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The Weather Channel is to offer advertisers the opportunity to

localise their national TV campaigns when buying airtime on the channel

from the first quarter of 1998.

The service will only be available in homes receiving the channel by

cable; households that receive it via satellite will not be

affected.

The service will use technology installed at cable head-ends from where

each cable operator manages and controls the stations transmitted on its

network.

The Weather Channel has already installed proprietary ’black boxes’ at

the head-end of each cable operator carrying the station. This allows

local operators to carry local weather reports relevant to their

particular franchise area, in addition to the national forecasting

service.

The technology allows the Weather Channel’s national service to be

overlayed with tailored graphics detailing local weather conditions. The

station runs local reports every ten minutes.

’We will shortly be offering national advertisers the ability to enhance

their campaigns with the inclusion of local information such as the

names and numbers of local branches or local dealerships,’ Patrick

Scott, the Weather Channel’s managing director, said.

Animated graphics for the local advertiser service, which is available

on the Weather Channel in the US, ’are not far off’, he added.

The technology behind the initiative is unique to the Weather Channel

and is likely to remain so for the foreseeable future. However, Scott

does not rule out the possibility of making it more widely available to

other cable channels in the longer term, in exchange for a fee.

The Weather Channel, whose animated ad campaign from Grey is on air at

the moment, is available in just over four million UK households.