Does anyone watch the weather anymore on the nightly news? We have apps and the weather channel so it seems to me the local weatherman, regardless how jovial and user friendly he is (or how shapely she is) they have been rendered obsolete. I know how to bring them back!
Part of their schtick had always been responding to viewer mail, meeting local folks and relating little tidbits of advise or wisdom from the kind old lady in town about how to cut asparagus or remove bunions. This method has to return, but now by taking advantage of the full power of Web 2.0 and Social media. Here is what I propose to any network newscast hoping to save the weatherman:
Get as many local area residents as you can and recruit them into the Weartherman Army. (Yes, this needs a new name due to the other weatherman army). Set these normal folks up with devices installed in their homes with cams and recording devices that will track weather in real time and report instantly back to the station.
When the weatherman begins his thing, right after the big screen of radar maps ends, up comes a local Google Map mashup showing all the homes of local residents (anonymous of course) that the weatherman can click on to see either a live cam, or pull up atmospheric details, or read the users tweets, etc. In addition, if there was a particular intense weather event happening in which one of the army members was in the center of, they can chat or talk to them in real time to find out and see and hear what is _really_ happening right then and there.
Will cost the networks $50 per home, but the Web 2.0 Social media touting impact of what they have done will make the weatherman be again the key gatekeeper of all weather info and how it is impacting the local community in real time.
I say “again” assuming there was a point in time when the weatherman was relevant. Not everyone thinks so. I usually just look out my window to see what the day will bring.
I don’t need a weatherman to know which way the wind blows.
