A Reader Asks:
“My radio station is using a local TV meteorologist for our on-air forecasts. What’s the best way to introduce his forecast? Should he introduce himself? Should the on-air jock intro him? Should the intro always be the same? How long should the forecast be? How in-depth should the forecast be?
“Should he just state the facts or should he include patter like, ‘If you’re going to the Blue Sox game tonight bring a jacket/umbrella/ change your plans they will be rained out, etc.?’
“I’ve never used a meteorologist before. The only thing we’ve locked in on is ‘Your FM Weather Authority,’ because we are the only FM station using a local meteorologist for the weather forecasts.”
My Reply
The three major reasons to use a local TV meteorologist are:
1. To leverage his “celebrity” factor. The TV station uses its nightly air time (plus, possibly, on-air and outside advertising) to create an image for him in your market. You are exploiting his fame.
2. To lend credibility to your weather reports by having a well-known meteorologist deliver them…as opposed to a 19-year old jock reading them from the wire service.
3. To call attention to your forecasts via #1 and #2 above; you’re using this guy to make your station’s forecasts stand apart from the competition’s.
For all of the above reasons, I would not have him do his own introduction. He’s not just another disc jockey. He’s a big, famous meteorologist who really understands this stuff.
Either produce a snazzy, high-impact intro for him or write a quick, simple introduction to be used by your on-air staff.
Generally speaking, the intro always should be the same. You’re establishing your “weather authority” brand, and you want to hammer that message home again and again and again. Here are two exceptions, though:
A. It wouldn’t hurt to revisit the intro every three months, just to see if it’s getting stale or if you can discover a fresher way of delivering at least the same impact.
B. If he is introduced via live read by a big personality, you’ll want that personality to ad-lib the meteorologist’s introductions to create a “We’re two big stars, working together on this show” feeling.
{ 3 comments… read them below or add one }
We have the jock do the weather intro/ sponsor ID then you hear the TV guy begin “I’m Channel 14 Meteorologist…” with a bed playing throughout”
We have snazzy intro jingles/beds.. then the meteorologist just goes into the forecast and ends with his/her name.
This is really valuable insight into the options a station has under these circumstances, Dan, thanks for sharing your ideas.