It's the weather, but not as we know it

Two 24-hour North American weather channels are vying to win contracts on British cable and satellite TV. They offer forecasts for the world - or for your neighbourhood. And, they say, we can't wait to watch them. Or can we? Meg Carter reports

`The US style is very different. Many viewers here would regard it as over the top. And we're anti the bimbo weather girl approach'

Patrick Scott, The Weather Channel

`We have a product people want. Last year they were asking, "Do we need a weather channel in the UK?" This year, it's "Which one?" '

Gaston Germain, Weather Network UK

First we endure the third-coldest May this century; then, within days, we are reading headlines like, "Summertime. And the living is easy" and, "London heat tops Nairobi", which, in turn, signal the arrival of hailstones, thunderstorms and flash floods across the South. Rarely can the vagaries of British weather have been displayed so clearly in such short a time. Small wonder, then, that a couple of North American businesses believe the time has never been better for the launch of round-the-clock, 24-hour weather TV.

Sweeping in from across the Atlantic this month are not merely one but two weather channels, each eager to revolutionise the fine art of televisual weather prediction. Each promises faster, more accurate information with up-to-the-minute weather reports offering unprecedented local detail, specific to a radius of just a few miles. Both have invested millions in local distribution and on-screen graphics technology.

The weather report occupies a unique position in the nation's affections. Constantly one of the best-watched shows on British television, it has made minor celebrities out of the likes of Tania Bryer and Ulrika Jonsson and Messrs McCaskill and Fish - which is why both new weather channels insist that the outlook for themselves is fine.

"Weather and weather-tainment" is the mix promised by Patrick Scott, UK managing director of the Weather Channel, whose owner, Landmark Communications, pioneered the format in the US when it launched the first 24-hour weather channel back in 1982.

"We had an idea for a 24-hour news network, but the then chairman was taken ill and someone else [Ted Turner] developed the idea, which became CNN," Scott explains. "From fairly humble beginnings, we now employ more than 80 meteorologists at our Atlanta HQ where we gather and package weather data for the US. Our TV ratings are now in the order of CNN and ESPN [a sports network]." With a regularly updated diet of local, regional and national reports plus a broad range of weather-related and lifestyle features, the channel quickly established a loyal following and is now received in 62 million homes.

Eight years ago, Landmark expanded northwards - to Canada, where it took a minority stake in a new operation, The Weather Network. Shortly after launch, the fledgling service was bought out by a Canadian company, Pelmorex, which today runs two Canadian Weather Networks (one in English, one in French) serving 8.3 million homes.

Now, Landmark and Pelmorex are vying to roll out weather channels in local markets around the world: Weather Network already operates La Chaine Meteo in France; earlier this year Weather Channel launched Germany's Der Wetter Kanal. There are plans for Italy, Belgium and South America. But from this month, the battleground is Britain where, they insist, there is even greater demand for 24-hour weather TV than back home. Both aim to attract advertising revenue from a range of weather-dependent businesses. And both claim theirs is the superior service.

Limbering up in the red corner, Gaston Germain, the managing director of Weather Network UK, claims the first victory: his channel was the first on air last week, and with live presenters and state of the art graphics. Key to its success will be technology that enables local cable TV operators to run local and regional weather updates accurate to a radius of just a few miles. The channel is working in partnership with the Birmingham- based Weather Department, a weather TV production specialist already working with six regional ITV companies.

"The two most popular elements of our output in Canada are local weather and traffic and road conditions," Germain says - which is why it has also struck an exclusive deal with Trafficmaster, the traffic information specialist. "We are an information service, so are very different from conventional entertainment broadcasting."

Weather and travel reports will be mixed with pollen, sunburn and air quality updates plus a range of weather-related features, such as Weather and the Garden or Weather and your Health.

Over in the blue corner, Patrick Scott is unruffled. Weather Channel launched with a graphics-only service last week; live presenters will arrive throughout the summer, and a full service will be running by the autumn. It, too, boasts new technology to offer local reports in different areas. And its programming mix is, well, pretty much the same. But, Scott insists, his local forecasting will have more impact and be more accurate - thanks to a partnership with the Met Office and US computer software specialist, Silicon Graphics.

One obvious area of difference will be the presenters: Weather Network has recruited British talent from amongst local TV and radio hopefuls as well as trained meteorologists. Weather presenter Martyn Jeannes, for example, is a former BBC radio presenter; Simon Keeling moved into meteorology and astronomy after deciding a career in banking was not for him. Philip Avery joined from the Royal Navy, having worked as a naval meteorologist around the country and on HMS Ark Royal during the Gulf War.

"I come from a weather background, others from the media," Avery says. "It has resulted in a diversity of styles, which keeps it fresh. It's got to be informative but also must be entertaining. What we're trying to achieve is a relaxed, informative style. Not necessarily always with a jacket, though we do want to be taken seriously." Weather Network presenters want to hit the headlines for what they do on-screen rather than what they get up to off-air, he adds. All of the station's presenters are being trained at The Weather Department in Birmingham.

In contrast, Weather Channel presenters will be expected to produce and direct as well. The chosen few are currently learning the ropes in Atlanta, though Scott insists that this will not turn them into clones of American presenters.

"This is certainly not the McDonald's hamburger approach," he says. "The US style is very different - many viewers here would regard it as over the top." But he is keen to see his channel's presenters avoid the amateurish extremes of some of their terrestrial TV cousins. There will be no talk of showers "bubbling up" or "fluffy bits" here. "We're absolutely anti the bimbo weather girl philosophy," he says. Although, when pressed, he admits: "Will they all be pretty young girls? Well, most who applied were, so undoubtedly many are."

Inevitably, each channel's content will be dictated by the vagaries of the UK climate. But can either really expect to match their previous ratings successes in North America with dull British weather? Drizzle in Drayton or cloud in Cleethorpes hardly matches the dramatic tension of tornados in Texas or blizzards in Baffin Bay.

"It's the variability of British weather and its variety on such a local level that matters," Germain insists. "There's less life-threatening weather, certainly - but the key indicator is average audience viewing times. In Canada, this is regularly up in the summer on winter audiences. That tells us it's information rather than the drama of winter extremes that is its appeal." Besides, audiences are not expected to tune in for hours a day: "You'd have to be a fanatic to sit and watch it for hours on end."

Instead, viewers are expected to follow North American patterns - dipping in to spend perhaps six or seven minutes watching, two or three times a day. "We've identified three core groups: busy planners - an upmarket audience particularly appealing to advertisers; the `weather-interested' and anoraks - the weather equivalent of the trainspotter," he explains. "We vary the pace and style of content to match these at different times of the day."

Cable operators seem confident that weather TV will cement audience loyalty. "The level of interest is pretty high," says Christine Mitchell, programming director at General Cable. "My instinct is that weather is as important as regional news bulletins." According to Dave Brennan, vice president of research at United Artists Programming, who has researched the potential for a number of new cable TV formats: "It's one of those niches that could provide a nice secondary killer application for cable."

Even so, they have been slow to sign on the dotted line. So far, Weather Channel has struck a distribution deal with cable operator ComTel, which will take it into 120,000 households, or 10 per cent of all UK cable homes. Meanwhile, Weather Network is now available in 1,000 cable homes in Jersey although two further distribution deals are expected to be confirmed this week. Which means the race is on to sign up remaining cable systems and secure satellite distribution to reach additional dish homes. Both channels have had discussions with BSkyB, neither has yet struck a deal.

One reason for the delay is uncertainty about which station to back. "Let's face it, the market can't support two," Brennan says. Scott agrees "There may be two in six months' time, but not in the long term. It just doesn't make sense in a market of this size."

Even so, Germain is quietly confident. "We have a product people want: it's only a matter of time before we get the distribution we need," he says. "Last year, people were asking `Do we need a weather channel in the UK?' This year, it's `Which one?' "