The Weather Channel (also TWC) is a U.S. cable and satellite television network that broadcasts weather forecasts and weather-related news 24 hours a day. 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. The Weather Channel debuted its high-definition simulcast on September 26, 2007.
TWC uses special proprietary equipment that inserts local weather forecast and warning information if it is viewed on a cable TV system. The original Weather Star technology has been upgraded on most cable systems to the IntelliStar, including Vocal Local to announce the current conditions, weather bulletins, and the detailed 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. For both cable and satellite viewers, smooth jazz music plays in the background during these segments.
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 advertisᴇмᴇɴts.
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 their 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.[2][3] 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 programs (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.
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 will begin a one-hour morning program with meteorologist Stephanie Abrams as co-host, later in the summer.