Weather Year: Weather Channel and Fox Weather Experience Significant Audience Spikes
The year 2024 has seen its share of weather events that have been highlighted on hot topics such as politics, economics, business, sports and entertainment.
Hurricanes have dominated the news cycle, with three of them making landfall in the lower 48 states. Hurricane Beryl made landfall in Texas as a Category 1 storm on July 8; Hurricane Helene has arrived in Category 4 on the Gulf Coast of Florida on September 26; and Hurricane Milton made landfall in the Sunshine State in October, making landfall as a Category 3 storm.
Helen was the most destructive of the three hurricanes, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). indicating that it was the deadliest hurricane which has affected the continental United States since Katrina in 2005. The hurricane caused more than 150 direct deaths, the majority occurring in North Carolina and South Carolina.
These major storms, along with other weather events occurring throughout the year, have kept major U.S. weather networks, including The Weather Channel and Fox Weather, very busy.
The Weather Channel
Hurricane Milton was the network’s most-watched weather event of 2024, with October posting its best monthly, weekly and daily performances. The Weather Channel ranked among the top 5 cable networks in the advertiser-coveted demo for adults 25-54 between October 7 and 10 and was the top cable network among that audience on October 9 when the hurricane made landfall. It surpassed the combined audience of Fox News and CNN that day.
Holy Milton: THE WEATHER CHANNEL drew a whopping (by cable standards) 3.3 million viewers at 9 p.m. ET Wednesday – more than any other cable broadcast in the hour and most on ABC or Fox all night on Wednesday, as well as CBS’ THE SUMMIT.
-TVMoJoe (@TVMoJoe) October 10, 2024
CGI of what Hurricane Milton can do to Florida.
Savage.
🎥 The Weather Channel pic.twitter.com/oNKeB9pYMs
– HOW THINGS WORK (@HowThingsWork_) October 9, 2024
Outside of its special hurricane coverage, The Weather Channel’s highest-rated show in 2024 was Weekend Recharge, which attracted 313,000 total viewers and 48,000 demo viewers on August 4. His highest-rated primetime show of the year was Highway Through Hell, which attracted 267,000 total viewers and 13,000 demo viewers on March 17.
Renard Weather
Like The Weather Channel, Fox Weather experienced significant audience growth during the month of October due to coverage of Hurricane Milton.
Note: Fox Weather’s audience is not measured by Nielsen because it is primarily distributed as a streaming network. Data sources for Fox Weather streaming: Adobe Analytics, Amagi, Cascada, Roku Portal, Xumo Dashboard, Fubo Dashboard, YTTV, Tubi Dashboard, Hulu and Nielsen.
In October, total viewing time for Fox Weather coverage increased +662% year over year. October 9 was the network’s best viewing day, with 994.8 million minutes broadcast on its cable and FAST channels.
Meanwhile, Milton and Helen’s coverage accounted for 9 of the top 10 days of the Fox Weather feed and increased viewership on the network’s website, which saw a +167% year-over-year increase in page views on the other.
A viral moment occurred during Helen’s coverage of Fox Weather involving an on-air meteorologist. On site in Atlanta, Bob Van Dillen switched from reporter mode to hero mode as he saved a woman stuck in a flooded car.
WATCH: FOX Weather Meteorologist Saves Woman From Atlanta Floodwaters
You can see meteorologist Bob Van Dillen carrying the woman on his back in chest-deep water. pic.twitter.com/G9Ji3eBPbc
– Vanessa Pacheco (@VanessaOnTV) September 27, 2024
Solar eclipse
In less perilous weather news, The Weather Channel and Fox Weather both covered April’s solar eclipse, which crossed a significant portion of the continental United States
For almost two hours, images of the solar eclipse covered the waves on both networks – as well as the other major broadcast and cable networks – from the time it entered North America via Mexico around 2:07 p.m. ET until its exit via Maine around 3:35 p.m. HEY.
The Weather Channel recorded 464,000 total viewers and 77,000 A25-54 viewers. for its eclipse coveragewhile Fox Weather simulcast its coverage on Fox News, which attracted 2.1 million total viewers and 210,000 demo viewers.
Additionally, watch time on the Fox Weather stream increased during the eclipse, increasing +176% over its 30-day average and +414% year-over-year.
LOOK like @StéphanieAbrams experiences today’s total solar eclipse in Fredericksburg, Texas. #sponsored by @bmsnews. pic.twitter.com/YAt2XvcNns
– The Weather Channel (@weatherchannel) April 8, 2024
The eclipse began in the lower 48 as a partial solar eclipse begins in Eagle Pass, Texas.
FOX Weather Meteorologist @KendallSmithWX has the last one. #SolarEclipse2024 pic.twitter.com/lRCf7Sgfde
– FOX Weather (@foxweather) April 8, 2024
We’ll wait to see what Mother Nature has in store for the planet – and weather networks – in 2025.
