BBC picks new weather partner after 93 years with the Met Office
Dutch provider MeteoGroup will supply data from spring next year.
Although it's been almost a year since the BBC announced its 93-year partnership with the Met Office was coming to an end, the broadcaster didn't have replacement lined up at the time. During those months, it has considered bids from various new providers and ran what it calls "an open competition" to select a supplier who would appease licence payers by delivering high-quality services while keeping costs low. Today, the BBC confirmed that Netherlands-based Meteogroup was able to meet those requirements, allowing it to take over from the Met Office from spring 2017.
According to Nigel Charters, Project Director of BBC Weather re-procurement (that's a real thing), the deal will save the BBC "millions of pounds over the next seven or so years." At a time where the Beeb is cutting all it can to reduce its budget, the agreement will please the corporation's bean counters.
MeteoGroup is already the UK's largest private sector weather business and provides weather services for both Channel 4 and Sky. Its meteorological data will be fed into the BBC's TV broadcasts and mobile app, which will require an upgrade to show "even more science and forecasting detail."
