AP and WeatherBank Launch
Custom Weather Forecasts
Weather Data Management Improved
For All AP Members
WASHINGTON (June 12, 2000)--Custom weather forecasts will be delivered to television and radio stations and newspapers served by The Associated Press under a plan announced by the news service today.
AP said it has reached agreement with WeatherBank, Inc., to supply customized text forecasts for each of the news cooperative’s 6,800 broadcast and print members. The custom forecasts will be added to AP’s wire services at no additional charge. WeatherBank will also produce a full weather data feed for AP’s members.
Creating a custom forecast for thousands of broadcasters and newspapers is a tremendous job,” said James R. Williams III, vice president of AP and director of its Broadcast division. “Real-time weather information is crucial to broadcasters, so we needed a partner with first-rate meteorological and data management capabilities. WeatherBank is that partner.”
WeatherBank has been supplying AP members with hourly temperature reports since 1985. WeatherBank meteorologists also provide the source information for AP’s WeatherPage Weather feature for newspapers, and write a National Weather Summary that’s updated four times a day.
“Providing weather services to the world’s oldest and largest news organization is something to be proud of,” said Steven A. Root, WeatherBank’s president and chief executive officer. “WeatherBank is growing rapidly in all areas and our expanded service to AP is a step in the right direction.”
The two companies began supplying the custom forecast and upgraded weather feed to AP members in May.
About WeatherBank
Founded in 1972 and based in Edmond, Okla., an Oklahoma City suburb, WeatherBank provides custom weather information products and services to a variety of clients. The company has one of the largest meteorological teams of any organization in the private weather sector and serves clients 24-hours a day, seven days a week. Commercial businesses, government agencies and the general public get weather products and other environmental information from WeatherBank through the Internet, individual FTP data delivery, custom Web applications and a private digital satellite feed.
About AP
More than 1,000 U.S. media Web sites and 4,500 television and radio stations depend on AP’s state-of-the-art information technology, text stories, audio, video, graphics, and photo services for their on-air and online products and services. AP offers coverage of news, sports, business news, political news, technology news, entertainment, and weather.
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Contact Information:
John K. Jones
The Associated Press
Phone: (202) 736-1152
http://www.ap.org
Kimberly
Haws, Manager
Marketing & Corporate Client Services
WeatherBank, Inc.
1015 Waterwood Parkway,
Suite J
Edmond, OK 73034
Phone: (405) 359-0773
Fax: (405) 341-0115
http://www.weatherbank.com