Weather Channel to debut high-definition studio
Starting June 2, viewers with the right equipment can watch upgraded offering
By KRISTI E. SWARTZ
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Published on: 05/25/08
Weather Channel executive Ray Ban can't stop talking about the network's new high-definition studio.
To get across the vivid experience viewers will have starting next month, he describes a horrific picture of a hurricane slamming into the Gulf Coast. High-definition video will capture the sharp contrast between light and dark sky, which would serve as the backdrop for crashing waves, says Ban, who seems poised to fly out of his chair.
The scene would be akin to an IMAX movie, only this would be live.
"Now, tell me that isn't cool," said Ban, the executive vice president of programming and meteorology.
Ban is so enamored with the Weather Channel's transformation to HD, he considers it a complete relaunch of the network. It took 18 months and $60 million to build the 5,000-square-foot studio, infrastructure and other improvements. The $400,000 HD screen is as wide as a tennis court and can bring up radar, maps and graphics at the touch of a finger.
It may seem like a strange time to make a big investment, considering the Weather Channel's owner, Norfolk, Va.-based Landmark Communications, put the station on the auction block in January. Company executives have remained quiet about potential buyers, though analysts have tossed around names such as News Corp. and NBC Universal. The network wants $5 billion, but analysts say it's likely to get half that.
A Landmark executive declined to comment on the status of the sale.
Adding an HD feed should make the network more valuable, said Alan Breznick, an analyst at Heavy Reading, a technology and media research firm in the Washington, D.C., area. It's also more expensive to produce a show in HD.
"They are taking on the major expense of doing it now," Breznick said. "It's like fixing up the kitchen before selling the house."
The crisp, clear screen has also been known to drive up ratings.
"Every network recognizes that if they have an HD version of that channel, they are going to have higher ratings for that channel," said John Mansell, a senior analyst with Kagan Research LLC. "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.
"If you don't go HD, you're basically left at the starting blocks," said Bruce Leichtman, president of Durham, N.H.-based Leichtman Research Group. "There are so many other networks that are already there, if you're not there, you're conspicuously absent."
Ready for rollout
Right now, like at a lot of other TV stations, Weather Channel meteorologists stand in front of a chroma, or "green," screen. It's actually blank, requiring forecasters to look at an off-camera screen and gesture as if the map is behind them.
But that old technology is about to disappear.
On June 2 at 7 a.m., viewers can catch a glimpse of the new project, which includes posh workstations for the anchors. Weather Channel's morning program, "Your Weather Today," goes live in HD for the first time, followed by "Evening Edition" at 9 p.m. Some of the network's taped programs, such as "When Weather Changed History," "Epic Conditions" and "Forecast Earth," are already shown in HD.
"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."
Just because the Weather Channel is offering an HD channel doesn't mean that everyone will get to see the new studio in HD. Viewers need a souped-up television set that has an HD tuner and either satellite TV or a digital cable package.
Comcast customers in metro Atlanta may not be able to view the network in HD on June 2.
The cable provider recently signed an HD contract with the Weather Channel and is "currently reviewing rollout plans," said Gene Shatlock, regional senior vice president for the Comcast Atlanta Region.
Never too prepared
The station's anchors were rehearsing in the 5,000-square-foot studio last week to become accustomed to their new digs — which include computers embedded in their desks, nine cameras and a circle-shaped console that can rotate nearly 360 degrees. The anchors must figure out directions such as where to stand and which camera to look at all over again.
The mod-looking, shiny metal workstation and all of the new cameras and screens can take some getting used to. The producers, technical directors and other staffers continue to make changes in the weeks leading up to when they go live. For example, the horizontal runway strip where the meteorologists stand used to be made of white tile, which Ban said had a glare that washed out the crispness of the large HD screen. So they had to redo it in black.
"That's why you rehearse, and you do the drill," Ban said. "There's nothing like doing it for real."
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