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Present - The Weather Channel 2000 => Everything Else TWC => Topic started by: livefromButler on February 21, 2016, 11:08:27 AM

Title: Local Now - The Weather Channel's New Over-The-Top Network
Post by: livefromButler on February 21, 2016, 11:08:27 AM
Hello everyone.  As of recently, TWC launched Local Now, a 24/7 Local Information Channel that streams exclusively on web television provider Sling TV.  The channel uses graphics that have a slight TWC feel to them, especially in the forecast segment.  The Akko font is used throughout the graphics, and Jim Cantore narrates most of the segments.  The entire cycle is roughly 5 minutes in length.

The lineup of segments currently is:
Local Now ID Bumper (0:05)
60now Bumper (0:05) "All the latest news, in 60 seconds"
60now Segment (1:00) - Associated Press
Weather Bumper (0:03) "Here's how the weather is shaping up in your area"
Weather Segment (0:59) - The Weather Channel
   Current Conditions (0:09) "Currently in our area, (temp) degrees, (condition phrase)"
   Doppler Radar (0:11) "The radar loop shows the movement of precipitation over your area, over the past three        hours.
   36 Hour Forecast + 7 Day Outlook (0:39) follows IntelliStar 2 style, except 7 Day: "Here's the outlook for your week ahead!"
Traffic Bumper (0:04) "Traffic Information coming up for your area, now!"
   Traffic Map Segment (0:14)
   "Key Routes" Segment (0:24)
Local News and Sports Bumper (0:04) "And now your latest local news and sports headlines"
   Local Headlines (0:25) - Associated Press
   Local Sports (0:25) - Associated Press
   Sports Scores (1:00) - sportradar.us

The channel shows an LDL which displays current time, current segment, and forecasts for local cities.
Here is a clip I recorded early this morning.

https://youtube.com/v/uZGuilX0j7I
Title: Re: Local Now - The Weather Channel's New Over-The-Top Network
Post by: Tyler on February 22, 2016, 06:19:43 PM
I've watched the feed and j can say it's disappointing. The weather isn't local. If anything it's less local than LOT8s because the feed is for the nearest major city, not the nearest cable headend. Also the maps look unprofessional (bing maps, really?). All in all it is sloppy and seems rushed to me.
Title: Re: Local Now - The Weather Channel's New Over-The-Top Network
Post by: toxictwister00 on February 22, 2016, 06:40:37 PM
I agree with Tyler, I'm not impressed either. I think it could use some "touching up". Since it's still early, I guess it's still possible some things graphically/timing will change.
Title: Re: Local Now - The Weather Channel's New Over-The-Top Network
Post by: alex979 on February 22, 2016, 09:59:08 PM
What's even the point of this?

The AP news/sports segments are kind of useless, IMO. Do they expect people to sit and just watch random sound bytes, or simple headlines appearing on the screen? People can get more info in the same amount of time by pulling out their phones. This whole thing seems very sloppily done, and not particularly well thought out. Luckily it doesn't look like they spent too much money on it.

Title: Re: Local Now - The Weather Channel's New Over-The-Top Network
Post by: Mike M on February 22, 2016, 10:02:22 PM
Can they keep the volume of the voiceovers consistent? So Jim is not SHOUTING on one screen and the next he's whispering?
Title: Re: Local Now - The Weather Channel's New Over-The-Top Network
Post by: TWCJim on February 23, 2016, 01:18:58 PM
Those graphics look kinda boring and lackluster in my opinion. This concept would have been much better:

The Weather Channel LocalNow Concept (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ROUybZ3cUoM#)
Title: Re: Local Now - The Weather Channel's New Over-The-Top Network
Post by: toxictwister00 on February 23, 2016, 02:37:51 PM
Those graphics look kinda boring and lackluster in my opinion. This concept would have been much better:

Well that's a major understatement Jim.  :lol:

Seriously though, this is another example of one of those things I find to be extremely annoying about TWC. They always come up with awesome prototypes like this and then they take 10 steps back. It really boggles my mind.

If you were to ask me what version of this LocalNow was the final product, I would assume it was the video Jim posted because it looks a million times better.
Title: Re: Local Now - The Weather Channel's New Over-The-Top Network
Post by: cc17926 on February 23, 2016, 09:40:46 PM
Those graphics look kinda boring and lackluster in my opinion. This concept would have been much better:

The Weather Channel LocalNow Concept ([url]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ROUybZ3cUoM#[/url])


let me guess... this is a nail in the coffin for weatherscan?
Title: Re: Local Now - The Weather Channel's New Over-The-Top Network
Post by: hen7713 on February 24, 2016, 11:17:29 AM
I just keep laughing about how terrible it is. The basic design doesn't even match what they use on air at all and it seems to lack any real direction.
Title: Re: Local Now - The Weather Channel's New Over-The-Top Network
Post by: curtjr4 on February 24, 2016, 01:33:44 PM
Looks awful to me. Having just switched off my cable, this isn't going to be a TWC alternative for me. I'll stick to WeatherNation. If they make this look more professional, then maybe I'll consider using this.
Title: Re: Local Now - The Weather Channel's New Over-The-Top Network
Post by: livefromButler on March 14, 2016, 10:57:20 PM
Just in case anyone cares about the music used on LocalNow, it appears they are all from Killer Tracks.
YouTube Content ID identified two of the songs used in the segment I recorded above as "41st and 3rd" and "Ain't It Funky".  It's strange, you'd think at least the music would match TWC's On Air format.  Honestly, an average person probably wouldn't be able to tell that LocalNow is a TWC product.
Title: Re: Local Now - The Weather Channel's New Over-The-Top Network
Post by: TWCWyatt on March 18, 2016, 01:26:33 AM
I'd rather have WeatherNation for free OTA then watch this unprofessional half-ass final product :hmm:


Those graphics look kinda boring and lackluster in my opinion. This concept would have been much better:

The Weather Channel LocalNow Concept ([url]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ROUybZ3cUoM#[/url])

o-oH GOD
t H I S RIGHT HERE ^^^^
THIS ^^^^
T^H^I^S^
Sorry about that but THIS would've at LEAST been nice! It really fits the "Weather All The Time" thing they're getting into. Why not use that?!?!?!? It's just like what toxictwister said, they make astounding prototypes but then they take 10 steps back!!!
Title: Re: Local Now - The Weather Channel's New Over-The-Top Network
Post by: Mike M on July 15, 2016, 12:46:12 AM
Does anyone know who does the music for this channel, particular the News & Sports segment? Is it by the same company that made the LOT8s music?


Looks awful to me. Having just switched off my cable, this isn't going to be a TWC alternative for me. I'll stick to WeatherNation. If they make this look more professional, then maybe I'll consider using this.
Title: Re: Local Now - The Weather Channel's New Over-The-Top Network
Post by: crazybangles on July 15, 2016, 08:24:56 AM
Oh my gosh, I really hope that it isn't as bad as what it looks like right now. It will probably improve along the way, because as of right now, in my opinion, Weatherscan still has better graphics. But LocalNow is a good concept though.
Title: Re: Local Now - The Weather Channel's New Over-The-Top Network
Post by: Steve-O on July 16, 2016, 11:47:06 PM
Traffic Information coming up for your area, NOW!
Title: Re: Local Now - The Weather Channel's New Over-The-Top Network
Post by: mightynine on February 22, 2017, 09:05:41 PM
Local Now has gotten a refresh.
- New announcer, Cantore still used during weather segment
- New graphics
- Traffic now called Travel, includes voiced report by Total Traffic
- Local News/Sports split into two different segments
- No more LDL, now full screen

Video here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DRA9jeASi1Q (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DRA9jeASi1Q)
! No longer available (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DRA9jeASi1Q#)
Title: Re: Local Now - The Weather Channel's New Over-The-Top Network
Post by: toxictwister00 on February 23, 2017, 12:06:22 PM
Much better.  :thumbsup:
Title: Re: Local Now - The Weather Channel's New Over-The-Top Network
Post by: Jonathon on February 23, 2017, 04:17:12 PM
That's what it should've looked like from the beginning. This is a great refresh - however, I'm a little pissed that the LDL and clock are gone.
I also noticed that the weather segment still has some rendering/animation issues, and the narrations from the text-based to the 7-day tend to overlap and duck under each other, especially if one daypart runs long. I'm assuming that's because of how short the segment is; I could be wrong
Title: Re: Local Now - The Weather Channel's New Over-The-Top Network
Post by: mightynine on February 23, 2017, 07:06:10 PM
Another look. I think trimming mine after uploading to YouTube made it a little choppy, this video gives a better idea on the transitions and such.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pIy8kEFunyk
Title: Re: Local Now - The Weather Channel's New Over-The-Top Network
Post by: jrhtwc on March 13, 2017, 08:22:30 PM
Got a question/idea. You know how TWC puts TWC in your Local Now feed when there's storm in your area? Would it be possible for TWC to put a local cable feed in LN with WATT/Alerts/everything than just the national feed? Seems more logical to me.
Title: Re: Local Now - The Weather Channel's New Over-The-Top Network
Post by: willh699 on May 19, 2017, 11:29:27 PM
i bought a Roku Express Plus for $35.00 at Walmart a few weeks ago, and i installed the Local Now app for Roku as well as WeatherNation app to (as a backup in case i lose my DirecTV signal during a thunderstorm).

since this thread is about Local Now, i will do my review on it.

i had it setup for the Dallas/Fort Worth stream of Local Now it's just nothing but a loop of weather, traffic, sports, news and sometimes other random things like business news, where to go in the area for fun and to go out to eat and best coffee review. it's kinda not that good. it needs more live weather from the times i seen it.

i would love to see this become tweaked a little bit and see local news, weather and sports be done by KXAS, the Dallas NBC station for all the local DFW stuff on Local Now, and during a severe weather outbreak, maybe air the same severe weather coverage that airs on KXAS when they do their coverage. or even extra sever weather coverage from KXAS' weather team just for Local Now. too bad NBC Universal won't do anything like that.



Title: Re: Local Now - The Weather Channel's New Over-The-Top Network
Post by: Jonathon on December 04, 2017, 06:53:09 PM
Recently switched to Sling. I'll post my thoughts on Local Now:
1. It's slowly focusing more on weather. That's a good thing. Still, a few of the segments need to go bye-bye, like Tasty Stuff, 60! Showbiz, etc.; it seems as if they're just there to fill time, nothing more.
2. They're finally doing Weather Across America more frequently. Also noticed on the Detroit feed they're actually doing local video segments w/ TWC meteorologists now. Good.
3. There's now a 30-second radar loop. It shows a regional loop for the first 15 seconds, then switches to a metro view for the remainder. I think it should be extended to a minute, myself.
4. It needs a severe weather mode function, like what Weatherscan has. Loop the weather segment or run a radar loop - just do something.

Overall, I'd say given what it is, I'll give it a B-. Still plenty of room for improvement, but I think it's come a long way since it launched last year.
Title: Re: Local Now - The Weather Channel's New Over-The-Top Network
Post by: jrhtwc on January 14, 2018, 03:10:09 PM
Having a problem with Local Now online unable to watch
Local Now when I log into the account. Please fix TWC!