VZ FiOS dropped TWC

[texasstooge]

Three days ago, I got an email from my friend Ryan saying that his DFW FiOS IntelliStar is out (see topic posted on the STAR Tech Support section)

So far, it's day 3 and the IS is still out. Out of curiosity, any FiOS customers in markets other than Dallas/Fort Worth having the same issue? And is Weatherscan still operating?

[Weatherman99]

My intelliStar is gone completely. Like the station is gone.

[Tyler]

According to an email I got from Verizon, their contract with TWC is up and they are not renewing.

Dear Valued Verizon Customer,
 
Verizon’s agreements to carry The Weather Channel and Weather Scan have expired, and have not been renewed.  In today’s environment, customers are increasingly accessing weather information not only from their TV but from a variety of online sources and apps.  Verizon is therefore pleased to launch the new AccuWeather Network, which will be available on FiOS® TV on channel 119/619 (HD) and on our free FiOS Mobile App starting March 10, 2015.  Verizon will also provide the FiOS TV WeatherBug “widget” application, which features hyper-local weather, on FiOS TV channel 49. WeatherBug can also be launched by pressing the “widget” button on the FiOS TV remote.
 
Sincerely,
 
Your Verizon Team

[BDRyanWX]

Real nice.

Go ahead, Verizon, give me more reasons to drop you guys. Trust me, they're piling up pretty quick.

[NorEastorm]

I have no problem with FiOS dropping TWC. Actually I am happy. TWC is nothing of its former self and honestly is getting more and more away from doing the weather.  Before one of the big snow storms this winter in the NE they weren't on the air at all to give updates or forecast and the storm was 36hours out. The bottom scroll no longer would show color coded warnings. All the little things that were once great are gone. And let's not forget the revolving door of OCMs. Cantore is becoming more and more of a pompous @ss.   I welcome Accuweather and a change to someone that will do more weather.  Also Mark Mancuso is on accu this morning. A long time TWC OCM who was fired in 08. Good to see him I always liked him.  It will take sometime for acciweather to get it all together but I have confidence.  Unlike weather nation acciweather has been around for a very long time and they have all the tools for forecasting and I really find their forecast to be very wel accurate.  I always go to their website over the TWC. 

[weatherfan_2013]

Well it's all The Weather Channel's fault! Increased Long Form and charge higher retransmission fees just to keep up with bills (barely). As I said the DTV dispute, "they have nothing to blame but themselves". It's really sad to see, the channel was once everything that I could ever want but you know "it's not a revolution, it's evolution". Wise (not) words from TWC management 2012.

[Mike M]

Well it's all The Weather Channel's fault! Increased Long Form and charge higher retransmission fees just to keep up with bills (barely). As I said the DTV dispute, "they have nothing to blame but themselves". It's really sad to see, the channel was once everything that I could ever want but you know "it's not a revolution, it's evolution". Wise (not) words from TWC management 2012.

I'm sure it has nothing to do with that despite what they may say. Probably TWC trying to increase carriage costs like what happened with DirecTV.

[Weatherman99]

AccuWeather is a horrible replacement. So far, I've noticed the screen freezing at times, not to mention the HD channel was lacking audio... the weather channel was a good channel, the long form programming was kind of lame, but I still liked the live weather. It looks like I'll probably be switching to Bright House Networks. 

[Tyler]

The Accuweather channel blows. It gives forecasts for major cities but the forecasts only include temp and not conditions which makes no sense. The video forecasts are only for Boston, NYC and DC it seems like. Haven't seen a video forecast for Pittsburgh, Baltimore or Philadelphia for example. Also the audio is out of sync.

[WeatherWitness]

Hmmm, where have I seen this before?   I'll give Verizon a month (which may be generous) before they come to an agreement with TWC and pick the channel back up again.

[IceManNYR]

Verizon had sent a TWC has been dropped message to some customers on March 3rd so I'm pretty sure they were ready to drop it today.

The AccuWeather channel is playback of recorded segments and there are no local weather segments as FiOS is running a national version. There are no live segments either.
FiOS is having a problem with the video and audio on AccuWeather not playing normally.

Because of all that the channel does not interest me at all.

[Adrian]

Statement from The Weather Channel on Verizon FiOS:

"We were disappointed when late yesterday, March 9, Verizon FiOS dropped The Weather Channel from their lineup while our companies continued to be in active conversations regarding a contract renewal. FiOS customers have enjoyed a bundle of services from The Weather Channel including the network, WeatherScan, On Demand, a Weather Widget and streaming on mobile devices.

During a winter with record-breaking storms and severe weather, The Weather Channel responded with non-stop live coverage, including the ongoing presence of our crews reporting live from hard-hit communities within the Verizon FiOS footprint. This coverage resulted in The Weather Channel being the only major cable network to grow in February.

After recently renewing carriage agreements with NCTC, Cox and Time Warner Cable, we are surprised Verizon FiOS would deny their subscribers access to the best live weather coverage and expertise that only The Weather Channel can provide. They have made it clear to us that they no longer wish to negotiate​,​ despite our desire to continue to serve their subscribers. We urge FiOS customers to contact Verizon and voice their displeasure."

In my opinion, I think Verizon did the right thing but AccuWeather needs to improve as it's launch didn't go too well. It seems judging by the comments that the launch was rushed.

If TWC wants to regain there reputation, they need to get rid of their CEO David Kenny. He is mainly responsible for the rapid decline of TWC since 2012 by replacing live weather news and weather documentaries with lame non-weather reality shows as well as replacing full-time veteran OCMs with Freelancers.
 

[TWCJim]

And yet TWC is now airing the so-called "weather" shows as if nothing has happened.    I too will give this about a month or two before Verizon and The Weather Channel kiss and make up on a new carriage agreement.

[toxictwister00]

Statement from The Weather Channel on Verizon FiOS:

"We were disappointed when late yesterday, March 9, Verizon FiOS dropped The Weather Channel from their lineup while our companies continued to be in active conversations regarding a contract renewal. FiOS customers have enjoyed a bundle of services from The Weather Channel including the network, WeatherScan, On Demand, a Weather Widget and streaming on mobile devices.

During a winter with record-breaking storms and severe weather, The Weather Channel responded with non-stop live coverage, including the ongoing presence of our crews reporting live from hard-hit communities within the Verizon FiOS footprint. This coverage resulted in The Weather Channel being the only major cable network to grow in February.

After recently renewing carriage agreements with NCTC, Cox and Time Warner Cable, we are surprised Verizon FiOS would deny their subscribers access to the best live weather coverage and expertise that only The Weather Channel can provide. They have made it clear to us that they no longer wish to negotiate​,​ despite our desire to continue to serve their subscribers. We urge FiOS customers to contact Verizon and voice their displeasure."

In my opinion, I think Verizon did the right thing but AccuWeather needs to improve as it's launch didn't go too well. It seems judging by the comments that the launch was rushed.

If TWC wants to regain there reputation, they need to get rid of their CEO David Kenny. He is mainly responsible for the rapid decline of TWC since 2012 by replacing live weather news and weather documentaries with lame non-weather reality shows as well as replacing full-time veteran OCMs with Freelancers.

That's not gonna stop the bleeding, the damage is already done. I'm not saying this to be arrogant or snarky, but I think TWC (on the television side, not the website) days are numbered imo. The network is not sustainable long term in the condition it's in currently. They're competing against some stiff competition (internet). Folks don't have time to sit around and wait every 10 minutes for a local forecast and they sure as heck don't have time to wait around for a OCM to maybe mention what the weather is like in their city. It's a losing battle. The same goes for WN and what sounds like a complete joke Accuweather Channel. Kinda ironic that TWC is getting a taste of their own medicine in this way since part of the reason TWC became famous/popular in the first place was because people didn't have time to wait around half an hour or so for a weather forecast from the local news so they turned to TWC to get a faster/frequent forecast.

What's also ironic is I remember within my first year here (2007-2008) there was concern and disapproval over too much long form on TWC back then. Looking back, it's kinda silly because I believe that was the last year TWC was relatively watchable on a daily basis, even during slow weather days when hardly anything was happening. Hell, even the weekends were packed with hours of live programming compared to today. If any of us actually knew what state TWC would be in by 2015, I bet a lot of us would have held onto TWC of 2007/2008 with all dear might! 

[Steve-O]

I saw Tyler's tweet on a boston.com news story about this...