Charities Rooting For KSNV’s 3 Degree Guarantee

Local charities in Las Vegas are pulling for Kevin Janison to be accurate when he forecasts the weather on KSNV, Sinclair’s NBC affiliate in Las Vegas.

Because every night at 11, when he accurately forecasts what the high temperature will be for the next day, and it’s within 3 degrees of his estimate, KSNV donates $100 to a local charity.

If Janison’s guarantee is good for the 20 weekdays in the month, that means $2,000 for one lucky charity.

“We want people rooting for Kevin,” says Mark Neerman, KSNV’s news director, “because it’s a measure of accountability.”

And the Vegas odds are good for Janison.

“His track record is very good,” Neerman says, somewhere in the high 90% range.

“Kevin’s a veteran Vegas meteorologist, he gets the desert. So he’s pretty accurate.”

Neerman stresses that one of the reasons why the 3 Degree Guarantee has been as successful as it has been is “because temperature is a badge of honor in Las Vegas.”

“People care about the weather in Las Vegas as much as they any place in the country.”

And while KSNV’s 3 Degree Guarantee has been a boon for local charities, generating almost $34,000 since the station’s started it in July of 2016, it’s also helped solidify the station’s leadership as the weather authority, says Neerman.

“This has been a key part to our strategy, to differentiate our weather product here. And we are the one that people turn to when it matters.”

NOTE: The idea of local TV stations offering the 3 Degree Guarantee is not new.

Google it and you’ll find many stations currently employing the practice. And according to an 2015 article in the Washington Post, “the 3-degree guarantee might be considered a worthy endeavor” when stations donate money to charities when the forecast is within the 3 degree range.