Coordinates | 37°46′45.48″N122°25′9.12″N |
---|---|
name | The Weather Channel, LLC |
logofile | TWClogo.svg |
logosize | 150px |
logocaption | TWC logo |
founding | 1981 |
launch | May 2, 1982 |
picture format | 480i (SDTV) 1080i (HDTV) |
owner | NBCUniversal(Comcast)Blackstone GroupBain Capital (exact percentages unknown) |
country | United States |
language | English |
broadcast area | United States, Puerto Rico, and The Bahamas |
headquarters | Cobb County, Georgia |
sister names | WeatherscanCNBCMSNBCNBC |
web | Weather.com |
terr serv 1 | UHF-TV Inc.(Willmar, MN) |
terr chan 1 | Channel 34 |
terr serv 2 | Selective TV Inc.(Alexandria, MN) |
terr chan 2 | Channel 50 |
sat serv 1 | DirecTV |
sat chan 1 | Channel 362 (SD/HD)Channel 1362 (Video On Demand) |
sat serv 2 | Dish Network |
sat chan 2 | Channel 214 (SD/HD) |
cable serv 1 | Verizon FiOS |
cable chan 1 | Channel 119 (SD)Channel 619 (HD) |
cable serv 2 | Available on most other U.S. cable systems |
cable chan 2 | Check local listings |
adsl serv 1 | Sky Angel |
adsl chan 1 | Channel 320 |
adsl serv 2 | AT&T; U-Verse |
adsl chan 2 | Channel 225 (SD)Channel 1225 (HD) |
online serv 1 | OneLink Communications |
online chan 1 | Channel 96 }} |
The Weather Channel (TWC) is a US cable and satellite television network since May 2, 1982, that broadcasts weather forecasts and weather-related news, along with entertainment programming related to weather 24 hours a day. In addition to its programming on the cable channel, TWC also provides forecasts for terrestrial and satellite radio stations, newspapers, and websites, and maintains an extensive online presence at weather.com.
The Weather Channel debuted its high-definition simulcast on September 26, 2007. It has its headquarters in unincorporated Cobb County, Georgia, near the intersection of Interstates 75 and 285.
The Weather Channel produces a service, based on modified versions of Weather Star technology called Weatherscan, on which a separate channel constantly displays local and regional conditions and forecasts along with the Weather Channel's logo and advertisements.
The Weather Channel is headquartered in the Cumberland/Galleria area, immediately northwest of Atlanta, overlooking the "Cobb Cloverleaf" interchange from a high-rise in the Interstate North complex. TWC's sister channel in Canada is The Weather Network in English and MétéoMédia in French, which use similar technology that is currently in use in the USA. TWC also runs websites in Brazil (Canal do Tempo), the United Kingdom (Weather Channel), France (Météo 123) and Germany (Wetter 123). Apart from its stake in the Weather Network/MétéoMédia, TWC only runs its US channel, although it does produce international forecasts.
A definitive history of the network, The Weather Channel: The Improbable Rise of a Media Phenomenon, by Frank Batten and Jeffrey L. Cruikshank, was published by Harvard Business Press in May 2002, on TWC's 20th anniversary.
On July 6, 2008, NBC Universal, Bain Capital and Blackstone Group agreed to purchase the Weather Channel from Landmark Communications. NBC Universal also owned NBC Weather Plus, a rival service which was carried by and featured content from its local affiliates; that service announced its discontinuation three months later. Subchannels carrying Weather Plus have moved to the Local AccuWeather Channel, kept the Weather Plus engine, or switched affiliations (e.g., to This TV or the Retro Television Network). Some have shut down entirely.
From November 2008 through February 2009, The Weather Channel terminated seven long-time on-camera meteorologists: Kristina Abernathy, Eboni Deon, Kristin Dodd, Rich Johnson, Cheryl Lemke, Mark Mancuso and Dave Schwartz. With the exception of Eboni Deon, all had been on the air for more than ten years. Three of them had been employed by the network for more than twenty years. In July, 2010, The Weather Channel terminated Bill Keneely, the last of the original on-camera meteorologists who aired on the network's first broadcasts in 1982.
Inevitably, the merger of NBC on-air meteorologists began in May 2009. Todd Santos, formerly of NBC Weather Plus, first appeared on the network on the second day of the month. Al Roker of NBC's Today show began a one-hour morning program with meteorologist Stephanie Abrams as co-host, later in the summer. However for New York-based forecasting operations (those utilized for MSNBC and CNBC forecasts, for instance), the former NBC Weather Plus forecasting, radar, and graphics systems remain in place, with banners changed to fit the Weather Channel graphics scheme. On September 10, 2009, the co-founder of The Weather Channel, Frank Batten, died.
The Weather Star systems also utilize a Lower Display Line (LDL) on the bottom of the screen during local forecasts and national programming, providing current conditions for a specific location and two or three towns within 15 miles, almanac data, forecasts and (in select cities) traffic information on cable headends using the IntelliStar system and only current conditions, and forecasts on cable headends using WeatherStar XL and older models. WeatherStar units also allow the cable company to scroll a text message when in use, including the capability to broadcast severe weather advisories and warnings when severe weather occurs in a given area, displaying warnings for the county in which the WeatherStar system's cable headend is located and surrounding counties in the immediate area.
Weatherscan's forecast products are generated by an IntelliStar unit at the cable provider's headend, which is configured differently than the IntelliStars used by The Weather Channel, in that different graphics and additional weather products are featured and that the service airs an uninterrupted, rolling local weather format with information being shown on a continuous loop. Similar to the now-defunct NBC Weather Plus, Weatherscan displays an "L"-bar that provides current conditions and weather forecasts for the location and the surrounding area at all times during programming, with weather information also being shown on a smaller screen surrounding the "L"-bar.
TWC also has content partnerships with a number of local radio stations in the USA to provide local forecasts, using announcers separate from the TV service. For some affiliates, TWC actually provides a limited amount of live coverage during local severe weather (with the Georgia-based announcers connected via ISDN). Distribution of TWC radio content is currently handled by Dial Global.
Similarly, TWC also provides weather reports for a number of US newspapers, including a half-page national forecast for USA Today.
Throughout the final months of 2007 to the early months of 2008, various cable companies had started to add the Weather Channel HD to their cable lineups, including the Boston, MA, Austin, TX, San Antonio, TX, and Baton Rouge, LA markets. It was added to Dish Network systems on May 13, 2008. Recently, Comcast began adding the channel in some select markets like Chicago, IL. Time Warner Cable and Cablevision, both of which serve New York Metropolitan Area have also recently picked up the HD channel in late July 2008. The IntelliStar 2, which inserts Local On The 8's in HD, was officially released in July 2010. The IntelliStar 2 features; Animated Lower line display, Current Conditions, Weather Bulletins, Metro Conditions, Regional Doppler, Metro Doppler, Hourly Forecast, Local Forecast, and The Week Ahead. Voice narration is done by Jim Cantore. Currently, the system is rolling out in a gradual process on major cable systems across the country. This unit will only be used on The Weather Channel HD and will not replace the IntelliStar or other units on the standard definition channel or on Weatherscan. DirecTV added Local on the 8's to its HD feed on September 29, 2009.
TWC began studio HD programming on June 2, 2008. The new HD studio features various environmentally-friendly technologies. All of TWC's schedule (except It Could Happen Tomorrow, Full Force Nature, and older episodes of Storm Stories) is currently in HD.
Since the NBC buyout, the Weather Channel has colored its logo green five times for Green is Universal weeks, three times in November 2008, 2009 & 2010 and three times in April 2009, 2010 and 2011. Only IntelliStars have the TWC logo changed to green; as such, the only situation during a Green is Universal Week when the logo is not green is on the Weather Channel with a working Weather Star XL, 4000, or Jr. unit.
Global warming was voted the No.1 in 100 Biggest Weather Moments.
On December 21, 2006, Dr. Heidi Cullen reacted to this by posting "Junk Controversy not Junk Science" in a blog on the Weather Channel's web site. In her blog, Dr. Cullen reacted by stating:
The controversy further escalated on April 30, 2010, when The Weather Channel went ahead with airing the 1992 film Wind (a film about yachting that had little to do with weather, contrary to its name) at the same time a tornado outbreak was occurring in Missouri and Arkansas. Meteorologist Jim Cantore publicly stated on his Twitter profile that he was "misled" into believing the channel would cancel the movie in favor of tornado coverage and issued a public apology for the snafu. TWC continued showing the movie while it was giving special "dual-feed" updates to Intellistar units in the area, but much of the affected area was rural and had legacy STAR systems (WeatherSTAR XLs, 4000s etc.) or satellite that did not support the dual-feed feature.
Category:1982 meteorology Category:American television networks Category:Cobb County, Georgia Category:Meteorological companies Category:Television channels and stations established in 1982 Category:The Weather Channel Category:Private equity portfolio companies Category:Blackstone Group companies Category:Bain Capital companies Category:English-language television stations in the United States
es:The Weather Channel fr:The Weather Channel id:The Weather Channel ms:The Weather Channel (Amerika Syarikat) pt:The Weather Channel sco:The Weather Channel (Unitit States) simple:The Weather Channel (United States)This text is licensed under the Creative Commons CC-BY-SA License. This text was originally published on Wikipedia and was developed by the Wikipedia community.
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