The Weather Channel is acquiring Weather Underground for an undisclosed amount.
The sites will remain separate, but data from Weather Underground will be used on Weather Channel – and that’s what the deal is truly about.
Weather Underground’s user generated data is second to none. It receives real-time weather information from thousands of users’ automated personal weather stations, including over a dozen in the Hamilton area alone. User blogs are often informative and insightful. Best of all, for the corporation, the data is free for them to profit from.
That’s what this latest media deal is all about – getting free content from users to commercialize.
The question is if WUnderground’s community will accept the deal or transfer their data elsewhere?