Inside NAB 2025: Helping broadcasters navigate the future

Following the energizing NAB Show (April 6-9, 2025) in Las Vegas, The Weather Company team sat down with Therese DeMatteo, Senior Director of Enterprise Marketing, to discuss our broadcast partner support and key takeaways from the event:

Q: What emerging technology trends generated the most buzz on the show floor, and how do they align with The Weather Company’s current product roadmap?

Therese: This year marked a notable shift in broadcasters’ attitudes toward AI. Unlike last year, when most were firmly against it, we observed a new openness to exploring how AI might streamline workflows. While the approach remains conservative, there’s genuine interest in leveraging these technologies. This evolution aligns perfectly with our roadmap, focusing on:

• Advanced forecasting: We’ve integrated AI with weather science for decades — like Forecast on Demand — unlike competitors who rely solely on mathematical models. By analyzing 100+ global simulations, including proprietary ones, we deliver the most precise, actionable forecasts available. Now, we’re partnering with NVIDIA to develop a groundbreaking kilometer-scale AI model launching in 2025.
• ReelSphere: Our newest offering leverages AI to generate voiceover narration from stock voice libraries for concise, adaptive weather videos. ReelSphere technology empowers meteorologists to focus on impactful storytelling while efficiently meeting the growing demand for weather content across platforms.
• Mercury: Behind the scenes, our dedicated team is applying various LLM models across our entire business through our Mercury initiative. And for ReelSphere, we’re currently developing generative AI capabilities for longer-form regional forecast scripts.
• Max Alert Live: We’re applying AI technology within Max Alert Live to help stations meet the FCC mandate for audio map descriptions, making weather information more accessible.

Q: What specific pain points or challenges did you hear directly from attendees during conversations at your booth or in meetings?

Therese: Our conversations revealed several consistent challenges across stations and groups:

• Hardware hesitancy: There’s a strong preference against purchasing additional hardware. Cloud-based solutions are increasingly attractive for their flexibility and lower capital investment.
• Collaboration needs: Meteorologists across station groups need better tools to work together seamlessly—another opportunity where our cloud solutions shine.
• Digital automation: Particularly in smaller markets, there’s high demand for solutions like ReelSphere that can automate digital weather content creation.
• Digital revenue struggles: Many broadcasters continue to search for effective ways to monetize digital content, particularly on mobile platforms.
• Smaller footprint solutions: We met several meteorologists looking for solutions to launch their own digital weather channels on platforms like YouTube.

Q: Which demos or product announcements received the strongest positive reactions, and why do you think they resonated so well?

Therese: ReelSphere clearly stole the show this year. The enthusiastic response stemmed from its direct address of a critical pain point: Meteorologists being stretched thin trying to produce weather content across multiple platforms 24/7.

With many stations operating with reduced staff, ReelSphere’s ability to automate high-quality weather content creation for various platforms makes it a game-changer. The flexibility of its application particularly impressed visitors to our theater presentation.

Q: Based on your conversations with industry leaders and customers, what content consumption or creation workflows are evolving fastest, and how should that influence your go-to-market priorities?

Therese: The clearest trend we observed is the industry-wide shift away from hardware dependency toward cloud-based solutions. Broadcasters are actively seeking ways to reduce hardware costs while maintaining or enhancing their weather presentation capabilities.

This aligns perfectly with our strategic direction of cloud-first solutions that provide flexibility, scalability, and collaboration capabilities without substantial upfront investment in physical infrastructure.

Navigating media evolution with a trusted weather ally

As the media landscape continues to evolve, The Weather Company remains committed to being more than just a vendor – we’re a trusted weather partner. Our innovations in AI, cloud technology, and automated content creation are designed with one purpose: helping broadcasters remain essential to their audiences and successful in an increasingly competitive environment.