The Weather Co., a provider of forecasts and visualization technology, said it is launching ReelSphere, which uses artificial intelligence to help broadcasters and streamers produce more weathercasts, increase engagement and improve monetization.

“Weather has never been more impactful for audiences or more critical for broadcasters and streaming providers, and we are committed to helping our clients become a one-stop-shop of weather information for their viewers,” Joe Fiveash, head of enterprise media and new verticals at The Weather Co., said. “Our products use AI and cloud technology to solve urgent challenges like resource shortages and audience growth by leveraging remote workflows and resources across an enterprise to create scalable content for multiple platforms such as CTV, which audiences demand.”

The Weather Co. said ReelSphere combines human and machine capabilities to deliver relevant content. It can also work with existing production staff at stations or create new weathercasts and videos from streaming services not already in the weather business.

The technology can be used to add production elements to weathercasts or create more timely, localized video.

For example, when rain is expected, precipitation levels will appear in a weathercast and beach forecasts for the weekend will be generated, without extra work by staffers.  

The AI technology generates captioning and audio for each video, using either a generic voice or the voice of trusted local on-air talent.

ReelSphere also integrates sponsor content for advertisers interested in specific weather conditions or events. Stations can use first-party data to better target and deliver weather video.

According to a study cited by The Weather Co. from the SmithGeiger Group, while overall satisfaction with weather forecasts is mostly sunny only 22% of respondents are completely satisfied with the forecasts and reports they receive.  Of those surveyed, 65% would trust an AI voiceover from their favorite meteorologist.

“By making weather videos even more timely, local and scalable, The Weather Company is helping improve how millions of consumers experience vital weather content each day,” Andrew Finlayson, executive VP of digital and AI strategies at SmithGeiger Group, said. “They continue to marry their weather expertise with the latest in technology innovation to solve consumer problems, helping weather storytellers of all types ‘super-serve’ their consumers. Weather content is increased across all screens, including mobile, web and smart TVs, while improving workflows and controlling costs.”

Your audience checks the weather every single day. Providing insights into how it will impact their daily lives can differentiate you from the competition. 

With thousands of options available for download or even pre-installed on devices, weather apps have become a commodity. That means unseating a user’s existing weather app requires more than looking different. You must provide unique and irresistible value. 

Discover how Weather InSight powered by AI can help you:

• Interpret and present the weather based on the greatest immediate impact to the user.
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• Monetize content through programmatic revenue sharing. 

Learn more about how Weather InSight can help your mobile app rise above the competition.

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Standing out among the thousands of available weather apps requires more than just looking different. You must provide unique and irresistible value to your users.

Join us as Jim Politis and Scott Eliot discuss how Weather InSight delivers a personalized mobile experience that is:

• Hyper-smart: AI technology examines weather conditions and changes card order depending on the day and user interactions
• Hyper-local: every session is a customized mobile experience
• Hyper focused: draws the user’s attention to the most impactful weather

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RELATED: Big Blue Goes Big on Video Streaming [subscription required]

IBM said it has closed its acquisition of The Weather Company’s business-to-business, mobile and cloud-based web properties (including weather.com and Weather Underground), The Weather Company brand, and WSI, its global business-to-business brand.

As previously announced, IBM is not buying Weather’s cable TV unit. The Weather Channel will continue to operate independently, but will license weather forecast data and analytics from IBM under a long-term contract. Financial terms of the acquisition and the licensing agreement were not disclosed.

The Weather Company’s Cloud Data Platform will become the “backbone” for IBM’s Watson IoT Cloud platform.

IBM said The Weather Company will now be led by Cameron Clayton, The Weather Company’s’ former president, product and technology. The Weather Company has become part of IBM’s Data and Analytics Platform business unit.

David Kenny, former chairman and CEO of The Weather Company the once president of Akamai Technologies, will head up the IBM Watson platform business. Michael Rhodin, who launched the Watson business, will lead Watson Business Development, IBM said.

In tandem with the deal, IBM announced plans to expand weather.com into five new markets -- China, India, Brazil, Mexico and Japan, expecting to boost the site’s global user base by “hundreds of millions over the next three years.”

IBM has struck a deal to  acquire The Weather Company’s B2B, mobile and cloud-based web properties, including WSI, weather.com, Weather Underground and The Weather Company brand.

Financial terms were not disclosed, but the TV segment – The Weather Channel – will not be acquired by IBM, but will license weather forecast data and analytics from IBM under a long-term contract.

IBM said the deal will “serve as the foundation for the new Watson IoT Unit and Watson IoT Cloud platform,” expanding on a $3 billion commitment made by IBM in March 2015.  IBM said Weather Company’s cloud data platform handles 26 billion inquiries each day, and that the platform will enable IBM to more rapidly collect and analyze global data that can be applied to Watson. Weather Company’s models, IBM said, analyze data from 3 billion weather forecast “reference points,” more than 40 million smartphones and 50,000 airplane flights per day, underpinning data-driven products for more than 5,000 clients.

The deal comes after The Weather Company said earlier this year that it would shift its weather data services platform that powers its B2B division to the IBM Cloud.

“We see the next wave of improved forecasting coming from the intersection of atmospheric science, computer science and analytics,” said David Kenny, chairman and CEO, The Weather Company. “Upon closing of this deal, The Weather Company will continue to be able to help improve the precision of weather forecasts and further deepen IBM’s Watson IoT capabilities by enabling the integration of global atmosphere and weather insights with enterprise information to create disruptive industry solutions that optimize decision-making.”

The Weather Channel, meanwhile, will continue to operate independently. 

"The Weather Channel will continue to be owned and supported by our existing shareholders -- Bain Capital, Blackstone and NBCUniversal -- and operate as a standalone business,” Dave Shull, CEO of The Weather Channel Television Network, said in a statement. “Each month, almost half of all American households tune in to The Weather Channel network for coverage of severe weather, daily forecasts, and the science behind the weather. With our world class weather experts and thousands of localized versions of the network, we are uniquely positioned to provide the world’s best storm coverage as a hyper-local streaming service as well. We are continuing to invest in our strategic partnerships with our distributors, advertisers, and emerging technology start-ups."

The Weather Company and IBM have launched a "global strategic alliance" that will integrate real-time weather "big data" into an array of services, primarily aimed at business/professional customers but also affecting data collection and delivery via TWC's subsidiary The Weather Channel and other media outlets. 

The deal is a big win for IBM, since The Weather Company will shift its vast weather data services platform to the IBM Cloud, where it will be integrated with IBM analytics and cloud services. TWC had primary used Amazon Web Services for its cloud computing requirements.

The TWC/IBM alliance is the first connection in IBM's plan to invest $3 billion during the next four years in an Internet of Things (IoT) unit that will develop a portfolio of cloud services, software and related intellectual property, according to Bob Picciano, senior vice president, IBM Analytics. “The Weather Company and IBM partnership can be a catalyst to making critical business systems even smarter," he said.  Financial details of the TWC/IBM alliance were not revealed.

Initial plans call for WSI, TWC's professional services subsidiary, to provide data to IBM, which will combine live weather forecasting with a range of business data, providing value-added services to corporate users such as media, aviation, energy, insurance, agribusiness and retailers.

The companies said that their collaboration of IoT and cloud computing will enable the venture to collect and process information from more than 100,000 weather sensors, aircraft and drones, millions of smartphones, buildings and even moving vehicles. WSI’s forecasting system ingests and processes data from thousands of sources, resulting in approximately 2.2 billion unique forecast points worldwide, and averages more than 10 billion forecasts a day on active weather days.

In addition to televised forecasts, the WSI data powers weather apps for Apple, Google, Microsoft and others.

"Combining weather data with traditional business data and rich data from an unprecedented number of Internet of Things (IoT) enabled systems and devices will fundamentally transform enterprise decision-making," the companies said in a joint announcement. 

The deal underscores the way that some content vendors with roots in the media industry are finding new ways to exploit their business-to-business capabilities as well as leveraging new IoT tools to create targeted services.

The Weather Company is owned by a consortium that includes NBCUniversal and the private equity firms The Blackstone Group and Bain Capital.

IBM's new $3 billion commitment to IoT and Big Data projects affirms recent indications that the computer services behemoth is accelerating its activities into the Internet of Things. In late February, IBM and Juniper Networks revealed plans to collaborate on a project that could cover IoT applications, especially for predictive analytics that would improve mobile experiences.  Last October, IBM teamed up with Twitter in a deal that is intended to use IBM’s data-analysis capabilities to mine information from Tweets; however that relationship is not believed to involve IoT.

The Southeast Chapter of Women in Cable Telecommunications (WICT) has detailed the list of industry executives the organization will honor at its annual Red Letter Awards Gala, scheduled to take place this year at the Ritz-Carlton in Atlanta on Oct. 16. 

WICT's Southeast Chapter named Shirley Powell, executive vice president of corporate communications for The Weather Company, 2014's Woman of the Year. The Horizon Award for Woman to Watch will be given to Sheila Hicks, vice president of sales operations for Cox Communications. 

WICT Southeast Chapter will also honor Karen McCague, vice president of workforce services for Scripps Networks Interactive, with the Catalyst Award; Jerilyn Bliss, vice president of corporate communications and Denise Gough, vice president of legal affairs for Scripps Networks Interactive with the Mentor Award; and Jennifer Schultz, senior director of analysis-technology for Cox Communications with the Rising Star Award for Emerging Leader. 

All of this year's honorees will receive their awards at the Oct. 16 ceremony, which will be hosted by Aspire TV's Exhale co-host Rene Syler.