General Discussion
Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsWhat happened to the Weather Channel?
http://www.slate.com/articles/technology/future_tense/2014/01/weather_channel_directv_carriage_dispute_an_interview_with_david_kenny.htmlThe major winter storm that barreled across the country this week may be over, but storm clouds are still brewing over the future of the Weather ChannelAmericas most popular weather source on television.
The channel is in the midst of an all-out brawl with DirecTV, which dropped TWC from 20 million households on Jan. 14 after a carriage dispute. Arguing that it provides critical, life-saving information, the Weather Channel had demanded a penny more per subscriber. Given TWCs flagging viewership, DirecTV thought that was too much moneyand, moreover, criticized TWC for straying from its core mission of 24/7 weather coverage and for choosing instead to air too much reality TV. Direct talks between the parties have ended, and now theyre fighting the battle in the media.
hedgehog
(36,286 posts)tokenlib
(4,186 posts)Their live programming isn't too bad..but the reality show stuff needs to go. When Dish dumped the Weather Channel for that brief period last time, they replaced it with a channel that did strictly weather...then they brought back the Weather Channel after they made some promises for better local regional stuff. I actually LIKED the replacement channel Dish brought in at the time..even though some said it was just a bargaining chip.
The issue remains.. the Weather Channel needs to dump the reality stuff. Some of the reality stuff is ok, but it belongs elsewhere....
Did Direct TV replace it with anything??
B Calm
(28,762 posts)local weather anymore by putting in a zip code. I really miss that feature.
LiberalEsto
(22,845 posts)The Weather Channel has gotten worse and worse, their local forecasts are minimal, their reality tv stuff is a waste pf time. I stopped watching TWC years ago and get my weather info online or from the local radio.
NutmegYankee
(16,204 posts)if the channel is anything like their absolute disaster of a website, then the channel needs to go out of business.
CherokeeDem
(3,709 posts)I agree with Direct TV... they have strayed way too far from 24-7 coverage. That said, when there is horrid weather... they do a fantastic job.
LiberalElite
(14,691 posts)over this Direct TV kerfuffle. Claiming lives will be lost if they're not put back on DT was the last straw. I now get the weather from accuweather.com and my local ABC station.
Blue Owl
(50,536 posts)n/t
Logical
(22,457 posts)Hayduke Bomgarte
(1,965 posts)Yeah.
Though it seems most of the critical info is about the Coast Guard, tornado chasers, storms from months, even years ago, and a cheesey imitation Ice Road Trucker type show.
phylny
(8,392 posts)where a severe storm is, I use the Internet to go to a radar.
northoftheborder
(7,575 posts)....lived that the local, small town, weather, was summarized regularly. The WC does have too much "storm stories" programming, but it seems they cancel that during weather emergencies.
I never watch CNN anymore, but back when I did, I thought their weather reporting during emergencies such as hurricanes was better covered than the WC.
Scruffy Rumbler
(961 posts)Holly_Hobby
(3,033 posts)with NBC. They dropped them in November and passed out free over the air antennas. I doubt we will see NBC here again.
seveneyes
(4,631 posts)No sympathy for the already wealthy.
CFLDem
(2,083 posts)with the internets and whatnot.
Egalitarian Thug
(12,448 posts)any of these fucking parasites. If we kill them all, then maybe we can have some of the good that people make instead of discovering that it will now suck because the giant bought them and will now ruin them.
historylovr
(1,557 posts)that strayed "from its core mission" and began airing reality shows. But then they'd have no content, I suppose.
catbyte
(34,502 posts)Your safety isn't at stake if A & E airs some crap show.
historylovr
(1,557 posts)I just found their pretense that it was about anything other than money to be a little hollow. And their substitute weather channel is pretty weak too. If it does local forecasts I have yet to see one.
catbyte
(34,502 posts)number of times I've tuned to them for information in the last few years. I do like their counterprogramming much more. And DirecTV doesn't carry The Blaze, the biggest reason I didn't go with Dish.
titaniumsalute
(4,742 posts)I was the BIGGEST weather channel fan. Period. I loved it. In the 90's I watched it all the time. Then they started morphing into fake boobs, ditzy weather people, special reality TV, cheesy documentaries, etc. I don't tune in more than probably 20 minutes per year.
If they went back to their core business model they'd be fine. But they, like most companies, try to get too hip. They most me and now they are loosing big time with Direct TV.
Jamaal510
(10,893 posts)for daily (and hourly) forecasts. I can get it all immediately without having to wait for 10 minutes for the local forecast or worrying about the cable provider excluding the Weather Channel.
LiberalElite
(14,691 posts)accuweather.com which also has hourly forecasts and extended forecast out to 45 days.
freshwest
(53,661 posts)The Straight Story
(48,121 posts)Explains a lot
The Weather Channel is an American basic cable and satellite television channel that is owned as a joint venture between NBCUniversal, and investment firms The Blackstone Group and Bain Capital. The channel broadcasts weather forecasts and weather-related news, along with documentaries and entertainment programming related to weather. The channel's headquarters are in Cumberland, Georgia, near Atlanta.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Weather_Channel
SoCalDem
(103,856 posts)ANY TIME OF DAY, and see actual real-time weather.. It was in a "loop" of sorts...and you rarely had to spend much time at all to get "your" weather. There was usually ONE person, at a desk/map..
These days, it is little more than Good Morning America/Fox & Friends/Today Show with a bit more weather. Too much emphasis is on "shows"...which are little more than a compendium of their saved footage and are strung together in 30-60 minute chunks...with many commercials...and of course their "stars"..
It's UNWATCHABLE most of the time.. and now they even NAME regular old storms that are happening daily...somewhere..
wildbilln864
(13,382 posts)then enter zip code. it's one of my four home pages.
Earth_First
(14,910 posts)NOAA and NWS are my go to for weather related information.
catbyte
(34,502 posts)actually broadcasts weather, not a boatload of commercials & crap 'reality" shows.nope, don't miss it at all.
RoverSuswade
(641 posts)"Coast Guard Alaska" is always on.
Lunacee_2013
(529 posts)Oh well, I get my weather forecasts from the web now anyhow.