weather channel

The Weather Channel (TWC) is a cable and satellite television network that reports national weather and weather-related news with live coverage, 24 hours a day. The Weather Channel is headquartered in Marietta, Georgia, near Atlanta. It is a wholly owned subsidiary of Landmark Communications. In addition to its cable TV programming, TWC also provides forecasts for terrestrial and satellite radio stations, newspapers, and websites, and maintains an extensive online presence at weather.com.

History

The Weather Channel went on the air on May 2, 1982. The channel reports the weather and other meteorological information for the United States as well as other countries and regions of the world. TWC originally gathered its national region forecasts from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), and gathered its local forecasts from local National Weather Service offices, but since 2002 has done local forecasting in-house from Marietta, Georgia. However, current weather and forecast model data is still provided by the National Weather Service, and the ultraviolet index and air quality reports are from the Environmental Protection Agency. The Weather Channel does not have any local meteorologists outside of the Atlanta area.

The Weather Channel was the brainchild of former WLS-TV Chicago chief meteorologist and Good Morning America forecaster John Coleman, who took his idea to Landmark's then-chief Frank Batten.

In the early years of the network, there were many meteorologists in their 20s and 30s, except for Charlie Welsh, Bill Schubert, and hurricane expert John Hope.

Current

TWC uses special proprietary equipment that inserts local weather forecast and warning information if it is viewed on a cable TV system. The original WeatherStar technology has been upgraded on most cable systems to IntelliStar, including Vocal Local to announce the three-day local forecast. Satellite viewers see a roundup of local TWC forecasts for major cities across the U.S., as well as satellite and radar images, and severe weather watch and warning maps when active.

The Weather Channel produces a service, based on modified versions of WeatherStar 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.

TWC's sister channel in Canada is The Weather Network in English and MétéoMédia in French, which uses 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 (Meteo 123) and Germany (Wetter 123). Apart from their stake in The Weather Network/MétéoMédia, TWC only runs their US channel, although it does air an international forecast.

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.

In March 2005, The Weather Channel announced that it would receive a new logo/tagline, "Bringing Weather to Life," replacing the 2001 "Live By it" campaign. This change began on August 15, 2005, with changes in formats and programming taking place as part of a subsequent gradual transition that lasted until December, it has increased airtime to weather forecasts by June 2006.

Overseas versions

Over the years, attempts to broadcast international versions of TWC (apart from Canada's The Weather Network/MétéoMédia and the Australian version of the Weather Channel) have failed.

• A UK version of The Weather Channel ran from 1 September 1996 to 30 January 1998, when it was closed due to low viewing figures.

• TWC also ran The Weather Channel Latin America, which operated in Spanish in Mexico, Puerto Rico and South America, this network ceased operations in December 2002. The service's three original anchors were Paola Elorza, Sal Morales and Mari Carmen Ramos who left the channel within a year of its launch and went on to work for Univision in Miami, Telemundo in Los Angeles and CNN International. At one point, there was also a Portuguese version in Brazil.

• On Time Warner's Oceanic cable system in Hawaii, The Weather Channel aired overnights on a local cable channel, and around the clock on digital [1]. However, its WeatherStar 4000 unit suffered from several technical difficulties during its run (including a persistent "Radar Temporarily Unavailable" notice, showing the Seattle-based radar map), its programming has since been dropped. However, up to 2000, The Weather Channel showed the Weather Star 4000's Travel Cities Forecast off the national feed if there's a problem when tuning in.

The Weather Channel logo

The Weather Channel's most recognized logo started out as a slightly-squished blue rectangular box that debuted on TWC’s first broadcast on May 2, 1982. This logo would later be revised in 1996, with the corners and "Weather Channel" text font less rounded. The URL text "weather.com" was permanently added underneath the logo in 1999. More recently, in August 2005, the logo was re-overhauled; the blue rectangle’s corners are straight, and "The Weather Channel" text is now in lower-case and left-justified, similar to the Weather Network in Canada.

Local on the 8s

The Local on the 8s (also known as the "Local Forecast" or "LOT8s") is a localized weather forecast for a specific region, city, or town. Any cable company that carries The Weather Channel can install a Weather STAR (or simply STAR) unit in a cable headend and viewers can then get the Local on the 8s on their television. The current WeatherSTAR units in use are:

• Weather Star Jr
• Weather STAR 4000
• Weather STAR XL
• IntelliStar

As of 2006, most cable companies choose to use the IntelliSTAR, which also happens to be the newest STAR system. Some cable companies in smaller markets may continue to use the older XL, 4000, or Jr units that they have if they cannot afford the IntelliSTAR. However, the IS is more cheaper than the older units, so the IS is a wiser choice, especially for new cable companies.

The Local on the 8s airs about every 10 minutes. During this segment, weather information for the local area is given for cable users. Due to the non-locality of satellite television, those users are instead shown local weather for various major cities.

The reason for the name is that it airs at times that end in "8" (in general), for example 9:48. Before this was implemented, the local forecast was seen about 8 times an hour at various times, depending on the time of day (more in the morning, less at night). The Local on the 8s debuted in 1996.

Cable viewers can see current weather conditions in their city, conditions in surrounding areas, weather forecasts (hourly and extended), Doppler radars of the region, almanacs, air quality conditions, and in larger cities, traffic conditions for the area.

On satellite, the Local on the 8s includes hourly forecasts of major metro areas, 3-day forecasts of major cities, and Doppler radars of the Northeast, Southeast, Midwest, Northwest, and Southwest, respectively. At :18 and :48 after the hour, the Northwest and Southwest radars are replaced by the a radar showing the entire West. The STAR team at TWC is currently working on a solution to bring the local forecast to satellite viewers.

The unique soundtrack for Local on the 8s is drawn mostly from commercially available music published with BMI. Tracks from the albums of popular jazz fusion artists David Benoit, Trammell Starks, The Rippingtons, Spyro Gyra, St. Germain, and the Yellowjackets have been used as local forecast music in the past. Ryan Farish [2], Pat Metheny, Boney James, Charles Mingus, and Nestor Torres are just some of the other artists whose music is employed regularly for the Local on the 8s. The Weather Channel has also played music from the band Phish, The Allman Brothers, jazz legend Herbie Hancock and famed guitarist Eric Clapton.

Radio and newspaper presence

The Weather Channel provides forecasts for both the Sirius and XM satellite radio services in the United States. Both services run regional forecasts on one station and have a block of combined local weather and traffic stations for major metropolitan areas.

TWC also has content partnerships with a number of local radio stations in the USA to provide local forecasts, though as a general rule they provide only data feeds that are read by the station's on-air talent. Similarly, TWC also provides weather reports for a number of US newspapers, including a half-page national forecast for USA Today.

Online services

TWC provides numerous customized forecasts for online users, including home and garden and event planning forecasts. They also provide WAP access for mobile phone users, desktop widgets for quick reference by computer users, and customized weather feeds for individual websites. They follow a two-tiered service model, with the free service bearing advertisements and their pay ("Gold") service lacking ads and having enhanced radar and mapping functions. Cell Phone customers can even have their local forecast sent to their mobile handsets from TWC for a fee via SMS by sending a text message with their zip code to 42278 which spells 4cast.

Yahoo!'s weather site is run by TWC.

Programming

Current programs

(Check schedule for exact airtimes)

• Abrams And Bettes: Beyond The Forecast
• Day Planner
• Evening Edition
• Evening Edition West Coast
• First Outlook
• PM Edition
• The Climate Code
• The Weather Classroom
• Weather Center
• Weekend Now
• Weekend Outlook
• Weekend View
• Your Weather Today

Future Programs

• Epic Conditions (Q1 2007)

Programming Schedule

The following list is the current programming lineup provided by The Weather Channel (as of October 2006).

(All Times Eastern)

Weekdays

Weekends

Personalities

Current OCMs

• Kristina Abernathy
• Stephanie Abrams
• Adam Berg
• Mike Bettes
• Vivian Brown
• Jim Cantore
• Jennifer Carfagno
• Kelly Cass
• Betty Davis
• Eboni Deon
• Kristin Dodd
• Paul Goodloe
• Rich Johnson
• Jeanetta Jones
• Bill Keneely
• Cheryl Lemke
• Sarah Libby - Weather.com Meteorologist / Substitute Anchor
• Jennifer Lopez
• Warren Madden
• Mark Mancuso
• Nicole Mitchell
• Jeff Morrow
• Carl Parker
• Kim Perez
• Sharon Resultan
• Kevin Robinson
• Dave Schwartz
• Marshall Seese
• Mike Seidel - Football Tailgater / Substitute Anchor
• Alexandra Steele
• Bob Stokes
• Heather Tesch
• Alex Wallace (Weather.com broadcaster)
• Nick Walker

Other Personalities

• Dr. Heidi Cullen (Climate Expert)
• Jorma Duran (Reporter)
• Jeff Flock (Reporter)
• Dr. Greg Forbes (Severe Weather Expert)
• Danny Lipford (Home Improvement Expert)
• Dr. Steve Lyons (Hurricane Expert)
• Julie Martin (Reporter)
• Jeff Mielcarz (Road Crew Host)
• Dr. Marcus (Commando Weather)
• Dao Vu (Weekend View Host)

Former OCMs

• Janine Albert (still does occasional hurricane reporting)
• Hillary Andrews
• Will Annen
• Carl Arredondo
• Dan Atknison
• Ray Ban (current Senior Meteorologist)
• Fred Barnhill
• Diane Barone
• Melissa Barrington
• Andre Bernier
• Mike Bono
• Jill Brown
• Mary Brown*
• Don Buser
• Declan Cannon
• Kam Carman
• Bob Child
• Tom Chisholm
• Gay Dawson
• Sandra Diaz
• Brad Edwards
• Paul Emmick
• Neal Estano
• Rick Griffin
• John Hope* (former Tropical Weather Expert)
• Bruce Edwards Kalinowski
• Paul Kocin (former Winter Weather Expert)
• Bonnie McLaughlin
• Vince Miller
• Karen Minton
• Tom Moore (current Senior Meteorologist)
• Lisa Mozer
• Myke Motley*
• Stu Ostro (current Senior Meteorologist)
• Dan Pope
• Cindy Preszler
• Kevan Ramer
• Gene Rubin
• Jodi Saeland
• Jon Nese (former Storm Expert On Your Weather Today)
• John Scala
• Bill Schubert
• Dennis Smith (current Senior Meteorologist)
• Terri Smith
• Lisa Spencer
• Marny Stanier
• Melissa Tuttle
• Charlie Welsh*
• Keith Westerlage (current On-Camera Meteorology Manager)
• Colleen Wine

* indicates person is deceased.

Slogans

• "We Take The Weather Seriously, But Not Ourselves" (1982–1984)
• "Weatherproofing America" (1984–1986)
• "You Need Us, The Weather Channel, For Everything You Do" (1986–1991)
• "Weather You Can Always Turn To" (1991–1995)
• "No Place on Earth Has Better Weather" (1996–1999)
• "Live By It" (2001–2005)
• "Bringing Weather to Life" (2005–present)

Hurricane coverage slogans

• "Hurricane Central" (August–October 2005)
• "Your Hurricane Authority" (October 2005-January 2006)
• "The Hurricane Authority" (May 31 2006- present )

Trivia

• During the commercial slogan of "Bringing Weather To Life" in 2005, the Guster song "Window" from the album "Parachute" was played.
• Nick Walker, Host of First Outlook, is referred to as the "Weather Dude".
• Stephen Arnold Music did all of the 2003-2005 show music.
• Comedian Lewis Black, and John Salley (host of Fox Sports Net's The Best Damn Sports Show Period) have done The Weather Channel's "Celebrity Forecast"
• Kristin Dodd and Jeanetta Jones are currently the only 2 non-certified meteorologists at TWC.

 Jeanetta and Kristin (as of Oct 2006) are also they only show with 2 women hosts, and no men

• Nicole Mitchell and Warren Madden are Hurricane Hunters.
• Heather Tesch tells Marshall Seese what color clothing she is wearing the next day, and Marshall tries to wear a tie that color matches it.

See also

• List of Firefox extensions - see "1-Click Weather" at the top
• The Weather Network - the Canadian counterpart to TWC
• List of DirecTV channels
• List of Dish Network channels

External links

• Official Site
• The Weather Channel's fan site
• The Weather Network (Canada)
• Landmark Communications
• The book The Weather Channel: The Improbable Rise of a Media Phenomenon
• News regarding TWC's 2005 relaunch
• The Weather Channels Launches One Degree