Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) users have access to many weather apps. Yahoo! Inc. (NASDAQ:YHOO) took center stage in Apple iOS for quite some time. But in the latest Apple iOS, The Weather Channel, Inc. app took that spot. There are many advantages that this app has over the Yahoo app. David Kenny, CEO of The Weather Channel, Inc. talked to Bloomberg’s Jon Erlichman on how they had built the fan base through personnel expertise and support from smart devices.
The Weather Channel, Inc. tracks weather at 98000 global locations. This staggering 98000 locations immediately attracted Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) and made them include the Weather Channel app in their new iOS. Kenny feels that value of any product is finally decided by subscribers.
“I would say, the fact that we are so highly rated in the morning that people are starting their days with us, that they are staying with us all day, that they come back to us for storms. That means that they are all very interested and I think that those fans love us,” he said.
He also added that their distributor partners will also get good value out of it. The Weather Channel, Inc. hired Sam Champion in the beginning of this year which indicated the intent of becoming a top weather update channel. Weather Channel has a crew with many well know personalities.
Al Roker starts the day on Weather Channel with his “Wake up with Al” show. Sam Champion and his colleagues Mike Bettes & Maria LaRosa with their awesome weather show America’s Morning Headquarters (AMHQ) from 7-10 in the morning. Another famous personality in America is Jim Cantore (Storm specialist and tracker) also appears on the Weather Channel. Kenny thinks that they have deep expert desks. He said that addition of Sam Champion most definitely increased the popularity barometer and people think that their channel is the place to go.
Erlichman said that when people think about weather updates the only thing that came to mind in past was the channels. But now the mobile world has taken over and people can easily get update from their smart devices. He expressed his doubt that if both channel and smart device update can co-exist together. Kenny thinks weather science and stories has to reach people by whatever means possible and it should reach them wherever they are. He said that mobile industry has grown immensely world-wide and almost all the smart devices accommodates weather update app.
“[…] it’s helpful to have it on your watch, it’s helpful to have it in your car, it’s helpful to have it on your mobile device, on your tablet, so that’s all a great place for people to come every day, that’s a habitual use and they turn to television for more depth. So, I would say more people start on the mobile device and then come to TV,” Kenny added.
Kenny accepted the fact that mobile device drives the traffic for TV’s which was not possible 5 years back. He thinks that it is mainly due to the learning that they had on how to drive the mobile audience towards the television.
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