• by Jack Loechner , Staff Writer @mp_research, October 28, 2002

Weather: You Can't Change It, But You Can Watch It

Among the latest findings in comScore Media Metrix' Week on the Web, weather information sites have become important destinations for tens of millions of Internet users each month. Interestingly, geography matters: Internet users in the U.S. Pacific Census region - which has a steadier climate - are 24 percent less likely to visit the Weather category versus the total U.S. population. Conversely, users in the Eastern regions of New England, Mid-Atlantic and South Atlantic - with more dramatic changes in climate - collectively are 14 percent more likely to visit these services.

The Oct.14 edition of Week on the Web prompted a number of requests for an analysis of the burgeoning online Weather category. In August 2002, WeatherBug reached 14 percent of U.S. at-work Internet users who were connected to the site for 991 million minutes.

Popular among many, weather can impact travel and leisure activities, agriculture, consumer spending, personal safety and many other aspects of daily life for countless people. And so not surprisingly, although specific in focus, weather information sites have become important destinations for tens of millions of Internet users each month. In fact, two of the top-ten visited online entities in the News and Information category in September 2002 are weather-specific information sources: WeatherBug, which reached 15.5 million unique visitors and The Weather Channel, which drew 13.5 million. Additionally, both properties consistently rank prominently in the monthly comScore Media Metrix U.S. Top 50 Internet Property Ranking.

Focusing on Weather-specific sources (within News and Information), the September 2002 ratings show that there are relatively few online destinations devoted primarily to weather information. WeatherBug and The Weather Channel are dominant, with only two other companies (Accuweather.com and Wunderground.com) drawing more than one million visitors:

Weather Entities U.S. Unique Visitor Ranking September 2002

	Home/Work	Home	Work
WEATHER CATEGORY	28,267,000	22,627,000	10,375,000
WeatherBug	15,487,000	12,562,000	3,955,000
Weather Channel, The	13,504,000	10,055,000	6,345,000
ACCUWEATHER.COM*	1,857,000	1,117,000	858,000
WUNDERGROUND.COM	1,647,000	1,162,000	736,000
INSTACAM.COM	481,000	319,000	N/A
USATODAY.COM/WX	410,000	160,000	N/A
AWS.COM	397,000	254,000	N/A
MYWEATHER.NET	222,000	162,000	N/A
WEATHERPOINT.COM	64,000	128,000	N/A

According to comScore September 2002 demographic data, the Weather category is favored slightly by males and persons age 45 and older. Moreover, Internet users in the U.S. Pacific Census region - which has a steadier climate - were 24 percent less likely to visit the Weather category versus the total U.S. population. Conversely, users in the Eastern regions of New England, Mid-Atlantic and South Atlantic - with more dramatic changes in climate - collectively were 14 percent more likely to visit these services.

Weather Entities Demographic Composition September 2002

	Weather Category	Total Internet
Persons:
2-11	2%	4%
12-17	5%	7%
18-24	9%	10%
25-34	21%	21%
35-44	24%	24%
45-54	23%	21%
55+	16%	14%
Gender:
Males:	53%	50%
Females:	47%	50%
Regions:
W.N. Central	9%	9%
Mountain	5%	7%
Pacific	13%	17%
New England	7%	6%
Mid Atlantic	16%	14%
S. Atlantic	18%	16%
E.S. Central	5%	4%
W.S. Central	11%	10%
E.N. Central	16%	16%

Source: comScore Media Metrix, a division of comScore Networks, Inc October 21, 2002 Edition

NOTE: Data are based on U.S. Internet users in September 2002.