As cable audiences disappear, legacy cable media properties need to adapt. Most just die, however, including the original vision for so many of the original cable brands like TNN, MTV, VH1. Even A&E, Disney Channel and BBC America have strayed so far from original brand promises that they have confused viewers, who are now cutting the cord.
One cable channel, however, has figured a small, cheap way to harness that goodwill, and keep it going. It is the The Weather Channel’s Retro Cast Now page, which reintroduced its 1980s and 90s graphics theme on their website. Try it out. It is mesmerizing.
Many will remember the channel’s Local on the 8s, when the Weather Channel broadcasts were interrupted by a screen with local weather information, and groovy CGI graphics. Local cable operators had to insert the programming breaks; a voiceover came on as the graphics scrolled. The local graphics served as a break for the meteorolgists, who needed time to regroup. The breaks also gave the local cable companies some ad time to sell.
Weather Channel recreated the visual and experience using an off the shelf web stack. The effort has an odd parallel in NBC’s creation of Saturday Night Live. In that situation, there was an adaptive reuse of existing company assets that could be repurposed.
The new (old) design is the work of Lee Martin, a Soundcloud alum and web developer who worked with Weather Channel CEO Rohit Agarwal and staff to incorporate weather.com API’s to make it local. It debuted April 2. Martin calls it ‘retro futurism’, which may also apply to the Apollo-inspired design of the capsule of Orion. He wrote:
“In a time when information seems to be immediate, abundant, and abrasive, RetroCast Now harks back to a time of slow data consumption. I hope it is calming, nostalgic, and useful.”
The smooth jazz background is mesmerizing, as well. The Weather Channel playlist has been sort of a “thing” in the past and in its heyday, Weather Channel released two albums, back in 2007 and 2008.
The Weather Channel itself has had to adapt. Launched on May 2, 1982 by Norfolk newspaperman Frank Batten and meteorologist John Coleman, The Weather Channel was conceived as the first 24-hour cable network devoted entirely to weather, delivering continuous national forecasts supplemented by localized data drawn from the National Weather Service.
It took the format of the local TV weather forecast, and married it to local data-driven information and proprietary “WeatherStar” technology that automated local forecasts. The channel became a staple of the early cable era, later evolving in the late 1980s and 1990s into a more personality-driven format with on-air meteorologists and expanded features. The TV operation lost focus in the last decade, when it began concentrating on a few weather celebrity hosts, and began airing documentaries.
The company was owned by Batten’s Landmark from 1982 to 2008, when a consortium including NBCUniversal, Bain Capital and Blackstone owned until 2018, when they sold it to Allen Media Group, its current owner. The web operations are owned by Francisco Partners, who purchased the digital assets from IBM. Digital properties include The Weather Channel mobile app and weather.com, Weather Underground, and Storm Radar.
There is not yet a revenue portion for the retro Weather Channel. The effort, however, has a tiny cost, and it is yet one more way the channel can connect with past viewers. The API view may be useful, however, in public places like airports and local bars and restaurants, where the “look” is recognizable. It could also be particuarly useful at places like marinas and resorts, even pool bars, if the music was continuous, and the visuals as well.
The idea of repurposing with a tech stack could work many different ways; it could even be done with MTV, or even with vintage programming from networks.
