Tornadoes? There's an app for that.
Posted on Mon, Jan 23, 2012 @ 12:46 PM
From CJ&N President John Altenbern:
Local television has long been the place to turn first when severe weather threatens. Now, that supremacy is being challenged by digital competitors. There's no reason you can't maintain that edge. If you're smart, your station is waging a war for weather supremacy in your market not just on-air but online and especially on mobile devices.
Here's a report from the front: At 4 o'clock this morning when tornadoes struck Birmingham, ABC 33/40 wisely posted the image above of their severe weather app online and on Facebook. (If you know anything about tornadoes, this image strikes fear in your heart.) Imagine if you are huddled in your bathtub or in a storm shelter, holding your iPhone and seeing this on the screen. With a smartphone, everyone has a live radar image available in their pocket. You absolutely want to have that image coming from your station. Three people are reported killed and over a hundred injured in this storm alone.
Another station, WRCB in Chattanooga, dealt with severe storms in the last few days too. Their weather app screen grabs made it to Facebook, where users thanked the station for the information, like this comment: "Thanks WRCB! When I woke up at 7 this morning, I looked and knew immediately we had a tornado watch with the icon at the top!" And a discussion ensued among users on how to use some of the app's features. WRCB has already had more than 100,000 weather app downloads, and I'd bet they are about to have more.
Mobile is a powerful platform for your information - convenient, always available and becoming nearly universal. It's a critical part of your weather strategy as well as breaking news. In 2012, what are you doing to make mobile your first thought, and not an after-thought?