Dark clouds may have formed over CBC headquarters in recent weeks, but a senior executive with The Weather Network sees sunny skies ahead for the media brand’s new content partnership with the public broadcaster.
The partnership will see The Weather Network’s forecasts featured on the CBC News Network and several other CBC properties, including The National, local newscasts in Toronto, and CBC News Express clips for eight Canadian airports. The one-year partnership officially kicked off Monday.
Maureen Rogers, managing director at The Weather Network, called it a “perfect match” between two Canadian media brands that are experts in their respective areas.
While The Weather Network currently supplies unbranded weather information to several Canadian media partners including MSN and the Toronto Star through its commercial services division, the partnership with the CBC is “highly branded,” said Rogers.
It will see six on-air personalities from The Weather Network featured on the various CBC properties. All of the segments will be branded with The Weather Network logo. In return, The Weather Network will receive access to CBC News’ weather-related stories, analysis and video content for use across its various platforms.
Rogers said the company would be open to partnering with other broadcasters, though there are currently no other deals on the table. “This is a step for us that we’re absolutely interested in continuing,” she said. “We’re always open to exploring new avenues. We have to see if it’s possible or do-able.”
Rogers would not disclose terms of the deal, but said The Weather Network’s parent company, Oakville, Ont.-based Pelmorex Media, is treating it as more of a branding play. Pelmorex employs approximately 450 people across its various divisions, which includes The Weather Network and its French counterpart MétéoMédia, as well as its El Tiempo Previsto and Beat the Traffic divisions.
She said up to 80% of the CBC’s television audience is unduplicated on The Weather Network, providing valuable additional reach for the service. “There’s an audience there that doesn’t come to us and that we want to tell the story to,” said Rogers. “It’s getting our brand anchors out there and telling our story to a broader audience.”
The partnership was the brainchild of The Weather Network’s former CEO Ron Close, with Rogers leading the process along with several other Pelmorex executives following his August departure.
