The Weather Channel set to debut new HD studio

For dedicated viewers and even all those weather junkies that watch The Weather Channel, this is an exciting time. If you love to see all the bells and whistles that the latest broadcasting technology brings, you are in for a very big treat tomorrow morning.

June 2nd will be a milestone day in the 26-year history of The Weather Channel, the first-ever cable network on television to broadcast weather news and information 24 hours per day and every single day of the calendar year. When the clock strikes 7:00 AM Eastern Daylight Time, the network will go live for the first time from their brand spanking new high definition studio with Your Weather Today, one of The Weather Channel's most watched programs. It is expected that meteorologists Marshall Seese and Heather Tesch will do the honors as the first on-camera meteorologists to bring the latest weather news from their new digs.

"The Weather Channel revolutionized how weather was presented when we launched in 1982 and we are about to do that again in 2008," Ray Ban, The Weather Channel's executive vice president of programming and meteorology had declared.


The Weather Channel HD on DirecTV as of October 1, 2007

As I had mentioned in a blog entry last fall, The Weather Channel HD made its debut on September 26, 2007 as DirecTV carried the network's national forecast information and two programs shot and aired in high definition with Epic Conditions and WeatherVentures. By January 6th, the smash hit magazine show When Weather Changed History became the third to air in HD.

But now, it won't just be magazine shows you get to enjoy. It is all the live weather forecasts you want to see in crystal clear high definition. In order to made this happen, it took $60 million of funding and 18 months to construct the 5,000 square foot HD studio that was build adjacent to The Weather Channel's main office building in northwest Atlanta. One of the great features of the building addition itself is that it has gone "green" as many ecoactivists like to say. Stephanie Robbins of TV Week reported on August 27, 2007 while the studio was in its middle phase of construction, it was certified by the Leadership in Energy & Environmental Design (LEED) organization. Among the "green" initiatives The Weather Channel has taken include landscape irrigation being provided by an underground storm water retention pond, volatile chemicals used at a low level such as paint and 50% of the disposable items used at the new building addition will be sorted and hauled from the site to recycling centers. Also, The Weather Channel plans to reduce fossil fuel emissions, plant new trees and conserve energy at the site. This week's episode of Forecast Earth (dated May 31st) previews the new HD studio and explained these "green" steps in further detail.


Evening Edition promo (video courtesy: The Weather Channel)

The first two live shows that will be in high definition are Your Weather Today and their prime time and late night program Evening Edition (while the weekday edition will make its HD debut tomorrow, the weekend version will air on June 7th). Over the next several weeks and months, the transition of all of The Weather Channel's live shows to HD format will be completed. The first of the next shows to make the switch will be Weekend View on July 12th as meteorologist Kelly Cass announced during yesterday morning's show. I always found their original ad campaign shown in Flash video format to be interesting surrounding its launch on October 1, 2005. Any live on-location camera shots shown on Abrams & Bettes: Beyond The Forecast (now will be extended to a two-hour show starting tomorrow) will also be in high-definition. On-camera meteorologists Stephanie Abrams and Mike Bettes will still be in their standard definition (SD) studio for now as no date of their switch to full-time HD has been announced.

All new HD programming at The Weather Channel will be in 1080i HD format, the highest quality picture available on television today. When makes this extra special is the new studio features a large set designed ideally to HD screens. In this May 19th press release by PR Web, the camera angles and lightning will immediately catch the viewer's eye. But the eye candy of them all is a massive 37-foot long video projection wall that will show a ton of weather graphic maps and statistical data pages as well as huge radar views of active weather zones across the United States. That screen alone cost a whopping $400,000. Other studio features include computers embedded in the anchor desks, nine HD cameras and a circle-shaped desk console that can rotate nearly 360 degrees. The anchors must figure out directions such as where to stand and which camera to look at. For even these seasoned veteran TV personalities, it is almost as if you're going on television for the first time in your career.

The expense of going HD is high, but John Mansell, a senior analyst with Kagan Research LLC told Atlanta Journal-Constitution writer Kristie Swartz it has to be done to keep a high viewership as the future of television continues its transition to high definition.

"Every network recognizes that if they have an HD version of that channel, they are going to have higher ratings for that channel," Mansell said. "Higher ratings translates to higher ad revenue as well as the potential to charge cable and satellite operators a higher fee to carry the station."

Alan Breznick, an analyst at Heavy Reading, a technology and media research firm in the Washington, D.C., area wondered why it has taken The Weather Channel as long as it did to add an HD channel.

"High definition is become more and more the norm. The networks have gone that way, the sports networks have gone that way already, the movie networks have already gone that way," Breznick said. "I am surprised that the Weather Channel hasn't already done that."

The Weather Channel's standard definition channel is in 97% of cable television households in the United States. Just because it is one of the most widely available networks where you can tune in for your weather needs, it doesn't mean it will be immune to ratings drops if it doesn't remain competitive. This certainly includes having an HD feed for an increasing audience with HD televisions.

"If you don't go HD, you're basically left at the starting blocks," Leichtman Research Group president Bruce Leichtman had told Swartz. "There are so many other networks that are already there, if you're not there, you're conspicuously absent."

The Weather Channel had began heavy promotion of their HD channel within the last month with at least five different promos that have aired throughout the month of May. They have also aired Local on the 8s introductions featuring TWC HD. If you go to the official web site of The Weather Channel, you will find a really impressive look at what is in store. But if you want a highly in-depth look at the new HD studio, you can get a full virtual tour of it.

Those OCMs that work on the two HD-ready shows have been rehearsing for several weeks to get completely prepared for tomorrow. In addition to Seese and Tesch, meteorologists Paul Goodloe, Alexandra Steele and Jim Cantore who host the weeknight Evening Edition in prime time have also been doing their practice runs. Joel Topcik of Broadcasting & Cable published an excellent article yesterday to provide a behind-the-scenes look. A video clip of one of those unscripted rehearsals can be found at the Broadcasting & Cable multimedia page.

Cantore simply was in awe with that huge projection wall. This despite knowing it'll take some getting used to working in the new studio.

"That is a monster wall," he said to Topcik in an interview. "There's going to be some times when Cantore's pointing to Alabama and he really means to be pointing to North Carolina."

However, not all of us will get to watch The Weather Channel HD immediately. Besides DirecTV customers, those that have Dish Network, Charter, some Comcast and Time Warner Cable systems can access to the HD debut program tomorrow morning. Other cable companies are soon to follow in the weeks and months ahead to carry The Weather Channel HD. One of those that notably doesn't as we begin June is Cablevision. They haven't added a single HD channel since December 20, 2007 with ESPN 2 HD.

Undoubtedly, Ban is excited with what this addition of The Weather Channel HD will be for the future of the network.

"We are going to raise the bar with a next-generation display which translates to a more dramatic viewing experience. Just as we introduced and grew around-the-clock weather, we now take ownership of a totally new way of presenting weather. Continuing in our path as innovators, we will move viewers forward into the HD era of weather presentation," he explained.