Serving broadcast and digital viewers in the Netherlands
This is the first in a series of upcoming articles exploring weather communication around the world.
I first met Raymond Klaassen about twenty years ago. At the time, I was the chief meteorologist at KTRK in Houston. Klaassen had a similar job in the Netherlands. His company was looking to upgrade their weather graphics. Klaassen and his boss flew to Houston to see how I put my weathercasts together and presented them on TV.
Today, Klaassen is a meteorologist at Infoplaza, one of four on-air broadcast meteorologists who produce weather updates for the Netherlands under the brand name Weerplaza (pronounced Veer-plaza.)
I recently interviewed him to learn about the differences in weather coverage between the U.S. and the Netherlands.
What we can learn
Rather than repurposing on-air weather updates for the internet, Infoplaza deliberately produces content to serve each outlet independently.
On-air weathercasts tend to be simple and short. The graphics are clean, bold, and easy to understand. The content is similar to U.S. weathercasts and focuses on the next several days.
Online content ranges from in-depth discussions to immersive virtual reality presentations explaining different weather phenomena. These videos are usually several minutes long.
One quote that stands out
“A thing we see here in the Netherlands, and I think also in America, is that TV is becoming less important. Everybody is looking more to the internet…And I think for all the detailed weather stuff, the right place is on the internet.”
Tim Heller is an AMS Certified Broadcast Meteorologist, Talent Coach, and Weather Content Consultant. He helps local TV stations and broadcast meteorologists communicate more effectively on-air, online, and on social media.