Houston station ‘reinvents’ the wheel with hourly forecasts

KHOU-TV, the Gannett CBS affiliate in Houston, has a new gimmick for its weather forecasts — the “Weather Wheel.”

The wheel, which, quite naturally, is sponsored by a local car dealership, is basically a fancy way of presenting an hour-by-hour forecast. During select forecasts, the station uses an animated half circle full screen graphic that is divided into wedges — one for each hour.

Display in each wedge is the time of day, the forecasted temperature, a graphical icon and chance of precipitation.

The station is promoting the Weather Wheel with an on air spot that, quite loftily, proclaims that while the wheel has moved mankind forward “since the dawn” of time, “you’ve never seen a wheel like this.”

The early predecessor to KHOU-TV’s “Weather Wheel,” at least according to the station

The promo starts with a large, animated stone wheel set against a dessert landscape which then spins into a wagon wheel in the Old West and, finally, a sporty modern wheel of today.

Watch the promo here:

H/T Charlie

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