With or without?

"Is it going to rain today? Let me check the news." How many of us in India say that? Not too many, is the guess. But that doesn't deter channels from assiduously continuing with the weather reporting segment and pumping in money to keep up to date with the latest technologies.

Though still in a nascent stage, weather coverage is a growing segment. And news channels are seriously eyeing at it as a revenue source.

None too reliable one stop source
News channels in India rely heavily on the Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) as their only source of information on the latest updates on weather conditions around the country. More often than not, however, the IMD is not quick in giving instant updates or for that matter even credible information.

The buck stops at highs and lows

As a result, weather reporting basically comprises information on sunrise and sunset, humidity along with maximum and minimum temperatures.

Most news channel heads admit that weather reporting in India has a long way to go before it can match world class standards. "Weather reporting in India has not evolved yet and is limited only to temperature reporting. Moreover, weather forecasting as a scientific exercise is largely unscientific," says Star News CEO Uday Shankar.

A poll conducted on Digital Spy website asking if there should be a weather channel on Sky revealed the following results, which speaks for itself:

This is not so in the matured countries which have dedicated weather channels, grown on more sophisticated state-run weather forecast systems. UK's Sky platform, for instance, has The Weather Channel beaming weather conditions and reports that go far beyond simple forecasts: On how the weather affects everything, from industry and agriculture to the environment and everyday lives of people.

Move over to America and you have the US Weather Channel that grabs attention of over 87 million US households. Its website - www.weather.com - attracts 20 million unique users per month.

India is nowhere in comparison. But weather reporting can certainly be made into a winning proposition, if thoroughly thought through. India TV chairman Rajat Sharma is of the opinion that in two or three year's time, India too will have its weather focused channels which are feasible in a direct-to-home (DTH) environment. "When the cost of uplinking and infrastructure will go down, a weather channel can certainly beam in India too," he says.

That, though, is for the future. Aaj Tak news director QW Naqvi says that the IMD works like any other governmental department, has its own rigid rules, and channels have no choice but to comply. The common grouse among broadcasters is that weather is not really taken seriously in India. But if worked upon, it can definitely become "news you can use."