In today’s world, where severe weather events are becoming increasingly frequent and intense, broadcasters play a crucial role in keeping communities informed and safe. To achieve this, they need access to powerful and reliable tools that provide accurate and timely weather information. Recognizing this need, Sinclair Broadcast Group, a prominent broadcaster in the U.S., has adopted The Weather Company’s Max Alert Live platform, a cutting-edge solution for delivering hyperlocal severe weather alerts and warnings. This strategic move underscores the importance of technology in enhancing public safety during critical weather events.
The Weather Company’s Max Alert Live platform provides broadcasters with an unprecedented level of granularity and flexibility in their weather alerting capabilities. It allows them to pinpoint the path, timing, and intensity of storms down to a specific neighborhood up to 6 hours in advance, giving viewers ample time to prepare. This hyperlocal approach ensures that viewers receive the most relevant and actionable weather information, empowering them to make informed decisions to safeguard themselves and their families.
“When severe weather strikes, our viewers depend on us to deliver urgent updates that keep their families safe,” said John Gumm, chief meteorologist at WKRC-TV, a Sinclair station in Cincinnati. “With Max Alert Live, I can see storms coming with an incredible level of granularity and quickly communicate those threats in a flexible manner. I can automatically broadcast and visualize county-by-county storm threats without disrupting programming.”
Max Alert Live goes beyond traditional weather alerts by seamlessly integrating into existing broadcast workflows. Its cloud-based nature allows broadcasters to manage alerts remotely from anywhere with an internet connection, ensuring uninterrupted coverage during severe weather events. The platform’s ability to adapt to a station’s on-air branding and dynamically adjust to changing weather conditions further enhances its effectiveness.
Key features of Max Alert Live that benefit viewers include:
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Warnings Displayed During Regular Programming:
The platform allows for flexible integration of critical radar maps, customizable alert crawls, and live county-by-county warning graphics, ensuring viewers are alerted to severe weather without disrupting their viewing experience. This integration extends across various platforms, including OTT, web, mobile, and social channels.*
Hyperlocal, Customized Alerts:
High-resolution live radar maps offer a 3D view of storms and tropical threats, providing neighborhood-level precision for viewers to prepare for severe weather effectively.*
Quick and Engaging Weather Notifications:
Direct integration with National Weather Service data triggers automatic weather watches and warnings that scroll across the bottom of the screen, with the option to include additional details or images.*
One-Stop Shop for Weather and Non-Weather Alerts:
In addition to weather notifications, viewers can also access alerts on school closings from BTi. Max Alert Live also provides the capability for manual alerting to share sports scores, news headlines, and more.“As extreme weather grows more intense and impactful, it’s critical that broadcasters have the most powerful technology to help keep their communities safe and informed,” said Bill Dow, head of enterprise product from The Weather Company. “Combining the nation’s most robust radar data and severe weather alerting with high-resolution graphics and remote cloud capabilities, Max Alert Live is revolutionizing how innovative broadcasters like WKRC and those across Sinclair’s station group communicate urgent weather information to their communities.”
Max Alert Live, a part of The Weather Company’s comprehensive Max suite of solutions designed for media companies, is commercially available today. For more information on how Max Alert Live is transforming broadcast weather alerting, visit weathercompany.com.
