In an industry long overdue for disruption, iK's Weather Insights is revolutionizing how weather is broadcasted.
Weather broadcasting has long relied on a combination of experience, instinct, and heavy (and expensive) infrastructure. But with modern newsrooms under pressure to move faster and reduce costs, it’s clear the workflow is overdue for a rethink.
That rethink is already underway — with broadcasters adopting iK Weather Insights as a faster, more flexible, cloud-native way to bring weather stories to life.
In this article, we delve into how weather has been broadcasted traditionally into people’s homes, and how that process is being reimagined with iK Weather Insights.
Traditionally, good weather broadcasts on television have been a combination of weather science, software and hardware technology, broadcast production and effective communication. Viewers depend on Meteorologists to translate complex weather data and convert it to something actionable. Example, today I will have to take my umbrella to work as it is going to rain or I better carry a light jacket to my dinner engagement as the winds are going to pick up tonight.
Some of the broad steps in getting weather to a television viewer’s home have been:
A way Meteorologists gather observation and forecast weather data is directly from multiple sources. This includes but is not limited to National Government departments, weather satellites, weather stations, radar systems, weather balloons, and computer models.
Data gathered include information about temperature, humidity, wind speed and direction, atmospheric pressure, precipitation, and much more.
Meteorologists analyze the collected data to create weather forecasts. They use computer models that simulate the atmosphere's behavior based on the current conditions and historical data. These models help predict future weather patterns.
Since weather generates tons of raw data, weather broadcasts heavily rely on visual aids and graphics to present information to viewers in an easily digestible manner. Meteorologists use computer software and graphics tools to create maps, charts, and animations that illustrate weather conditions, including temperature maps, radar images, and satellite imagery.
Meteorologists often use teleprompters or scripts to deliver their forecasts. They write and prepare their forecasts ahead of time, ensuring that they communicate the information clearly and concisely.
Meteorologists present the weather forecast on camera, standing in front of a green or blue screen. Chroma key technology is used to replace the green or blue background with graphics and animations. This technique enables meteorologists to appear as if they are standing in front of a weather map or animation. This requires a lot of training to do well.
Weather broadcasts may also incorporate multimedia elements, such as videos and photographs, to provide visual context and enhance the presentation.
After recording the weather segment, post-production teams may further enhance the visuals, add graphics, and fine-tune the presentation before broadcasting the weather report.
Traditional weather broadcasting is expensive. There is significant investment required in hiring and training meteorologists, maintaining on-premises infrastructure, and buying expensive software and hardware. Technology that keeps the broadcaster tied to it long past its due date.
To the viewer, the graphics might look a bit fancier, but the basics of weather broadcasting have not changed in decades. Even for well-established stations, the production process is often time-consuming, complex, and difficult to modernize without major investment.
So the question becomes — how can weather teams modernize without taking on more cost or complexity? How can they deliver accurate, compelling broadcasts faster, using tools that are easier to deploy, easier to use, and designed for today’s pace of production?
Enter iK Weather Insights.
With iK Weather Insights, all your organization needs is a web browser and an internet connection. The platform uses industry-leading cloud service providers like Microsoft Azure to ensure 24x7 uptime, built-in redundancies, and enterprise-grade security. Leave all the hard work to us. There is no need for any software to install or hardware to buy or green screen to work with.
iK Weather Insights delivers processed, production-ready weather data — from trusted sources like ECMWF, GFS, and more — faster than legacy systems, so your team can build segments and go live without delay.
With the iK Control Room (one of the two modules of iK Weather Insights), a producer can create a multi-scene weather show within a few minutes thanks to available templates and elements for various scenes. More scenes can be templated to suit your custom needs. The “What You See Is What You Get” editing capabilities makes it very intuitive to create complex scenes and shows. You can create multiple shows for your different needs and have them handy. All you need to do to deploy a show for Live TV is to press the ‘Activate Show’ button and the rest is taken care of for you.
Using the iK Presentation App, weather broadcasts can incorporate interactive elements. For teams that prefer traditional setups, Weather Insights supports that workflow too. But for those ready to evolve their presentation, the platform enables more immersive weather stories.
Hosts can create smart mark-ups on the touchscreen to point out important information. They can really immerse the viewers by zooming in / out or simply changing the pitch and bearing of the map on the touchscreen live during broadcast. Try doing that on a green screen.
This is just a small sample of how iK Weather Insights can make your life easier when producing and broadcasting weather segments.
And this isn’t just theory. One of Australia’s highest rated television networks recently transitioned to using iK Weather Insights to do all their weather broadcasting nationally.
If your broadcast team is looking for a smarter, faster way to produce and deliver high-quality weather shows with full control, we’d love to show you what Weather Insights can do.
Request A Personalized Demo ->
.png)
