Rule of thumb for when a major hurricane is bearing down on your market is to prepare for the worst and hope for the best. As Hurricane Matthew was heading toward the coast of Florida, it appeared as if West Palm, the eastern most point in the state, would be ground zero for the storm […]
Rule of thumb for when a major hurricane is bearing down on your market is to prepare for the worst and hope for the best.
As Hurricane Matthew was heading toward the coast of Florida, it appeared as if West Palm, the eastern most point in the state, would be ground zero for the storm to come ashore.
Fortunately for West Palm, Matthew wobbled slightly east off shore, sparing that part of coast from significant damage. Other parts of the East Coast up through Florida, Georgia and the Carolinas were not so lucky.
But since forecasting the precise path a hurricane will take is not an exact science, TV stations in its projected path must prepare viewers for the worst case scenarios.
WPTV, the NBC affiliate in West Palm owned by Scripps, brought 25 additional staff members from other Scripps stations to assist in its hurricane coverage.
The station did a special half-hour program about Matthew as the hurricane approached the area. And like many of the stations along the coast, provided wall-to-wall coverage on the air and extensive social media content.
“Throughout the storm we updated and interacted with viewers via Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Snapchat,” said Christine Baron, WPTV’s creative services director.
“We also produced short ‘snackable’ videos specifically for social media. When the storm ended, we began airing three promos, a more traditional continuing coverage spot and two spots supporting the WPTV brand.”
On-Air Social Thank You
On-Air Image/POB
On-Air POP
Social Video – After The Storm
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