WSI buys WXC

[ams30721us]

So as a WXC station I love the system. I will say WSI have blown them away in several areas over the past few years with development. Well I think this is great news. I am not sure how this will all work but the fact that within 30 days we may have access to (I'm hoping) things like the RPM and other WSI products sounds exciting. Would love to hear others thoughts on this and what all they expect this means?


WEATHER SERVICES INTERNATIONAL ACQUIRES WEATHER CENTRAL
Andover, MA and Madison, WI – August 9, 2012 – Weather Services International (WSI) today announced an agreement to acquire Weather Central, a Madison, WI based global provider of interactive weather technology, graphics and data services for professional, media, and consumers delivered to television, web and mobile screens. Terms of the agreement were not disclosed.
“The acquisition of Weather Central enables us to immediately expand the range of products we offer to each company’s business clients in television, wind energy, insurance and retail, as well as increase the speed at which we can develop new innovations,” said Mark Gildersleeve, president of WSI. “Our goal is to make the best products available to our collective customer base. Every broadcast customer, for example, will gain access to new tropical data, radar data, forecast models, and severe weather tracking tools within the first thirty days at no charge. In addition, we are offering a wider suite of products in the interactivity, social, news, traffic, web, mobile and video categories.”
Weather Central brings additional strength in core weather capabilities with its data cloud and neural network initiatives. Weather Central’s common user profile capabilities and application expertise will improve the end user experience for both company’s professional clients. Among the company’s first joint projects will be the application of weather analytics to improve advertising effectiveness in the retail sector.
“This acquisition will accelerate the delivery of professional weather solutions to business customers around the globe” said Patrick Vogt, CEO of Weather Central. “We believe there is tremendous potential to grow our weather services business outside North America and to be a more effective competitor generally. By fully harnessing the resources of both organizations, we will make even more advancements in weather data and technology that our clients can apply directly to the bottom line.”

Patrick Vogt will step into a new role supporting the integration and key customer initiatives, with all of his efforts focusing on ensuring a smooth transition. Blackstone Advisory Partners L.P. served as WSI’s financial advisor in the transaction and Kilpatrick Townsend & Stockton LLP acted as legal advisor.
ABOUT WSI CORPORATION
WSI is the world's leading provider of weather-driven business solutions for professionals in the aviation, energy and media markets, as well as multiple federal and state government agencies. WSI is a member of The Weather Channel Companies and is headquartered in Andover, Massachusetts with offices in Birmingham, England. The Weather Channel Companies are owned by a consortium made up of NBC Universal and the private equity firms The Blackstone Group and Bain Capital.
ABOUT WEATHER CENTRAL, LP
Weather Central, LP, founded in 1974 by broadcasters and meteorologists based in Madison, Wisconsin, is the leading provider of professional on-air, online, print, mobile and enterprise weather solutions and forecasting science to companies worldwide. Utilizing the company’s dynamic weather graphics, precise forecast models, data, and patented technology, more than 1,000 partners and hundreds of millions of consumers worldwide benefit from Weather Central’s attention to weather presentation, detail and insight.

[WisconsinWX]

My initial thoughts are that I can't say I'm super excited about that... but I guess we will see... Quite a shock to hear, today, though!

[Ping-Pong Ball]

I see a lot of jobs being axed. For example sales guys will be let go. Hard to justify two sales teams for one company.

Also, stuff may be free over the next 30 days, but what about the bottom line price of hardware in the future? Less competition & fewer options means a more expense price tag for the end user.

I always liked WSI. They have great people and are far from an evil or bad company. I always like WXC a little more. I found WXC more user friendly & WXC always gave me extra-time to do more things as WXC always put me in a position to render things faster than WSI.

Oh well, if two companies have to merger, I guess the best solution would be these two. Hopefully it's not too stressful in Madison right now.

[wxman1985]

I think WXFORECASTER may work there. Maybe he can provide some insight.

[portinfru]

From a corporate/financial standpoint, I can see why it's going down this way, but I still feel like WxC has been the better product over the last 5-10 years. WSI is only starting to catch up in the last year or two.

Does this mark the end of the era of the weather gizmo arms race? If all the big players will now have access to essentially the same tools, might stations be forced to rely on promoting the (gasp) experience and abilities of their weather teams as opposed to selling bells and whistles?

Nah.

Seriously, though, interested to see what the new company will look like, and whether (or how) they'll continue to support two different product lines that have such significant investments into them.

[mcaster]

On ithe surface, I'm not a fan of this at all and the biggest reason is the loss of meaningful competition. This means costs for graphics systems and data will go way up at some point. I too have concerns about how they are going to support to different platforms. How is somebody to decided which product to purchase? Do you really want to pay for a new system that may not be around in a couple years? I can see a lot of news directors giving a much closer look to products from that company in State College, PA... or to Barons.

[baldingwxguy]

Originally Posted by mcaster

On ithe surface, I'm not a fan of this at all and the biggest reason is the loss of meaningful competition. This means costs for graphics systems and data will go way up at some point. I too have concerns about how they are going to support to different platforms. How is somebody to decided which product to purchase? Do you really want to pay for a new system that may not be around in a couple years? I can see a lot of news directors giving a much closer look to products from that company in State College, PA... or to Barons.

Except that (in my opinion) neither Accuweather or Barons' systems hold a candle to either WXC or WSI systems.

We're WXC customers (not by choice) but have always been WSI fans. I am thrilled that we'll soon be ingesting the RPM, which runs circles around ADONIS. Good grief I could be getting a 4km model for the entire CONUS instead of waiting two hours to get one just wide enough for my DMA.

On the other hand, I'm concerned about the lack of competition too. Technically NBC now has a monopoly of sorts. NBC owns TWC, and WSI. WSI owns EEC radar and now WXC. I think I have all that straight.

[JJ]

I’ll join the minority chorus of being a WSI fan. I’ve worked with WXC for the past eight years and didn’t like it, never got used to it, using WSI almost exclusively since I started in the biz 20+ years ago. I have always found it a breeze to make animated maps on WSI and an act of Congress with WXC. However, when we upgraded to LIVE and the XP OS interface, that went a long way at being more user friendly, though I continued to be more of a WSI fan.

As a qualifier, part of the problem (and I’m sure this is other places too) had to do with my WXC station as opposed to just the vendor’s fault. I was about the only person in weather to talk directly with their techs, most others farmed out problems to IT and engineering. Therefor, there were always communication gaps and crossed signals. Also, for data ingesting and processing we didn’t always have the latest software updates, right OS and even some of our boxes were out of date, all resisted by our IT. My communication with WXC techs was only when I had problems, and doing mornings, they were the ones I spoke with most. Often when problems arose, I get in at 4 AM and no data, satellite moves for a few frames, they tell me we haven’t gotten data since 7 last night. Well, that’s someone else’s fault and I can hardly blame WXC for our personnel issues.

[BrainFried]

I love a lot of what WSI has and hope that we will be able to intertwine a lot of it.
As I was thinking about this I find the whole thing intriguing!

WXC now owned by WSI owned by TWC owned by NBC Universal.
food for thought...

[Ping-Pong Ball]

Originally Posted by BrainFried

WXC now owned by WSI owned by TWC owned by NBC Universal.
food for thought...

I don't have any clue with its meaning or implications; however, I'm a little surprised no one has commented on the Bain connection. I noticed Bain was listed in the ownership portion of the press release. Of course, WSI is a Boston company, so I can see how it would be on Bain's radar.

[rdale]

Originally Posted by mcaster

On ithe surface, I'm not a fan of this at all and the biggest reason is the loss of meaningful competition

Competition? Ever held a smartphone in your hands? People don't need TV weather anymore... They only tune in (in mass) for severe weather - and all you need is GR3 and that's enough to tell your story. This at least brings the "big guns" together to figure out how to keep TV weather in existence for the 2020's.

[Ping-Pong Ball]

Excellent point Rob! After an awesome run since the 1970s, it looks like the geniuses at WXC saw the writing on the wall. The industry is dying. Might as well get out while the getting's still good. I never thought of the millions which could be lost over the next few years as the digital era brings the relevance of TV weather to a slow death. Once again, WXC is a step ahead of the curve. I hadn't thought of this side of the sale until Rob's post.

The brain trust at WXC has done so much over the past few decades to making the life's of those with a passion for weather & the limelight easier, better, & more accurate. While it stinks some front line workers/support staff may find themselves out of a job, I'm glad the founders of WXC can ride off into the sunset with a boat load of cash!

The American Dream! Start a company from scratch. Work hard! Listen to what your customers want/need. Fill those needs! Constantly thrive on how you can improve your products. Then sell your baby for a ton of cash before the bottom of the industry/market you serve implodes.

Now that I think of it, from a purely graphic's/presentation aspect of TV weather, now would be the ultimate time to sell as the value of one's business has no where to go but down due to the Digital Era of smart phones & a full forecast is closer than a click away! Why wait through a newscast for 2-4 minutes of information at a set time, when you can have all that information the TV weatherperson provides & more sent directly to you as often as the weather changes! Who needs to rely on one personality when computers & team of meteorologists can delivery the goods to the end user 24/7?

[JJ]

Originally Posted by Ping-Pong Ball

Now that I think of it, from a purely graphic's/presentation aspect of TV weather, now would be the ultimate time to sell as the value of one's business has no where to go but down due to the Digital Era of smart phones & a full forecast is closer than a click away! Why wait through a newscast for 2-4 minutes of information at a set time, when you can have all that information the TV weatherperson provides & more sent directly to you as often as the weather changes! Who needs to rely on one personality when computers & team of meteorologists can delivery the goods to the end user 24/7?

There is a lot to what you say, and two points to this I’ve heard at recent weather conferences.

First, at the AMS in Miami at the Hurricane Center, one of the guys there said essentially what you did. There is no real propriety of information particularly what’s been issued publicly. Warnings and advisories are easily publicly assessable. I was just at an engineer’s meeting where EAS bulletins and the like are being coordinated via text, which will just be a matter of time before everyone will have that streamlined to their cell. But, second, as a different approach to all this, at an NWA meeting, all this new technology with dangerous weather was explored and the role it played. But, still, there was the unreplaceable need of human contact to 'talk to them.’

But, to attack this from completely a different angle, TV needs to get back to its roots. True personality with honest humor, talent and some entertainment value is needed. But, how do you begin to qualify/quantify that ? I think a lot that passes for entertainment today is cheap and just plain bad. I haven’t seen a first run comedy TV show that I found any good in ten years. There’s been a real cheapening of personality TV driven at first by 'America’s Funniest Home Videos,’ then later 'American Idol,’ and by a host of reality shows. Anyone and everyone can and should be on TV...no they shouldn’t and no they can’t. And just because some highly paid star 'likes’ someone isn’t a qualifier. Discriminating taste is a valuable though not always appreciated talent.

Back to that engineer’s meeting, I was at another one of theirs recently, talking about the music recording industry. Technology is having a role there too where anyone today can set up a recording studio and make a demo tape *cough*, rather, demo file. So, anyone can be a music star. One of the guys said that in the olden days, the casting agents filtered who got through to record their acts, today, the flood gates are open. And he said, ‘...we sincerely miss the filter from before...because today there is a looooot of crap out there.’

[baldingwxguy]

Originally Posted by rdale

Competition? Ever held a smartphone in your hands? People don't need TV weather anymore... They only tune in (in mass) for severe weather - and all you need is GR3 and that's enough to tell your story. This at least brings the "big guns" together to figure out how to keep TV weather in existence for the 2020's.

I respectfully disagree with that exaggeration. Ratings (while they have changed for most) argue otherwise.

Perhaps this is all you (a software writer and techie) need for weather, but that doesn't mean it's across the board. People still watch local news. People still follow their local TV personalities. By your reasoning we should just go ahead and cancel all local newscasts because people have smartphones. Throw out all your weather equipment except a PC with GR3 on it. But guess what? It's still a big business. Now...I'll give you that it isn't everything it used to be. Because of smart phones we have to adapt and find new ways to bring people back to our newscasts...but we're not dead.

Nielsen recently did a survey on smart phones. About half of all Americans have them. That leaves, of course, half that don't have them, leaving them to get all that weather info from somewhere else. Yes, the trend is toward other ways of getting weather info, but aside from the few "weather nerds" out there the source will still be station-branded apps and the like. We still push all our content TO the users...just in a different way. And it's usually ANOTHER way to get the info, not THE way. Our newscasts' ratings haven't gone down 50% just because half our viewers have smart phones.

We can argue about the pros and cons of WXC vs WSI, but we've beat that horse before. I don't know that WXC selling makes them a step ahead of the curve. Perhaps it was a concession to a changing industry, or a concession to a more financially secure and diversified WSI. I've heard that WXC was low-balling bids on their systems and data over the last several years to gain more clients...but of course that means less revenue. Not sure how much that is true, but if so it may have played some role. WSI wrote our "stormteam" app, and it's slick (and popular). WXC doesn't even have one as far as I know.

I'm very curious to see how WSI handles this. Do they continue to develop two separate graphics systems? Obviously there are a lot of WXC fans...but do they keep that as an option, or eventually discontinue it and go the way of Max?

[Ping-Pong Ball]

Balding-

You make some valid points. Local TV news is driven more by the local personalities on the TV than the actual news. In fact, Facebook & Twitter has totally changed the entire structure of local news. For example in my market the whole point of news seems to be for the stations to report just enough nuggets of information to drive the user to their website or Facebook page for more information or to share their opinions.

The local news is also turning into reality TV. What I mean by these is in smaller markets there seems to be a huge push for stations to post viewers' Facebook comments on the air during the newscast. The stations will ask a question at 5 & then ask viewers to go online, answer it, & then tune in at 6 to see if their answer makes it on the news. They do the same at 6 for the late news. Guess the novelty of having one's Facebook comments mentioned on TV is just as strong as the excitement of being on TV. It's sad because news is no longer news; instead it's turned into an opinion forum that's an extension of social media. Social media is far from actual, journalistic media. Also, more & more time is totally devoted to unscientific, statically FUBARed opinion polls. My local news spends more time reporting the results of their Facebook polls than on actually reporting the hard facts on the story to which the poll relates.

Weather is far from exempt from the social media integration of newscasts. In fact, viewer submitted photographs are now a key component to just about every single weathercast regardless of the channel in my market. Tune in to see if your picture makes the news! This may drive the personality of the weather person, but again it takes up a chunk of time where the met could actually be giving relevant or addition information to the viewer. Now it seems the goal or reason of why people watch the weather isn't to get the forecast, but instead is to see if the viewer's name gets mentioned & the photo of a rainbow (or Katrina making landfall) they submitted gets shown on the air. Also, not to worry if your picture doesn't make the it to TV as I'm sure the station will make sure it gets posted on their website or social media page. I feel bad for hard working mets who now are forced to spend more time cowtowing to management's/consultant's demands of social media interaction than they spend on their actual passion, the weather.

Also, tune in to win! Special prize giveaways aren't reserved for just Sweeps! Heck, my local news stations have more contests in one day than all the radio morning shows in the USA do in an entire year. What happens when people catch on, they don't tune in anymore for the thrill of seeing if their Facebook comment makes it on air or the get tired of lame contests due to over saturation & frivolous prizes? Seems like the more contests which get added, the cheaper the prize. For example, a $10 gift card, a coupon for a free large pizza, 2 passes to a movie that no one has ever heard of.

Back to topic, the more I think of it, the smarter the big dogs at WXC were to sell & ride off into the sunset on a big old pile of cash!

[rdale]

Originally Posted by baldingwxguy

I respectfully disagree with that exaggeration. Ratings (while they have changed for most) argue otherwise.

It was an exaggeration - the point being that TV viewership is going down by whatever method you use for counting. I'm not sure what ratings you have that argue otherwise? So far I've yet to hear of any TV station that has found a funding source outside of TV commercials that could keep them afloat. I see no way for that funding source to be valid in 2020.

[JJ]

Originally Posted by rdale

It was an exaggeration - the point being that TV viewership is going down by whatever method you use for counting. I'm not sure what ratings you have that argue otherwise? So far I've yet to hear of any TV station that has found a funding source outside of TV commercials that could keep them afloat. I see no way for that funding source to be valid in 2020.

There’s a lot of truth in that. Not that long ago, there were local stations in this country that earned 50+ share points for their evening news casts, and consistently were above mid 30’s for all their dayparts. Generally, most of them were powerhouses in the smaller markets, I worked for one, and we did have two other news operations competing against us. Rating points were often in the 20’s for ‘good stations’ even in the majors, generally in the more traditional markets. But, those days are gone forever. Most of the ratings action is in single digits and 20-something share points are something to be proud of.

But, the obit on TV is often premature. I’ve heard it said, ‘Network newscasts will be gone in ten years…’ problem is, I heard that in 1990. That was also the time I heard we’d have two networks, I lost the count on how many there are for 2012...I know the frog network came and went. While we may not see it in our salaries and hiring practices, local TV station companies are actually doing well and some are sitting on a MOUNTAIN of money. Even some stock analysis say TV station companies (public) are a good buy, but, yes, not all are created equally.

If TV tries to outdo the Internet game playing those rules, they’ll lose. If they learn to return to their roots they’ll settle into the new reality. They are two different models (‘push’ ‘pull’). If you get into your car and the first thing you hear MUST be ‘Misty Mountain Hop’ by Led Zeppelin, (pull) it’s a waste to try any radio station, on the bird or ground. But, if you want to hear rock from the 70’s, then you turn on your radio station formatted to that genera and enjoy what they are playing at that moment (push).

[baldingwxguy]

Originally Posted by rdale

It was an exaggeration - the point being that TV viewership is going down by whatever method you use for counting. I'm not sure what ratings you have that argue otherwise? So far I've yet to hear of any TV station that has found a funding source outside of TV commercials that could keep them afloat. I see no way for that funding source to be valid in 2020.

Okay--I took you too literally. Sorry.

In that sense my argument was that while ratings are indeed not what they used to be, they still show we have a lot of people that tune in to watch us. And, I agree with you about the revenue. Our station's digital revenue has soared over the last couple of years, mainly due to an increase in digital offerings. Multiple station web sites, apps, etc. But they don't compare to the revenue from paid TV spots. It's a constant challenge to come up with NEW ways of generating revenue to maintain the current staff, etc.

PPB...yeah, I hear you on all the social media stuff. Thankfully my station gives me a bit of discretion on most of that. I CAN use pictures if I think they're good enough, but it isn't mandatory. Our morning news does a facebook question simply to get viewers to interact, and they'll read one or two short responses to that question (usually centered around some talk-about national story) going into a bump. The whole thing takes about 20 seconds or so. But, we don't solicit facebook or twitter interaction on local news stories. Thank goodness!

[vortmaximum]

I think there is still a strong demand for a local met to provide the wx. But they need to deliver on all devices, TV, Internet, Mobile, Twit, Face, etc. The issue then becomes are you 'giving it all away for free?' Sales don't likey that. It is ever evolving, but the need for a local met is still there, just need to adapt. The forecast on a mobile phone ap is often quite different and typically way off base from a locally produced video weather forecast.

Hopefully I'm still viable for at least another 15 years........

[baldingwxguy]

Originally Posted by vortmaximum

I think there is still a strong demand for a local met to provide the wx. But they need to deliver on all devices, TV, Internet, Mobile, Twit, Face, etc. The issue then becomes are you 'giving it all away for free?' Sales don't likey that. It is ever evolving, but the need for a local met is still there, just need to adapt. The forecast on a mobile phone ap is often quite different and typically way off base from a locally produced video weather forecast.

Hopefully I'm still viable for at least another 15 years........

The WSI folks provide a way to edit the app forecast. Not hourly, but at least the 10-day that shows up. I've set up multiple zones in our DMA and added counties to each of about six zones (we cover about 40 counties). When the user selects a zip code for "home" the forecast will match for whatever zone he is in. This way, I can duplicate my 7-day forecast on the app or adjust as needed.

[rdale]

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB1000...Tabs%3Darticle

[baldingwxguy]

Originally Posted by rdale

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB1000...Tabs%3Darticle

Argh. You have to subscribe.

[FunnelChaser]

Here's the sales point of view from a former on-air meteorologist who has moved into sales at Balding's station group...

We watch viewership, like a hawk. Guess what? Our station group is consistently seeing INCREASED viewership year to year. In fact, when we launch new news products, we end up with even more news viewers at the end of the day when you add up all of our newscasts.

Guess where we send those people via promotions, etc.? To OUR News, Weather and Sports Apps.

Local news will continue to be profitable for a long time to come. Why? Because we are now taking the lead in any and all new media. When we do that, people create the HABIT of our brand to the new media. The second broadcasters slack off, then change will occur.

Local news, weather and sports are not going anywhere anytime soon.

[rdale]

Originally Posted by FunnelChaser

Because we are now taking the lead in any and all new media.

Make sure you confine that "we" to "you" because in many markets the TV stations are NOT the go-to websites or apps... In my market the newspaper still is the best source of breaking news through the day. However the local TV affiliates have become quite "successful" at saying "Tune in at 6 for my story on ..." which leads me to go to the newspaper site to read what she wants me to wait 3 hours to see.

[Ping-Pong Ball]

So sad that the number one goal of local news is no longer to inform or be the 4th Estate, but instead is just a way to generate money & sell stuff to local residents. That news is now a gateway to new ways of promoting & marketing goods and services to viewers.

Poor journalists are more like used car salespeople than actual, credible members of the press. It is really sad today how the newsroom is really just a working arm of the sales team. Too bad the sales' folks get all the commissions, while the reporters do all the grunt work. Turning packages & VOs is one thing, but all the added work of steering viewers to social media and new apps can really add to ones workload. Especially when the end goal is not to inform news, but to simply trap and keep audience members as a means to growing a station's bottom line while increasing market share.

No wonder the content of local news has become so awful over the past 5 years, priorities have totally changed to airing stuff that turns a profit trumps everything a journalist is taught in college about working in the media.