How He Does It:
Bob Ryan's Weather Almanac
VOLUME IX, NUMBER 30 JULY 24, 1989
It is one of the best viewer services and
promotional tools we've seen ---
WRC-TV's weather almanac.
Bob Ryan has compiled for more than twenty years a book with
information on everything
from high and low tides to which planets are visible in the night
sky. We spoke to him in
1989, after he had produced several of the first issues.
"It's a way of getting out beyond the limits
of television and having
a personal contact," said Ryan.
| "Each time someone
picks it up and reads
something in it, it is a way of having more of a personal
contact. Those are the things
which really make a difference." |
|
Bob Ryan
Meteorologist, WRC-TV |
Publishing a comprehensive guide can help
establish your people as
the information source for weather in your
community. People who use the
almanac day after day may feel a link with the author and could be
more likely to tune in
your weathercast.
It began modestly, and
grew
"When I first came to Washington, I had the
idea of putting together
a little informational booklet with weather facts to give out to
viewers," said Ryan.
Like many weathercasters, he had distributed one-page mailers with
tips on thunderstorm
safety and hurricane tracking charts.
"I thought it would be nice to put things together in a
booklet form," he
explained.
The first almanac had sunrise and sunset times, the records for
each day and a few safety
tips.
"Each year we've expanded it to include educational features
for kids and to answer
questions we get about records and weather in other parts of the
world," he said.
He learned important lessons about
distribution as the almanac
grew.
"The first year we decided to just tell people we would give
it out free if they sent
us a postcard with their name and address," said Ryan. He
thought he would get a
special mass mailing rate from the post office. It turned out that
to get that rate, the
30,000 almanacs had to be pre-sorted by zip code!
"When it came time to mail them out, we had 100 paper bags
sitting in the newsroom
and everybody in the newsroom helping to put the right almanac in
the right zip code
bag!" he said.
Basic content is adjusted
each year
Once the format was
established, it has been a matter of updating the information each
year and deciding what new features to add and which old ones to
drop.
Much of the legwork has been done by student interns who received
classroom credit for working at the station over the summer.
"They go through the tide tables and fill out each tide. We
have to translate it from military time into Standard Time or
Daylight Savings time," Ryan explained.
Most of the raw statistical data has been drawn
from government sources.
For example, the tide tables are provided by the National Ocean
Service.
"Each year they publish large tide tables for the whole East
Coast. We extract
the data for Washington and add the tide correction times for the
surrounding area,"
he said.
Moon rise/set times come from the Naval Observatory. These
too are applied to the
local area and adjustments are made for Standard Time and Daylight
Savings Time.
Ryan first compiled the section on record temperatures and unusual
happenings from a number of local historical books and with the
help of a weather historian in Princeton.
"Throughout
the year, we keep track of interesting weather that happens in the
area and new records which are set," he said. That data is
used to update the monthly charts.
Popular features
endure
The tide times are probably the most popular
feature.
"Fishermen and sailors like having it in a concise form, so
everything is laid out in a nice format where they can get all of
the information in one form. This way they don't have to look in
the newspaper each day and get the tide tables themselves,"
he said.
There is also a lot of interest in the Hurricane
Tracking Chart and some
of the scientific articles.
"The main thing is people like having all the information in
one place. They can refer to it day-by-day," said Ryan.
Colleagues in the weather department are
included. In 1989, meteorologists Tom Kierein and
Allan Eustis contributed pages on weather technology and
careers in weather.
One page was devoted to explaining how WRC forecasts the weather.
Ryan explained the data they collect and analyze to come up with
the forecast and concludes:
"By following as complete, as rigorous, and as thorough a
process as possible, we feel we can provide Washington's most
informed and accurate weather forecast whether it is our first
forecast at 6 a.m. or last at 11:15 p.m."
School children are an
important constituency.
The almanac has contained a section
on how to do your own
forecast. Ryan said this is geared for school children. He has
spoken at one or two schools each week and used it in his
presentation. It was a good handout.
Scales for winter and summer allow readers to
calculate the impact of wind and humidity. The publication
includes a wind chill chart and a Humiture Chart, which
reflects how hot humidity makes it feel.
Weather and health.In 1990, Ryan added a
new section on air quality, air pollution, and ozone.
"One of the things we're getting asked about now is
ozone," he said. He also included pollen counts and where
people with respiratory problems can go for information.
Viewers participate
Each October, Ryan solicits photos from viewers
for the cover of the almanac.
"I just mention it on the air and we get about 100 photos
submitted," he said.
These are amateur photographers, but the shots are quite good.
Those that are used are mentioned on the first page of the
publication.
"Some people have just happened to get pictures of things
like rainbows, and of course they're very excited when they see
their picture on the cover," he said.
All photos are returned, and a complimentary copy of the
almanac is sent to those people whose pictures are not used.
"It's a fair amount of work," Ryan admitted.
The readers are
loyal
People from all around the region buy the
almanacs. Ryan gets requests from out-of-staters who have heard
about it, as well as school children who are doing science
projects.
"People will buy it and the first thing they look at is to
see what the weather is on their birthday or anniversary," he
said.
There are people who have been collecting the
almanacs over the years and write to get a back copy.
By looking at how many almanacs were sold in
various counties, it's a good way for the sales department to get
a sense of the audience.
Food chain has been a
valuable partner "I'd
always had the idea that if the almanac was successful, it would
be good to tie it in with an advertiser. It would be a nice
way of raising money for
charity. It is very satisfying to see that come to fruition,"
Ryan said.
WRC teamed up with Giant Food Stores in 1988,
which helped to solve the
distribution problem. The station and Giant shared the printing
costs, which ran about 20
cents per almanac. In return for sharing the printing, Giant
received several spots on
WRC, plus a fair amount of on-air mention when each year's almanac
came out. The almanacs
were sold in Giant's stores for 50 cents. Each almanac had a bar
code on the back page so
the store could keep a record of the sale.
At the end of the year, Giant presented a check to two children's
hospitals in Washington
for the total amount raised from the sale of the almanac.
"Every 50 cents which is sold goes to the children's
hospitals," Ryan stressed.
In 1989, about 75,000 almanacs were sold which raised about
$36,000.
Ease into producing an
almanac
The veteran forecaster told us, "Start
small. Don't try and
launch a big edition. Ours is something which has evolved over the
years. Start
small and see what the reaction is".
He believed it would work in many, many markets.
There are regional variations in weather
subjects.
"In each area of the country, there are some particular
weather-related things which
are of interest to viewers. We don't have quite the concern
about tornadoes that a
station in the Midwest might have, so we put more emphasis on
hurricanes and
thunderstorms. But whatever the concern is for the area will
be of interest,"
he said.
"The real key to it is
distribution," he stressed.
"It is an excellent piece of promotion for the station
because it is something people
will use throughout the year. You want to reach as many
people as possible and tying
it in as a giveaway with an institution, such as a bank, which
shares the printing costs,
or selling it at a supermarket is a good way to do it," he
said.
|
