• by Melynda Fuller , July 20, 2018

Local Now, the Weather Channel’s hyper-local video service, and Yelp announced a new partnership this week.

The alliance allows Local Now users to access Yelp’s trove of food and drink recommendations, videos and reviews. The content directly corresponds to a user’s location, intended to boost local businesses and connect audiences with their communities.

Local Now is already home to localized information about weather, lifestyle, current events and traffic. It is accessible to hundreds of markets across the U.S. 

The service is powered by The Weather Channel network and its partners.  

Prior to the collaboration with Yelp, Local Now partnered with news content outlets, such as The Associated Press, Reuters, Tribune Content Agency, Stadium and Cheddar, to build its user network. 

Shimika Wilder Jones, vice president of strategy and business operations at Weather Group, stated: “The partnership will allow users to discover new, top-rated dining locations in their area. We hope Local Now viewers will have fun as they get more curated information about local restaurants and hidden gems in their own backyards.”

Chad Richard, senior vice president, business-corporate development for Yelp, noted that Yelp has more than 155 million local reviews that will “help Local Now viewers discover the best local businesses.”

Local Now can be accessed through various OTT, mobile and TV platforms, including Sling TV, MobiTV, iOs, Android and Roku.