Back in 1998, when real folks were on the first pioneer blog, Urban Expose, run by a well-known Black hacker-phreaker named Captain Crunch, the conversations were gossip on Black-owned “urban” digital platforms.
Since there were so many “Black this and that” web platforms in the late 1990s, someone on the Urban Expose comment section named Ed Dunn made a snide remark about creating a Black weather site. Call it blackweather.com, the first Black online website dedicated to weather.
This caused everyone to laugh on the blog, and we joked about having a Black weather site with search, RSS feeds, interactive video and stuff like that—which is what the other so-called “urban sites” were talking about.
Fast-forward to 2024, where we got jokers thinking they were legends in the Black tech space. The idea of a weather-based news platform is actually a reality in markets around the world. In fact, in an omniverse of social media, video, and third spaces, a weather news platform can be operated successfully as a truly global empire.
In this article, we are going to cover two countries with weather sites and ask the question: Can American sistas up the weather platform game? If the sistas cannot do it, then we are going to tell the brothas what he can to snatch the hustle and run the jewels of his digital media empire. And yes, all of this has bigger potential than what Byron Allen is doing with the Weather Channel.
WNN Girls in Japan
WNN is a powerhouse in Japan and a business model worth studying and observing. This is mostly an Internet YouTube media platform featuring modest young ladies presenting weather stories. The platform does have a nice number of followers, but you are foolish to believe that follower metric matters. What makes WNN powerful and what you should pay attention to is their multi-channel monetization model.
There is a documentary (https://youtu.be/z7QG9owYEUY) on Hiyama Saya that gives some insight into how the WNN business model is successful and showcases how these modest ladies are generating sponsorships, fans, and branding. I noticed they have marketing tie-ups and fan meetup conferences for $65 a ticket. I find this documentary funny and entertaining, and the whole video is worth watching.
While waiting for the bullet train at the Kyoto station going back to Tokyo, I saw this display appear on the digital signage. It was a digital display of WNN and a weather girl showing travelers the forecast. This is where you need to realize how powerful of touchpoints and imprints this digital media can be marketed anywhere off YouTube.
Notice the weather girls can do video content visiting places and having fun or visit natural sites. There is more content such as hanging out in the snow, going to a fall festival, and visiting food places and trying out food – massive amount of content potential they can create for just a weather channel. I told you this programming format has more depth than Byron Allen and The Weather Channel, didn’t I?
WNN is an excellent study of creating the next generation of weather programming content for the social media generation and can create a serious media empire.
Mexico Weather Girls
While Japan is selling modest ladies reporting on the weather, the Mexican weather reporting is bringing out the cake factory. Major extreme from the Japanese and got a brotha moving to the edge of his seat. I remember telling this Mexican sista on conversations that I love watching Mexican weather reports, she laughed because she knows what a brotha was talking about.
The Mexican weather reporting is more culo-orientated and sells sexy weather girls to grab attention. And the ladies are putting it out all on the screen in their reporting. They don’t report like this in the USA, and I only remember a lady in Texas who came close to this style of reporting.
However, the weather ladies have their own identity brand and go out to promote events and special coverage. So even in Mexico, as you see the weather lady can cover sports because she has that kind of reach.
The difference between WNN and Mexico weather ladies is the Mexico version is still part of a news programming and not a standalone programming. I think if they did standalone programming, they can probably realize the same opportunities that WNN is winning at.
Can The Sistas in America Operate This Weather Media Model?
The sistas could easily make this model work in America and surpass whatever Byron Allen is trying to do with The Weather Channel, which is boring. Come on, you know WNN runs rings around The Weather Channel programming and has engagement and ladies who are very marketable and bring in revenue.
The one thing sistas can do that will be the magic move is be diverse with ladies from all backgrounds. However, one obvious cannot be ignored – there have to be sistas built like and can present like those ladies down in Mexico. You sistas are not going anywhere if all the sistas look like feminist cornballs.
I will take it even further – a sista can build this business model out in a Dubai freezone area with a global diversity of women. Then, create a global digital platform for reporting weather in the UK and Europe, Africa, Asia, Latin America, and North America. The ladies can be local in those countries with bureau offices and run sponsorships and events, creating global revenue opportunities.
The only problem is the majority of sistas don’t have this level of mogul mindset in America. The only way s sista can do this is to think big and go big. But if you break down the WNN, you will see there is not much behind this in terms of funding and effort to get up and running.
How the Brothas Can Snatch Food from a Sista Table
Now, brothas, if the sistas are hard-headed and just want to say this article is a “good read,” let’s be honest: the Black men who like dating interracially can easily take this hustle from the American Black woman.
You brothas know precisely what I’m going to say before I say it – go and get some Venezuelan and Chinese migrants crossing the border and create your weather programming channel on YouTube using them. You know how to pick them and plump them back up with a nice shape or modest look, and you run with this model.
I will be honest: You brothas can put this together faster and better than the sistas. You know the kind of weather ladies the men of culture want to see. By reporting on the weather, you can create events, sponsorships, deal tie-ins, co-locations, and more revenue than a Black radio station.
So, if the sistas don’t want to run with this, I know you brothas can go snatch up a weather lady from Mexico and have her report on your platform. Guess what—she doesn’t even need to speak English. The men of culture aren’t even looking at the weather map or caring if she speaks Spanish. Come on, bro.
Wrapping Up
As you see, the weather format has more legs than the polarizing media platforms we see out there. People argue about their politics, relationships, celebrity gossip, and other toxic programming. But just talking about the weather with pleasant-looking ladies lets you focus on the media business and making deals without worrying about the sponsors being worried about controversial topics.
This can create massive advertisement revenue, as well as fan meet-and-greet events and tie-ins, plus revenue from sites like TikTok and YouTube. You can even create your own pop-up weather store to sell weather radios, umbrellas, rain boots, portable fans, garden boxes, and apparel—I see you beginning to realize all the revenue opportunities here.
Sistas, this opportunity is wide open for you to seize. If you sistas don’t want to run with it, there is a brotha in the background scheming how he can build this up for his global empire ambitions, just letting yall know.
