DirecTV Dropping TWC

[WeatherWitness]

Very Interesting! DTV won't be able to pick just 1 weather channel soon:
http://www.accuweather.com/en/weather-news/accuweather-announces-the-laun/22055195

So by Christmas 2014, we may have TWC, WN growing, Network Weather and Accuweather starting!

One major question, how will this differ from the local Accuweather channel we already have?

Seriously?   I wonder if this was decided long ago, or recently since WeatherNation and Network Weather started to become known?

Unfortunately, I can't stand AccuWeather.  I fail to see how they can be "considered to be the most accurate and valuable source of weather forecasts around the world."

[TrevortonG16]

TWC is gone from DirecTV as of 11:00 PM CT. Channel 362 switched to the WeatherNation feed.

Honestly, this is the G4 debacle all over again.

[HulkieD]

Well done, DirecTV.  I've never been one to encourage carriers to drop a channel but after TWC's total hypocrisy over the last three days, they deserved every bit of what's coming to them.

[Evan2015]

ATLANTA -- January 14, 2014 -- At 12:01 this morning,  The Weather Channel is no longer available on DIRECTV,  which refused to come to an agreement on a market-based carriage deal. Following is a statement from David Kenny, chairman and CEO of The Weather Company:

“This is unprecedented for The Weather Channel. In our 32 years, we have never had a significant disruption due to a failure to reach a carriage agreement. We offered DIRECTV the best rate for our programming, and I am shocked they have put corporate profits ahead of keeping a trusted channel that subscribers rely on every day. We are not looking for a large fee increase. We are simply looking for a fair deal that allows our company to continue to invest in the science and technology that enables us to keep people safe, deliver the world’s best weather, and tell weather stories to help people be prepared and informed.

“At a time when DIRECTV has increased customer rates by 4 percent, they are trading safety for  increased profits and replacing the experience and expertise of The Weather Channel with a cheap startup that does weather forecasting on a three-hour taped loop, has no field coverage, no weather experts -- certainly not any on par with The Weather Channel network’s industry-recognized experts like tornado expert Dr. Greg Forbes and winter weather expert Tom Niziol --  and no experience in severe weather emergencies. This is a dangerous gamble over one penny a month that puts DIRECTV customers at risk.

“This reckless move by DIRECTV will have an impact on our role as part of the national safety and preparedness fabric of our country at a time when the volatility and frequency of weather events seems to be increasing. The Weather Channel partners with humanitarian and emergency management agencies at the local, state and federal levels. We help people prepare before storms, stay safe during their effects, and find help afterward. If the network is not available to viewers, the effectiveness of these partnerships, which help make us a more weather ready nation, are jeopardized. I am hopeful DIRECTV will come to their senses soon and will not force its customers to change carriers to stay safe and informed.”

[Stormsentinel]

As of Midnight, The Weather Channel has been dropped from DirecTV and has erased all traces of TWC from their lineup and posted the following on channel 362-1:

The message reads the following.

"DIRECTV currently does not have permission to offer The Weather Channel.
 
As an alternative, Please enjoy WeatherNation on Channel 362 for dedicated 24/7 weather coverage.
 
For more information go to www.DIRECTVPromise.com"



It is offically on!

[IceManNYR]

Again the channel that is on tape 2pm-4:30am weekends and 8pm to 4am Weekdays is classless in bashing WeatherNation for being on tape.
Good job by DTV not being bullied by The Weather Channel.

[WeatherSTARIII]

DirecTV also put a message channel on 362-2 saying:

DIRECTV currently does not have permission to offer The Weather Channel. As an alternative, please enjoy WeatherNation on Channel 362 for dedicated 24/7 weather news coverage. For more information, go to directvpromise.com.

I'm glad TWC is finally gone on DirecTV! I hope this lasts permanently. What still makes me wonder about this dispute, Why would DirecTV put a duplicate of WeatherNation on TWC's location on 362 when they already have it on 361? I hope Dish reconsiders dropping TWC too.

[IceManNYR]

Should David Kenny, chairman and CEO of The Weather Company do any interviews regarding TWC and DTV and brings up Weather Nation being on tape,  they should ask him why TWC added more taped programming during the re launch.
At least the 3 hour loop on WeatherNation is weather and not people towing cars and prospecting.

[bumwolf]

You know we were talking earlier about TWC going live and preempting their long-form.  Didn't they pull the same stunt too when Dish tried to drop them a few years ago?  Never seen that much live TWC outside of Katrina in years. 

[TV Shows Fan]

 https://mobile.twitter.com/WCL_Shawn/status/422964298118230016?screen_name=WCL_Shawn

.@TWCKCunningham & @TWCDBanks are LIVE thru 3am on @weatherchannel right now. No 3 hr loop. #StormDirecTV

Now it looks like TWC will be live all night.

[Localonthe8s]

Yep WeatherNation is now on TWC's original spot at Ch362. TWC is live 24/7 again.

It's official, it's WAR between DirecTV and TWC, and I strongly believe DISH will be next to drop because their contract with TWC is set to expire in July according to a source.

[IceManNYR]

The fact that TWC has decided to directly take on and bash WeatheNation for not being live is very interesting because it's forcing TWC to stay live and not go to regularly scheduled taped programming.

The next question is how long before any of the long form programming returns and do any of the WCL live hours that were taken away in November return?

You can't keep bashing WeatherNation for being on tape then go to an episode of Prospectors.

[WeatherWitness]

"No 3-hr loop." 

Poor WeatherNation has been brought into this whole mess, and they essentially had nothing to do with it.  I wonder if they will start retaliating against TWC making statements such as "At least our 3-hour loop is weather and not some dumb reality show."  It's probably best that they just stay out of it.

EDIT: Here's an interesting graphic I found on the Wall Street Journal site showing the decline in viewers TWC gets.  Hmm...


Full Article

[bumwolf]

Interesting note on 3 hour loops.  I remember several years back when the weather channel would go on an hourly repeating loop replaying the midnight hour over and over again till weather classroom came on at 3. Thankfully we still had all the real local on the 8s back then so still got updated weather. 

[TV Shows Fan]

Not live now.