Today, when developing fresh ways to deliver news that compellingly caters to viewers, publishers might default to technological innovations. But while the bells and whistles that come with cutting-edge production tools can certainly enhance viewer engagement, sometimes slight, low-tech changes will do the trick, too.
Barry Nash, head of the Barry Nash & Co. talent coaching group, recently tested a series of weather forecast packages with viewers in a study sponsored by FX Design Group. It featured the same on-air talent presenting the same data, but in different positions on the screen.
“The more intimate settings won head-to-head every time,” Nash said during a panel discussion, Reinventing News Presentation and Presenters in a Multimedia Ecosystem, at TVNewsCheck’s NewsTECHForum in New York on Dec. 13. Digital 3X3 framing scored significantly higher than a weathercast presented in a 3×6 array, for example. One viewer Nash polled went so far as to say the broadcast was “easier to understand” when the weathercaster was positioned closer to the camera.
The lesson: Viewers warm to new presentation tech, but the presenter’s role remains crucial.
Meanwhile, inside The Weather Channel’s studios, wildfires rage, floodwaters rise above anchors’ heads, hurricane winds pick up cars and slam them down next to cringing forecasters. The destruction may be simulated — thanks to the power of immersive mixed reality technology — but its impact on viewers, Weather Channel producers believe, is as profound as it is important.
“We need[ed] to bring the weather, for a visual, visceral experience, inside the