NILES — Sitting in his basement, which doubles as his home studio in Niles, Matt Rudkin checks the water temperature of Lake Michigan to see if it’s likely to snow in the next week.  
It’s data that Rudkin checked and recited countless times during his nine-year run as a meteorologist at WSBT. But instead of reading it on air now, he’ll post it to Facebook, Twitter and Instagram as part of his new independent, social media-driven weather service — Matt Rudkin Weather. 
“I love the challenge of forecasting,” Rudkin said. “That’s really fun. It’s never gotten old.” 
Rudkin left WSBT in June and now works at United Airlines planning flight routes, but he knew he wanted to keep putting out forecasts to stoke his passion for meteorology and Michiana. That manifested itself as a social media-focused forecasting service that Rudkin manages as a hobby. 
“I grew up in this area and I credit this area with a lot of my success, not just in TV, but also in my career, so it’s fun to give back,” he said. 
Rudkin grew up hoping to be a pilot, but he couldn’t afford to go to flight school. He began taking meteorology classes at Purdue University, thinking they would help him once he did become a pilot. He soon found a love of broadcasting, however, which set Rudkin on a TV career path.
That path still involves analyzing weather patterns, though social media is a new challenge for the veteran newscaster. Rudkin pays for weather data, uses that data to make predictions and then posts his daily and weekly forecasts on social media. 
Rudkin’s posts reach an average of 385,000 users per month, according to his figures, and he has a handful of local businesses as sponsors to cover the cost of data fees — meaning Matt Rudkin Weather is able to break even.  
According to his figures, 73% of his social media followers are women, and more than 97% are from Illinois, Indiana and Michigan.
Rudkin is trying to carve out a niche as local TV stations still feature prominent weather teams and as cell phone apps offer easy, quick access to weather information.
Still, he is trying to leverage the popularity and following he built while on TV — assets he thinks can carry over to a digital- and social media-focused venture.
Rudkin said he tries to avoid sensationalizing weather systems and focuses on educating his audience as opposed to preaching at them, something he learned while teaching classes at Valparaiso University. 
“People don’t want to be told how to be dressed, they don’t want to be told what they should or should not do, and they love to know why,” he said. “I really try to teach people, and if you can teach people on their level, they really respect you.” 
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Aiding in his common sense approach is the lack of any December snow storms, Rudkin joked, though he expects the area to see the snow and cold temperatures the area is accustomed to before too long.
“La Niña never lets down,” he said. “It’s a question of when.” 
Rudkin is joining waves of people nationwide who are creating their own content online, for podcasts, YouTube channels and social media channels. Some are just looking for a creative outlet in their free time, while others chase the dream of a lucrative career.
According to Jennifer Riley Simone, who teaches marketing at Indiana University’s Kelley School of Business, the most important thing for content creators is to invest in their own platform, usually a website, so that they aren’t beholden to shifts in the algorithms of social media companies. 
“When it comes to digital marketing … invest in your own space first, which is your website,” said Simone, who also founded Fresh Figs Marketing. “The distribution platforms are a vital part of a healthy digital marketing strategy but they shouldn’t be the center.” 
Rudkin acknowledged he has all of his “eggs in the Facebook basket” at the moment, and recent events such as Facebook’s extended outage in October have made him realize the need to diversify beyond the platform.
But while it takes time to build a brand and generate a following, Simone said, Rudkin has a head start from his years on local TV.
“Weather people have been rock stars for a very long time,” she said. “I think it has nothing to do with the weather and more to do with his personality. People are constantly filling the same niche, but it’s how well you do it and how much you connect with the people who are looking at your content.”
As he looks at potentially expanding his side project, Rudkin hopes to move toward an app as opposed to a website, though those plans are fluid. He’s also toyed with the idea of getting a green screen and better lighting, but he said his audience so far likes his video style. 
“I didn’t know it would be as successful as it’s become, so I’m very, very blessed,” he said. “This is just a side hobby, and I continue to learn. And if it continues to be successful, I can maybe make it a job out of it one day.” 
Email Marek Mazurek at mmazurek@sbtinfo.com. Follow him on Twitter: @marek_mazurek

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