Scripps Acquires Mobile Wer Technology Firm WerSphere

CINCINNATI The E.W. Scripps Co. has acquired WeatherSphere, a provider of weather-related mobile apps. Terms were not disclosed

WeatherSphere founder and CEO Raghav Gupta began by designing a weather app that he released as an experiment. When thousands of people started downloading the app during a series of deadly tornadoes in 2011, Gupta saw first-hand the market for delivering accurate and timely weather information via mobile phones.

We realized back then that smartphones and mobile technology would play a significant role in ensuring people's safety, said Gupta. Today, we serve those threatened by a weather event, and we also serve the casual weather watcher and everyone in between.

WeatherSphere's brands include weather and lifestyle apps available for sale for all smartphones. By joining Scripps, WeatherSphere will be able to accelerate its pace of development and innovation, said Gupta, who will continue to lead and further build out the existing team in Mountain View, California.

WeatherSphere was recently named to Fast Company's World's Top 10 Most Innovative Companies in Travel, alongside AirBnB, Lyft, and Google.

WeatherSphere's portfolio of apps includes:

RadarCast offers stunning hi-definition animated real-time futurecast radar images with lightning strikes on a fluid responsive map. It notifies users when it's about to rain and offers weather-based driving directions.

NOAA Hi-Def Radar is a top five paid weather app. It can show rain in real-time, along with snowfall, lightning strikes, tornadoes, hurricane forecast tracks, severe weather warning areas, clickable storm direction arrows, national drought severity, and wildfire locations on the same map.

WeatherAlerts has a loud siren sound whenever a tornado is approaching. It works for hurricanes, snow storms, floods, tsunamis, fires, and many other severe weather events.

Simple Tides gives tide patterns at location and allows viewing of an accurate tide chart.

NOAA Snow Forecast gives a precise snow forecast for the next couple of days locally or in a larger area..

Lightning Cast allows push-notification whenever there is a lightning strike near any of a users designated places.

Hi-Def Animated Radar, which is free, shows real-time hi-def animated weather radar images in color on a responsive interactive map, along with weather forecast on the same screen.

The WeatherSphere portfolio will expand the Scripps national digital footprint and complement StormShield, its existing paid weather app, which provides emergency alerts to consumers through their smartphones and tablets. Scripps is building its inventory of digital assets that generate revenue as stand-alone apps and also serve as a vehicle for its television and newspaper markets to strengthen consumer connections across traditional and digital media platforms.

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