advisories. The platform’s architects insist the resemblance is coincidence, that their model was sketched out before the first peeks at the iPhone last summer. 

Hearst stations will adopt First Alert at the rate of a couple per week.