Another Weather Channel

networkweatherchannel-logoA new 24-hour cable network dedicated to weather has been announced. Network Weather will be based in Atlanta, also home to The Weather Channel.

A few on-air names have been announced, including Dave Schwartz and Mark Mathis. Schwartz, late of The Weather Channel, is laid back. Mathis is the opposite.

Network Weather will offer current weather segments, forecasts, and features to its viewers in an engaging, informative, and entertaining way. “Weather is such a rich topic that even on a so-called ‘slow weather day’ we’ll show you how exciting and compelling it can be,” says Schwartz.

It seems likely NW will try and fill the void left as TWC expanded to more-and-more reality based shows with fewer hours dedicated to numbers and maps. As I understand it The Weather Channel was forced to long form as many of their traditional viewers didn’t watch long enough.

There’s a minimum time viewing threshold in TV ratings. Many of the eyeballs looking at The Weather Channel didn’t count.

This isn’t the first broadside aimed at TWC. Paul Douglas in Minneapolis started WeatherNation, though I’m unsure of its current status, even after visiting its website. AccuWeather also gets close with lots of weather related video content, but I don’t believe they live stream 24/7.

Network Weather looks to be a cable channel, a tough sell nowadays. Channel slots are tough to obtain (and The Weather Channel is owned by Comcast). When there is carriage it often comes with restrictions on live streaming over the net. That makes, “appearing nationally via cable television and broadband Internet providers,” unlikely.

Just ask Al Jazeera America, which had to turn off its American streaming to get the limited cable coverage it’s receiving.

If I was putting NW on, I’d go pure Internet and forget cable TV. There are successful streaming services. The cost to enter is much lower. There are technological possibilities when you know the exact geographic location and control each stream you send.

The most likely web address, NetworkWeather.com, has a placekeeper page. Its ‘whois’ page shows a Grand Cayman Island mailing address. NetworkWeather.tv is unclaimed. Surprising on all counts. Network Weather’s Facebook page has around 1,600 likes.

I wish Network Weather well. There probably is a niche need for what they’re proposing. It will be very difficult to make it successful.

One thought on “Another Weather Channel”

  1. looks like my comments on this were lost.
    Well I’ll say it again; I haven’t been happy with TWC for a long time and don’t watch it unless there’s a blizzard or hurricane on the horizon. a new channel actually dedicated to WEATHER WOULD BE WELCOME.
    I also said something about being disenchanted with a whole bunch of my (former) favorite cable channels like History, Discovery, TLC, AMC and so on.
    Sometimes I wonder why I even bother with cable v any more but then I watch Classic arts all the time which kind of answers my question.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *