Frank Batten: 'The Weather Channel's Success Is Due to a Brilliant Concept For Serving a Human Need'
The retired chairman and CEO of Landmark Communications writes about "the improbable rise of a media phenomenon" in his new book about The Weather Channel.

I Want Media, 06/24/02

What do you do after you run a media company? For Frank Batten, the next step was to become an author. After retiring in 1998 as chairman and CEO of Norfolk, Va.-based Landmark Communications, Batten set to work writing a book about the creation of one of his company's top media businesses. "The Weather Channel: The Improbable Rise of a Media Phenomenon," which is one of many new media books published this year, provides a behind-the-scenes account of how The Weather Channel evolved from a struggling start-up to a highly trusted media brand that is now accessible via television, radio, newspapers, wireless and the Web.

Batten spoke with I Want Media about a variety of Weather Channel issues, such as why the network's on-air talent aren't called anchors, the advantages of "corporate entrepreneurship" and how weather.com plans to build on its already huge audience.

I Want Media: When you announced the launch of The Weather Channel 20 years ago, you were greeted with groans at the press conference. A 24-hour channel devoted to weather sounded dull to some people. Were you afraid that a book on the subject could elicit the same response?

Frank Batten: No. I was optimistic about the reading public's interest. After 18 years of operating The Weather Channel, I had experienced the public's deep and active interest in weather. Also, I knew there was an interesting business story to tell.

IWM: What inspired you to write this book?

Batten: I've had so many people ask why we started The Weather Channel and how it works, I thought there would be a market for the book. And I thought some useful lessons could be derived.

IWM: Many people scoffed when you launched The Weather Channel. The network is now ranked in surveys as one of the most trusted media brands. What do you now say to those who had derided you?

Batten: I believe most of the skeptics have become fans of The Weather Channel, and I say "welcome aboard" to them.

IWM: Both Dow Jones and NBC had passed on the concept of launching a weather channel before it was brought to Landmark. Why didn't you pass on it as well?

Batten: We were in the cable TV business and had a pretty good understanding of the needs of cable subscribers. We were operating local weather channels in many of our cable systems, and these gave us a good feel for subscribers' interests in continuous weather forecasts.

IWM: You began your career in newspapers, at Landmark's Virginian-Pilot in Norfolk, Va. What did you learn there that helped you later as a pioneer in cable television?

Batten: The newspaper business taught me the critical importance of understanding customers' needs and catering to them -- something most newspapers were not doing well in the 1950s. And I learned how important it was to focus my time and attention on building a strong organization.

IWM: What would you say was the biggest mistake you made while developing The Weather Channel?

Batten: I think our biggest mistake was in how we approached starting a weather channel in Europe. We assumed that we could impose our successful American-style weather channel in Europe. We didn't realize our mistake until we had poured millions into a venture that was sunk from the beginning, because the structures of the European cable markets and consumers' viewing habits were radically different.

IWM: A recent article in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution said that The Weather Channel is considering hiring anchors with no meteorological training but lots of "personality." What do you think of such a move?

Batten: A key reason The Weather Channel has developed so much trust and credibility with viewers is that our anchors are meteorologists who know and understand the weather. We call them on-camera meteorologists -- OCMs -- rather than anchors. I hope we never forget that.

IWM: The Weather Channel has extended its branded content into newspapers, radio, wireless technologies and onto the Internet. What's next?

Batten: I can't predict the next development in communications technology. Our strategy has been to extend The Weather Channel's knowledge to allow consumers to access it through whatever media they are using.

IWM: Early on, Landmark committed a lot of resources into the development of weather.com, which is now one of the world's highest-trafficked Web sites. Did you see a lot of potential for the site in its early days?

Batten: From the early days of the Internet, we had some visionaries who saw the potential of the Internet to become a major communications medium. Debora Wilson, now president of weather.com, and my son, Frank Batten Jr., now chairman of Landmark, were among them. So we invested heavily in weather.com -- more than anyone could justify with a short-term investment horizon.

IWM: For weather.com to reach its full potential, as you wrote in your book, it was necessary for it to cut its ties with The Weather Channel. Why?

Batten: We didn't cut all ties with The Weather Channel. The cable network and weather.com still share important meteorological, technological and marketing resources. But we thought it was important for weather.com to be managed by its own independent leaders; people whose attentions and responsibilities could be devoted solely to weather.com. Otherwise most of their attention would naturally be drawn to the cable network, which was bringing in most of the revenue.

IWM: Looking back at the success of The Weather Channel, you wrote that you were "lucky more than brilliant. Luck carries you a long way." Do you really believe that you owe more to luck than to, say, strategy or a business plan?

Batten: No. We did have luck at some critical times and probably would not have survived without it. But the success of The Weather Channel is mainly due to a brilliant concept for serving an important human need, executed by a highly skilled team that believed in [the channel] and stuck with it through good and bad times.

IWM: You wrote that "The Weather Channel story illustrates some large differences between individual entrepreneurship and corporate entrepreneurship." Can you elaborate?

Batten: Many corporate entrepreneurs have advantages that most individual entrepreneurs do not have, such as: sufficient financial resources to withstand the inevitable bad surprises; an organization with a variety of talents to call on and particularly to fill holes on short notice; a variety of experiences and some relationships in the relevant market; and an organization with an established reputation and resources that will help recruit talent.

IWM: What's your forecast for The Weather Channel's next 20 years?

Batten: If I had tried to predict The Weather Channels' first 20 years, I would have been wide of the mark. So the best I can do is make guesses based on experience. The Weather Channel's cable network should remain a strong presence, because it serves basic human needs rather than trendy interests.

Weather.com has the potential to build a huge audience as technological developments make it more appealing through the introduction of video and other enhancements. Development of new forecasting knowledge and technologies will make forecasting more accurate, more immediate as well as more long-range. Hopefully weather.com and our other distribution media will have developed unique enhancements that will enable them to charge fees for discrete, personalized services.



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