Why Fox is betting big on weather fans

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The weather, often ridiculed as a trivial topic of last resort conversation, has in fact been a prolific source of entertainment. Natural disasters lead to big budget blockbusters. Solar energy powers Lorde’s latest single. The double rainbows produced a lasting meme. But is the weather worthy of a full streaming service?

Fox certainly thinks so. This week, the network announced that it will be launching Fox Weather, a 24/7 weather forecasting platform, rain or shine. The same goes for The Weather Channel, which is launching a streaming service that it hopes will have 30 million subscribers by 2026, a far cry from Netflix’s more than 200 million subscribers, but on par. with smaller streamers such as HBO Max and Hulu. According to the New York Times, these impending launches have led to bidding wars against star TV meteorologists, the construction of chic new high-tech studios, and debates about the potential influence on public opinion: The Fox Weather Perspective already worried a lot, given the history of the network in matters of climate -change the refusal.

Yet the movements also make sense. As more severe weather events occur, putting more lives at risk, Fox and The Weather Channel are banking on the existence of an audience for 24-hour coverage of our skies. Keeping abreast of the weather has always been a pervasive and routine activity; the elements play a role in how we dress, what we do, where we travel. The accessibility and universality of weather narratives can bind a community: local presenters can become celebrities in their own right, while photos of thunderstorms and first snows populate Instagram feeds and are featured by stations in their city. native. All it takes is a deviation from the norm – say, when a record-breaking heat wave arrives or forest fires produce orange skies – for viewers who normally only seek the highs and lows. daily lows to switch to obsessive analysis of pressure systems and dew. points.

No one understands why the weather is always on our radar better than meteorologists who have built a strong online community of Facebook groups, fan sites and forums. Some enthusiasts, like 24-year-old climate blogger Kelsie Nelson, have turned childhood obsessions into meteorology degrees. “People like the weather channel, ”she insisted over the phone, laughing. She admitted, however, that she was a little taken aback by the idea of ​​multiple streaming services vying for her attention: “I’m not 100% sure how many people would subscribe.”

Yet for Nelson, weather programming is a necessity that deserves a larger audience. As a child, she had been afraid of “a lot of weather” – thunderstorms and natural disasters, which she feared only after she started listening to The Weather Channel after school. she would watch Storm stories, the series on notable storms. In college, she tracked the channel’s coverage and used her own radar to confirm the experts’ ideas. The day DirecTV reinstated the weather channel in its programming in 2014, after removing it earlier that year, was “one of the happiest days of all time,” I told me. she says.

Charlie Phillips, 28-year-old meteorologist and founder of WeatherTogether, a blogging network devoted to climate coverage, told me he started watching The Weather Channel “religiously” after experiencing a downpour as a child. “I saw this giant thunderstorm, and it just captivated me,” he said. From there, he always captured the “Local on 8” segments, which offered neighborhood updates, and kept up to date with his favorite weather forecasters. (He preferred the ones that were more into “science and geek stuff,” he added.)

This curiosity for natural phenomena will be crucial for future streaming services; the possibility of spectacle is part of the allure of looking at the sky. “Some weather conditions are definitely a bit boring,” said Phillips. “But what if you see a thunderstorm, strong winds and heavy rain, or a surprise snowstorm? Something like this is quite exceptional.

There’s an adrenaline rush watching breathtaking news stories, in other words – “the same as breaking news,” Phillips explained, these are just pictures of “the guy who has his umbrella against these howling winds “, and a fear that does not come with typical titles. The weather is perpetrated by a force that is somewhat predictable but ultimately uncontrollable, and no Hollywood disaster movie can fully replicate the effects, those major forces that can fascinate, shock or even humiliate.

“You see people trapped in floodwaters, hurricanes, storm surges… and you realize how small humans are, and how fragile life is, ”Nelson said. “You become much more thankful for what you have, because you know that at any time it can be taken away.” Indeed, extreme weather events have a human impact, especially for vulnerable regions of the country and for the exhausted climate reporters who cover these troubles. As the frequency of these events increases, weather coverage will become more necessary and more confusing to watch.

With Nelson’s words in mind, I logged into the Weather Channel for the first time in years. The coverage focused on tracking Tropical Storm Elsa as it swept the east coast, and I watched a meteorologist gravely mark the path, scribbling circles on a map to indicate vulnerable sites where tornadoes could. to reproduce. “Not a very populated area,” he said, drawing another target with a flick of his wrist, “but a concern nonetheless.” The segment is then cut live from a track. “Boy, these waves are really starting to gain momentum,” said Anchor. “After storms, more rain. Not what you want to hear. The images seemed apocalyptic: high winds, gray skies, no one in sight. The scene was grim. The anchor looked grim. I felt dark. But I also had a hard time looking away.

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