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Present - The Weather Channel 2000 => Weatherscan Discussion => Topic started by: YoshiSTAR_41 on December 23, 2017, 05:38:26 PM

Title: When will all Xfinity Weatherscan units be back?
Post by: YoshiSTAR_41 on December 23, 2017, 05:38:26 PM
I think all Xfinity Weatherscan units will be back on June 3, 2018. The countdown for all Xfinity TV Weatherscan units is shown below:

https://countingdownto.com/countdown/all-xfinity-weatherscan-units-will-be-back-in-countdown-clock

Do you think all Weatherscan units will be back on 6/3/2018?
Title: Re: When will all Xfinity Weatherscan units be back?
Post by: Mike M on December 24, 2017, 04:22:46 AM
They won't... there has to be a LOT of demand for it, and as much as we're seeing it's not nearly enough when you compare to all television viewers. Plus, its future overall is grim in the coming years, it hasn't been maintained, is powered by old, obsolete equipment, uses outdated graphics, the overall switch to mobile devices -- all reasons why a lot of affiliates have been dropping it.
Title: Re: When will all Xfinity Weatherscan units be back?
Post by: crazybangles on December 26, 2017, 12:57:55 PM
Unfortunately, I don’t think that Weatherscan will ever be back. Looking at how old the units that ran it were, it was time for them to retire and I don’t think weatherscan will be back.
Title: Re: When will all Xfinity Weatherscan units be back?
Post by: 22appaar on December 26, 2017, 06:09:52 PM
It's all because of that "Local Now" bullshit.
Title: Re: When will all Xfinity Weatherscan units be back?
Post by: Jonathon on December 26, 2017, 08:21:37 PM
It's all because of that "Local Now" bullshit.
Local Now has nothing to do with Weatherscan going away. They're two entirely different services. Weatherscan is shutting down because of all the other points made so far: outdated equipment, lack of maintenance and support, old graphics, smartphones, etc.; again, it wouldn't matter if LN existed or not, Weatherscan would be gone regardless.

Personally, I think the FCC requiring audible readouts of warnings is what killed Weatherscan. The IS units that are used for it were being pushed to their limits as it is; putting a TTS package on them would be overkill. Also, there's a pretty good chance the IS units haven't had a major hardware, kernel, or OS upgrade since they were shipped out.

At this point, it's probably a mercy killing in TWC's eyes.
Title: Re: When will all Xfinity Weatherscan units be back?
Post by: WeatherSTAR on December 26, 2017, 09:14:43 PM
Where did that date come from? I'm sure that definitely won't happen, but I'm also curious to know why you think it could happen on that specific day.

Also, Jonathon is right about what killed Weatherscan- it definitely wasn't Local Now. On a separate note, I'm still confused why Xfinity has yet to allow its subscribers to sign in with their accounts to use Local Now even after they pulled Weatherscan. I honestly don't see a point in not allowing that to happen already. Even though I haven't used it much since I started my trial, I would still at least want it as an option.
Title: Re: When will all Xfinity Weatherscan units be back?
Post by: yourweathertoday on December 26, 2017, 10:34:52 PM
It's all because of that "Local Now" bullshit.

OTT/on-demand is the future.
Title: Re: When will all Xfinity Weatherscan units be back?
Post by: 22appaar on December 26, 2017, 10:55:22 PM
It's all because of that "Local Now" bullshit.
Local Now has nothing to do with Weatherscan going away. They're two entirely different services. Weatherscan is shutting down because of all the other points made so far: outdated equipment, lack of maintenance and support, old graphics, smartphones, etc.; again, it wouldn't matter if LN existed or not, Weatherscan would be gone regardless.

Personally, I think the FCC requiring audible readouts of warnings is what killed Weatherscan. The IS units that are used for it were being pushed to their limits as it is; putting a TTS package on them would be overkill. Also, there's a pretty good chance the IS units haven't had a major hardware, kernel, or OS upgrade since they were shipped out.

At this point, it's probably a mercy killing in TWC's eyes.
Well, they did bring warning readout to weatherscan in 2015.
Here's an example.            https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3BhPww69iA8 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3BhPww69iA8)
Title: Re: When will all Xfinity Weatherscan units be back?
Post by: Jonathon on December 26, 2017, 11:52:49 PM
That was a half-assed attempt by TWC to fulfill those FCC requirements. In the end, all it did was cause confusion as to what counties were under a warning - especially if the weatherscan unit served a large area - and made the severe weather mode functionality practically useless (those issues have been brought up here numerous times).
Title: Re: When will all Xfinity Weatherscan units be back?
Post by: Evan2015 on December 29, 2017, 04:38:48 PM
When Weatherscan is gone in a certain area, it's going to be gone for good. For many cable companies, especially the big ones like Comcast and Spectrum, they're looking to save as much money as possible. Weatherscan was on the expanded or preferred tiers in most of the areas it was in and other programming deals forcing cable companies to move channels to a more penetrated tier (think FXX, FOX Business, any of the AMC channels) often decreased the value of those tiers to the point where it just wasn't worth paying for anymore. As people dropped expanded cable subscriptions or even cable altogether, it became an unjustifiable cost to keep Weatherscan running. If you've got a phone, you've got the current temperature and forecast at your fingertips for free, you don't need to spend $120 on cable every month for that. And even now, The Weather Channel itself made Weatherscan lose value even more because you can get the same (and sometimes a better) forecast on the LDL if you have cable, plus TWC can show you advertising around that weather information that pays their bills.

If you've got Weatherscan, I'll say you don't have time left. Similar to when TWC retired the legacy STAR systems a few years ago, record Weatherscan while you still have it because once it's gone, it is not going to come back.
Title: Re: When will all Xfinity Weatherscan units be back?
Post by: YoshiSTAR_41 on March 22, 2018, 11:18:02 AM
But why? I am really sure they will come back with new icons (probably the icons used on the Intellistar).
Title: Re: When will all Xfinity Weatherscan units be back?
Post by: Evan2015 on March 22, 2018, 11:24:06 AM
But why? I am really sure they will come back with new icons (probably the icons used on the Intellistar).
The units have long been uninstalled and likely shipped back to Atlanta. It’s been judged by Comcast to be an unjustifiable cost and for that reason, Weatherscan won’t be coming back.
Title: Re: When will all Xfinity Weatherscan units be back?
Post by: texasstooge on March 22, 2018, 11:23:44 PM
Much as I miss Weatherscan (since 2006), I'm agreeing with the majority. We must also take into account local stations showing their own 24/7 local weather forecasts on a secondary channel where available (e.g. WFAA-TV's 8.2 shows their own weather updates, with national segments provided by [Sighs] AccuWeather).

Maybe it was the soothing music in the background that kept us watching Weatherscan until its very end. Though I can probably do the same thing with The Weather Channel app and a jazz playlist via Spotify (or whichever streaming medium y'all prefer) in the background, and I would still get the similar experience.
Title: Re: When will all Xfinity Weatherscan units be back?
Post by: crazybangles on March 30, 2018, 10:37:52 PM
I will miss weatherscan a lot as well. I could leave the channel on while I would be sleeping because of the music.
Title: Re: When will all Xfinity Weatherscan units be back?
Post by: YoshiSTAR_41 on June 04, 2018, 04:56:48 PM
I'm sorry to say this but the return of all Xfinity Weatherscan units was delayed. :(
Title: Re: When will all Xfinity Weatherscan units be back?
Post by: crazybangles on June 09, 2018, 11:59:10 AM
I hate to say it but I don’t think it’s going to happen.