The Weather Channel Companies Acquire Weather Underground
ATLANTA & SAN FRANCISCO, Jul 02, 2012 (BUSINESS WIRE) — The Weather Channel Companies (TWCC) today announced an agreement to acquire Weather Underground, a leading provider of Web based weather data. The transaction, terms of which were not disclosed, was announced by TWCC chairman and CEO David Kenny and Weather Underground president Alan Steremberg and is expected to close in several weeks.
“Everyone in the weather space is familiar with the strength of Weather Underground and its innovative method of presenting weather data. Weather Underground will add a great complementary, brand to our portfolio, a brand with a distinct, loyal, and active user base that will enable us to reach a unique segment of users,” said Kenny. “Most importantly, this acquisition will grow the weather expertise that is central to everything we do and will result in better forecasts and weather data for users on all of our platforms.”
“Becoming a part of The Weather Channel Companies will enable us to strengthen what our users love about wunderground.com, our apps and our blogs,” said Steremberg. “We see this as a great opportunity to grow.”
Weather Underground’s popular site wunderground.com and its portfolio of mobile applications will continue to operate and its employees will become a part of TWCC, furthering the company’s place as the leading provider of the most accurate weather data across all platforms serving consumers and business users. In addition, Weather Underground’s San Francisco headquarters will become a regional office for TWCC. Blackstone Advisory Partners L.P. served as TWCC’s financial advisor in the transaction and Kilpatrick Townsend & Stockton LLP acted as legal advisor. Weather Underground was advised by Digital Capital Advisors, LLC.
About The Weather Channel Companies
The Weather Channel companies (TWCC) are made up of The Weather Channel(R) television network, The Weather Channel digital properties, and WSI. The Weather Channel is based in Atlanta and is seen in more than 100 million U.S. households. TWCC also operates Weatherscan(R), a 24-hour all-local weather network; The Weather Channel Radio Network; and The Weather Channel HD. The most popular source of weather news and information, TWCC properties reach 60 million monthly Web consumers (weather.com and Desktop) and 30 million monthly mobile users (mobile Web and applications) and offers the second most popular mobile app on all smartphones. WSI, headquartered in Andover, MA, primarily provides business-to-business weather services, particularly for the media, aviation, marine and energy sectors. TWCC is owned by a consortium made up of NBC Universal and the private equity firms The Blackstone Group and Bain Capital. For more information, visit www.weather.com/press .
About Weather Underground
The world’s first online weather service, Weather Underground is committed to delivering the most comprehensive, reliable weather information possible. In addition to serving free weather data to millions of unique users every day on its website wunderground.com and across other digital platforms, Weather Underground delivers custom-designed weather solutions to an array of businesses and media partners such as Google, The Associated Press and CBS. The company’s state-of-the-art technology monitors conditions and forecasts for locations across the world. With more than 24,000 users contributing local observations from personal weather stations, Weather Underground is able to provide up-to-the-minute weather conditions and forecasts for the most finely targeted areas.
SOURCE: The Weather Channel Companies
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Between Jeff Masters and Weather Channel views on AGW, I expect on-air temperatures to rise and viewership to fall.
h/t Joe D’Aleo
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Yikes. I saw that Jeff Masters is using Skeptical Science on his website to teach public about global warming.
We’ll have to apply the Fire trUCK principle to this…
I go to the weather underground for the local weather station info and radar maps.
I read Jeff Masters and Richard Rood for the inane pro-AGW slant on anything weather related. It’s also informative to read the delusional mindsets of the pro-AGW posters
Temperatures EXPECTED to rise??? Howza about guarenteed? The eco-cultists will stop at nothing until gubermints come to their senses and start jailing these fraud artists and confiscating ALL their assests and the next 3 generations of their offsprings assests. Nobody ever heard of RICO?? This isn’t a business transaction.It is money laundering underl the scam of save the kiddies and the Gaia
“Weather Channel absorbs Weather Underground, on-air temperatures expected to rise”
==============================================
We can probably expect past record highs and lows to change also.
I hope someone does some data backup, just in case history “changes”
I stopped going to wunderground.com a few months ago; I decided I was no longer going to support any environmental wackos. I ceased going to the Weather Channel years ago — could not stand the idiot talking dolls and clowns.
I like the Wunderground coverage of unofficial temps and winds. There is no official measurement station in Spokane, and ‘microclimates’ can be quite distinct.
Since mergers always destroy the junior partner, we can assume the Wunderground specialty will disappear soon.
This is unfortunate. Wunderground has always been the go-to site for weather data and interactive radar. I fear they will dumb-down the data and/or make it inaccessible. The weatherchannel site is worthless. I had come to tolerate Jeff Masters despite his trying to spin every weather event as proof of AGW. He has quite a few fanboys in the comment section who parrot the party line.
As a cricket fan, I am interested in weather information for locations across the world.
weather-forecast.com has the best forecasts and meteo.com the best radar and satellite data.
I’m an Intellicast convert – oh, about a year and a half now – thanks to recommendations from a few of the regulars here on WUWT. Weatherunderground was getting a little preachy.
Hopefully there’s a name change in the works so people will stop wondering why the old terrorist group of Obama mentor Bill Ayers started raising funding by doing internet weather news.
TWCC is owned by a consortium made up of NBC Universal and the private equity firms The Blackstone Group and Bain Capital.
With Obama busy trashing Bain Capital for being good capitalists that specialized in trying to turn around troubled companies, it’s possible the pushing of the CAGW meme will lessen. GE currently owns 49% of NBC Universal, their TV ads have already lost the “global warming is death” tinge in favor of only mentioning their innovation and quality. While no longer the majority owner, they certainly won’t want their investment risked by NBC Universal backing a crashing belief with failing public support.
Plus I doubt The Blackstone Group is happy with the revealed Green=Red “climate justice by social justice by economic justice from wealth redistribution” mindset either.
What are our choices now? Accuweather? I don’t know much about them. What else is there?
“a brand with a distinct, loyal, and active user base that ” … may be moving on soon … though with their recommendation of SkS that movement has probably started already. Time to send Piers Corbyn a few pennies, maybe. He won’t be recommending SkS.
I find the National Weather Service forecasts are much better than AccuWx, or Weather Underground, and much better than the Weather Channel.
I use AirNetUSA, they have local doppler , western satellite coverage and zip code forcasts. Gave up WU a while ago.
looks like the Weather Underground couldn’t resist to go down into the liberal corporate whirlpool, and the public may get even further brainwashed into this CAGW nonsense, and that’s going to make sites like this more vital for discovering the real truth behind this scam. Though, it is funny to look at the twisted and upside down world the people on Master’s blog live in. But, i guess that’s another reason why the weather is always warmer underground.
My station uploads to Wunderground,,just pulled the plug till I see what’s going on.
Wow, looks like more CAGW propaganda going to try and brainwash the public, sigh……
Several years ago I noticed that the private station that I was displaying in my (wu) web widget consistently showed temperatures much higher that I was seeing 7 miles south. I complained about it several times to no avail so I went back to using KMLE which is a little farther away.
I have no idea what the problem is or was although I recall thinking the pattern was consistent with a kitchen exhaust fan or maybe a “heat pump”.
” WE ARE THE WEATHER CHANNEL (BORG), YOU WILL BE ASSIMILATED (ABSORBED)! RESISTANCE IS FUTILE!”
TV meteorologists are considered a hot properties as “trusted messengers” for “strengthening and deepening public concern about climate change in critical, local markets” according to Climate Central’s new “TV Mets” program as it rolls out “first to 10 markets in 2012, 25 markets in 2013, and finally to 100 markets in the next five years, where we will be able to reach the majority of local news markets around country.”
The initial fellowships at Princeton are filled this year: http://pace.princeton.edu/fellowships/high-meadows-fellowships/climate-central-research-analyst-multimedia-journalist
but with Climate Central’s broad funding from all the usual 1%er private grantmaking sources plus NASA, US Army Corps of Engineers, Bureau of Reclamation and Department of Energy,
http://www.climatecentral.org/what-we-do/funding/
there should be no shortage of cash for their mission “designed to make Americans feel the power of what’s really happening to the climate” and “inspire Americans to support action to stabilize the climate and prepare for a hotter world.”.
The rapid reaction team which aims to tie local events to “Climate Change” is already in action in Canada (cross border philanthropy!) where Andrew Freedman “climate expert” was given the podium on CBC national Canadian radio this morning to lay the blame for the eastern US heatwave on Global Warming.
Climate Central’s Social Science Research unit monitors different techniques for effectiveness and “whichstories that stick and move the debate” then “We aggressively promote our work to mainstream and social media, targeting areas that are most affected.”
With “Forecast the Facts” simulating consumer demand, TV Mets offers a tempting array of pre-cooked ready to broadcast newslike content with “feature stories, columns, blogs, podcasts, and interactive graphics aimed at showing Americans why climate change matters and how it affects them in their own backyards.”
http://www.climatecentral.org/
Why cook at home when you can get free home delivery?
https://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&q=cache:0XT4_PTJ5bUJ:ccimgs.s3.amazonaws.com/HeatIsOnReport.pdf+&hl=en&gl=ca&pid=bl&srcid=ADGEESggcuR6HjP_EKn2Dan_H06-yf5-3pnNwCMMweolTsVqW_8ON-FfQH0p0NYaiIeSfPQwkEESmtRCjpfWO067WaeEQLjPysxOoYYcZGErTs_MVNRFDZ7vu1KTki71NUd1a9Kk2MvH&sig=AHIEtbS5TiXe8SgoOMhjvcHkCLNO4Qs3xQ&pli=1
I hope they don’t screw up Weather Underground, I love using it to track approacing storms!!
I often look at:
http://vortex.plymouth.edu/
The radars aren’t very good, but they have some model forecast animations down the page that are interesting, tho past 5 days the models aren’t very accurate. Intellicast has good radar & rainfall maps.
Dewpoints can be found at:
http://twister.sbs.ohio-state.edu/imagel.php?dispimg=surface/dewpoint&imgname=US+Dewpoint+Temperatures
And:
http://afws.erh.noaa.gov/afws/national.php
has quite a few automated precip gauges in the Appalachians.
And official state NWS stations can be viewed here:
http://www.nws.noaa.gov/view/prodsByState.php?state=md&prodtype=climate
That’s for MD — substitute your state’s two-letter abbreviation in the link.
I had to stop using Weather Underground because their high temperature forecasts for my area are often 10 degrees or more higher than any other source. It was like someone couldn’t figure out the difference between actual temperature and heat index…