WeatherWatch.co.nz is NZ’s largest independent weather voice – and YouTube ratings have proved that, clocking up over 6 million views in just the past 12 months at WeatherWatchTV.

Focusing on accuracy, not hype, and delivering a daily message (week days) that covers what is most likely to happen (rather than the most isolated extreme thing that might occur) is a huge reason why WeatherWatchTV has taken off on YouTube.

“We’ve focused on giving forecasts that help, not hype” says WeatherWatch CEO Philip Duncan. “We source all our maps and data independently. We avoid making headlines that are quickly proven incorrect. We support MetService’s official warnings but add our own view. Caring about quality is a huge part of what we do – but also caring deeply about the audience watching and relying on us and what they need from a weather forecast”.

While 6 million views is impressive for a small NZ business, it was December 2023 that saw WeatherWatchTV’s biggest month with 1.2 million views in just four weeks thanks to rain events in New Zealand and a couple of cyclones around Queensland, Australia. Viewership last December overtook a number of NZ On Air funded programmes, including TVNZ’s Q&A. No mainstream news outlet covered this at the time.

Over the past 12 months WeatherWatchTV has also started providing videos for Australia thanks to strong demand there too.

“New Zealand news outlets complain about offshore social media companies, but many in our local news media are fixated on hyping weather events. This is one of the MSM’s biggest weaknesses in NZ because they get really big clicks for any weather content regardless of accuracy – but the people and businesses that rely most on weather accuracy detest this constant clickbait” says WeatherWatch CEO Philip Duncan. “NZ has some fantastic science and weather reporters, but it’s sometimes hard to find their good work with all the weather clickbait around it”.

The public comments sent to WeatherWatchTV daily on YouTube reflect a New Zealand public exhausted with the general news media over-hyping small thunderstorms, heatwaves that miss where most people live, headlines that are overly dramatic, mixing two opposing official Government forecasters into one confusing news story (happens no where else on earth) and extreme weather events being loosely connected to climate change yet with no free open data from Niwa to support or challenge these statements.

“The weather is like a drama series on Netflix that you’re binge watching. It’s already a drama – we don’t need to add more urgency to it unless lives are at risk.” says Duncan. “We’re so appreciative and grateful to our supporters across New Zealand, from townies to farmers, boaties to skiers, corporate NZ to the self-employed, and of course to our clients. Thank you for trusting us and thank you for your continued immense support”.

---

*WeatherWatch.co.nz is a NZ owned small business with data and media clients in both the public and private sectors for over 15 years. We are official partners of The Weather Company – the world’s most accurate weather forecaster and data supplier.