Weather Channel for Sale

[Localonthe8s]

Looks like NBC no longer wants TWC due to falling ratings
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-09-12/weather-channel-said-to-speak-to-banks-on-options-including-sale.html

[gt1racerlHDl]

Looks like NBC no longer wants TWC due to falling ratings
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-09-12/weather-channel-said-to-speak-to-banks-on-options-including-sale.html

Wow! these reality shows and Weathertainment has ruined the viewership as a whole.

[alex979]

Well this could be interesting. The article says that the TV network could be sold separately from the weather data side of the business. I wonder what this means.

[Eric]

So, let's see...

NBC ordered The Weather Channel to vastly increase its amount of non-weather programming.  Ratings suffer, and now NBC wants out because it failed.

Yep.

[twcclassics]

I didn't see anything in that article about poor ratings.

[mightynine]

If you think this is NBC making this move, you're looking at the wrong names.

This is what Blackstone and Bain Capital and investment firms do - buy something, cut the costs, then sell it for (hopfully) profit.  The three bought TWC for $3.5 billion, they'll at least make their money back.

If anything, I imagine NBC/Comcast would be very interested to keeping their ownership share if the other entities decide to part ways.

[TWCToday]

If you think this is NBC making this move, you're looking at the wrong names.

This is what Blackstone and Bain Capital and investment firms do - buy something, cut the costs, then sell it for (hopfully) profit.  The three bought TWC for $3.5 billion, they'll at least make their money back.

If anything, I imagine NBC/Comcast would be very interested to keeping their ownership share if the other entities decide to part ways.

You're correct. NBC plays a large role in the operations of TWC but a lot of people forget they aren't the sole owner.

The bigger issue is the decline of the need for The Weather Channel with mobile devices and the internet. Sure there will always be the demand for the network during major weather events but otherwise the outlook isn't too bright. TWC might be worth more now than it will be in the future so the current holders might want to consider a sell.

[Spring Rubber]

Well this could be interesting. The article says that the TV network could be sold separately from the weather data side of the business. I wonder what this means.

Yeah, I don't even understand how this would be practical for the operations of the cable channel. Could this possibly mean that the cable channel would be turned into strictly an entertainment channel while all of the actual meteorological operations only continue on Mobile and Web?

Or if the cable channel does continue to do actual live weather, would they have to reach a contract with the new owner of the meteorological operations to use their data? How bizarre...

[boyercam]

Well this could be interesting. The article says that the TV network could be sold separately from the weather data side of the business. I wonder what this means.

Maybe the weather channel could become a franchise...
When the UK had it's own weather channel (Yep, we did, with British OCM's and forecasts the lot) it was a franchise, the station wasn't produced by NBC or back then TWC itself, but the IPW, the commercial arm of the Met Office.
I need to do more research into the UK version. Apparently it too was meant to have local forecasts. Not quite sure how that would work as it was a satellite service... Plus we only have 3 or 4 cable providers nationally...

Oh well...

[Metarvo]

Somehow, I get the feeling that the result can't be good for TWC.  Despite the fact that NBC/Comcast/Bain/whoever else have been getting blamed for everything that's wrong with TWC (and I've done some of the blaming myself), it seems like every sale or relaunch brings the channel down to a new low.

[SamRichardson92]

Well this could be interesting. The article says that the TV network could be sold separately from the weather data side of the business. I wonder what this means.

Maybe the weather channel could become a franchise...
When the UK had it's own weather channel (Yep, we did, with British OCM's and forecasts the lot) it was a franchise, the station wasn't produced by NBC or back then TWC itself, but the IPW, the commercial arm of the Met Office.
I need to do more research into the UK version. Apparently it too was meant to have local forecasts. Not quite sure how that would work as it was a satellite service... Plus we only have 3 or 4 cable providers nationally...

Oh well...

That's true
"The Weather Channel" is a brand of "The Weather Company"
so "The Weather Company" could sell "The Weather Channel."

[willh699]

if The Weather Channel is sold off and spun off of NBCUniversal, then i expect Disney or Time Warner to be in a big bidding war over the future ownership of the network. and i can see Time Warner winning it, putting it in the Turner Broadcasting networks (TBS, TNT, TruTV, HLN and CNN) and then merging it with CNN and re-branding it to CNN Weather.

[Localonthe8s]

FYI, and it's becoming more serious now
http://money.cnn.com/2015/08/19/media/weather-channel-sale-exploration/index.html?sr=fbmoney081915weather750story

[Eric]

Imagine a scenario in which the digital platforms sell but the channel gets split off instead... or ceases to exist altogether.  (Or transforms into an entirely generic basic cable channel with no weather coverage to speak of.)

Scary to think about, but I don't think it's entirely out of the realm of possibilities.

[CartoonJazzLover]

I have hopes for this. If NBCU finally stop owning TWC, then most of the problems we had in the past 7 years will end.