Delivering unique, engaging reports
Supported by The Weather Company, Univision is achieving its goal of delivering informative, compelling weather content to the screens of Hispanic America. With its unique approach to weathercasts, Univision is differentiating itself in the ultra-competitive media market.
Albert Martinez elaborates: “We’re creating weather reports with greater visual interest than ever before. The Max suite unlocks creative new ways to tell weather stories, and we know from the comments we receive on our Facebook and Instagram accounts that our viewers love the new graphics. Bringing effects like snowstorms or flash floods into our studio makes our weather segment that extra bit more memorable and draws more viewers to our stations.
“During severe weather, that extra impact in our broadcasts also helps to keep people safe. For example, during snowstorms we show graphics of icy roads with vehicles skidding and sliding, with a clear message—take extra care if you must use the roads.”
The Max suite became a vital tool for Univision
During the 2017 hurricane season, the Max suite proved to be a vital tool to keep viewers constantly up-to-speed with threat levels. “Just 24 hours before Hurricane Harvey struck, we installed Max Connect on an iPad, allowing us to show viewers the course of the storm on our video wall,” says Albert Martinez. “We also used the high-definition graphics of the latest release of Max Reality to create visuals showing vehicles being overcome by rising waters, reinforcing the dangers to citizens and gaining us national press coverage.
“And when Hurricane Irma threatened Miami, we used 3D charts to keep viewers up-to-speed on sea level rises and when the storm surge would hit. We developed graphics showing the huge damage that a category five hurricane can do to a home, with roofs being torn away, and audio effects like tornado sirens for maximum impact with viewers.”
Univision has a leg up on competitors
He adds: “Every day, I watch the weathercasts of our rival channels and think about how we can be more innovative and differentiate our reports. With Max Reality and the other Max products, it’s easy for us to stay ahead of the curve. There’s no limit to how creative we can be and it only takes a few seconds to put graphics together—a huge improvement on our previous software.”
Univision is also integrating augmented reality segments into its “factoids”—a series of brief explainer videos on specific meteorological phenomena, which are posted online via social media. With social media use among Hispanic and Latino Americans well above the national average in the United States, the augmented reality factoids are the ideal way to engage a new audience.
Univision can even use the Max suite to create segments for non-weather news items, as Albert Martinez explains: “During the recent earthquake in Mexico, we used the augmented reality capabilities of Max Reality to show viewers how the movement of tectonic plates had caused the earthquake. We also created a map showing the latest seismic movements—it was all prepared in a couple of minutes, ready to be shown on air.”
The striking new weather segments are a more attractive proposition to potential sponsors, helping Univision improve return on investment (ROI) on the solutions. Chris Peña notes: “Weather reports are highly prized by advertisers as an opportunity to spread their company name and message. Our new Max solutions have already contributed to new sponsorship deals in Miami, Chicago and other locations across the United States, which will help to fund continuing innovation in our weather broadcasts.”
As Univision looks to the future
Univision plans to continue its use of Max Reality with the addition of virtual sets, and to add a new mobile weather app using the Max Mobile solution, as Chris Peña explains: “In the coming months we will be creating more solutions to provide users with weather alerts, notifications and clips. It will be another great opportunity for us to boost viewer loyalty, and to create a new revenue stream through the sale of advertising space.”
He concludes: “Our work with The Weather Company enables us to create visually compelling forecasts, helping to keep the Hispanic community in America well-informed and safe at all times, whatever the weather. We’re already excited about taking the next steps of our journey with The Weather Company.”