Weather broadcasting software for TV and radio stations
Weather broadcasting software gives a station everything it needs to put the weather on air: reliable forecast data, maps and graphics that match the channel, and a clean way into the graphics, playout and automation systems already in the gallery. Skycaster does all of that from one dashboard.
What weather broadcasting software does
A weather segment needs three things: numbers you can trust, visuals your audience understands, and a way to get both on air on time, every day. Weather broadcasting software brings them together. It collects forecast data for the places you cover, turns it into maps and graphics, and hands the result to your broadcast chain — as a data feed for the graphics engine, as ready-made templates, or as finished video.
What to look for
- Data your systems can read. Structured JSON or XML that graphics, playout and scheduling systems can consume without manual copying.
- Forecast range and depth. Current conditions plus hourly and daily forecasts, with the fields your segments actually use.
- On-air language. Weather wording in the language and style your audience speaks, including non-Latin scripts.
- Maps that look like your channel. Control over basemaps, borders, colours, labels and animation.
- A real video signal. SDI or HDMI output into the switcher, not a screen capture.
- Automation. Saved configurations your systems can request by name, so the segment updates without anyone touching it.
- Predictable pricing. A clear subscription instead of per-request billing surprises.
How Skycaster covers each part
Weather data API
Current conditions, hourly forecasts and daily forecasts up to 16 days ahead for any city or coordinates, delivered as JSON or XML. Choose from 80+ fields — temperature, feels-like, wind and gusts, precipitation, clouds, pressure, visibility, UV, radiation, soil, air quality and pollen — in °C or °F and km/h, mph or m/s. Save a set of cities, fields and units as a named preset and request it with a single parameter.
Weather alerts
Alerts for thunderstorms, strong wind gusts, heat, cold, heavy rain, freezing rain, heavy snow, very high UV and fog arrive in the same feed, graded minor, moderate or severe. They are derived from the forecast data using published thresholds.
Your language, your wording
Define your own text for every weather condition and alert, in as many languages as you broadcast in, and request it with ?lang=. No extra tier and no code changes.
Live weather maps
Build maps in the dashboard with animated wind streams, temperature and other heatmaps, rain radar, satellite imagery, country borders, city labels and terrain. Scrub the forecast hour by hour and play it back, and save each look as a configuration.
On-air graphics and video
HTML broadcast templates work in CasparCG and browser-based playout. The Skycaster Rendering Client for macOS and Windows renders your map configurations — including 3D Earth flyovers — to MP4, or live over SDI and HDMI through a Blackmagic DeckLink card.
Built for TV and radio
TV stations use the maps, templates and video output; radio stations and their websites use the same feed for read-outs, tickers and on-screen graphics in visual radio. Regional broadcasters and networks run many markets from one account, with plans sized by API throughput and map capacity.
Pricing
Skycaster plans start at €500 per month (€5,000 per year) and every plan includes the full data API, live maps and the rendering client. Compare plans.
Common questions
- What is weather broadcasting software?
- Weather broadcasting software supplies the forecast data, maps and graphics a TV or radio station needs to present the weather on air, and connects them to the station's graphics, playout and automation systems.
- Do I need a meteorologist to use it?
- No. Skycaster delivers ready-to-use forecasts, descriptions and alerts, so a producer can build the weather segment. Stations with meteorologists use the same data and maps as the starting point for their own forecasts.
- Does it work with CasparCG and other graphics systems?
- Yes. Skycaster includes HTML broadcast templates for CasparCG and browser-based playout, and any graphics or automation system that can read JSON or XML can use the data API directly.
- Can weather maps go straight to the switcher?
- Yes. The Skycaster Rendering Client for macOS and Windows outputs map video live over SDI or HDMI through a Blackmagic DeckLink card, or renders MP4 files for playout.
More in the Skycaster FAQ and the API documentation.