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Nashville Scene
DESPERATELY SEEKING THE NEWS
Fair-Weather
Friends (May 2004)
Who's got the best forecast in town?
Depends on who pays for it
By Matt Pulle
Earlier this year, a company called WeatherRate told WKRN-Channel 2 that the TV
station had the most accurate weather forecast in town. And for a nifty fee, say
a $1,000 a month, the company's Bruce Fixman would certify Channel 2's
meteorological supremacy, which the station could use for its on-air
promotions--kind of like a Good Housekeeping seal of approval. Station general
manager Michael Sechrist declined to buy WeatheRate's service, however. So guess
which station now can boast "the best forecast in town"? WTVF-Channel 5, which
paid for the service a few weeks ago, and now promotes the designation in
numerous on-air spots.
"This guy contacted us numerous times to say that we're the most accurate
station in the market," Sechrist says. "We asked him questions about his
methodology, and we kept getting fuzzy answers. Our determination is that this
guy could be doing it out of his garage."
Sechrist's suspicions seemed confirmed after WeatheRate pitched--and then
sold--the same expensive service to Channel 5. But WeatheRate founder Bruce
Fixman has an explanation for why he told two stations that they were both the
best. At the time he approached Sechrist, he says, Channel 2's weather forecast
was the most accurate according to the company's latest six-month tracking
period, which ended last August. Then, shortly after Sechrist told Fixman to get
caught in a tornado, so to speak, Fixman had in hand more up-to-date data
showing that Channel 5 had supplanted Channel 2's forecasting prowess.
"After we went to Channel 2, we continued doing our weather verification and, at
the end of our latest period, we determined that Channel 5 had the most accurate
forecast," says Fixman, seemingly oblivious to how shaky this explanation
sounds.
Fixman says that WeatheRate verifies the accuracy of forecasts' high and low
temperatures along with levels of precipitation and snow. He uses proprietary
software and a scoring algorithm to sift through the data and determine which
station nabs that daily forecast more often than the rest. A meteorologist
himself, Fixman might have a useful service to sell. A station's forecast is one
of its most followed features, and yet no one in Nashville can say with any
degree of confidence which one is the best. Meteorology is the only part of
journalism that is quantitative.
Still, Fixman can stand to refine the way he pitches his service. "Here's some
guy calling you the phone saying, 'I'll be happy to attest that you have the
best weather forecast. Give me some money," Sechrist says.
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