This pretty well sums up why:
DirecTV: Received "numerous" complaints 40 percent of @weatherchannel programming reality TV: http://t.co/dQ4t8qZX7g
— Capital Weather Gang (@capitalweather) January 11, 2014
That, the constant drum of global warming hype, and the ridiculous naming of winter storms combined with an advertising heavy schedule pretty much drives away most reasonable thinking people.
My friends, John Coleman and Joe D’Aleo, co-founders of the Weather Channel never set it up to be that way, but over the years, it lost its way from their original vision.
See my interview with both of them here on the 30th anniversary.
Now what do I watch on DirecTV? The new far better replacement, WeatherNation TV on channel 361, which is close to the vision of the original TWC founders Coleman and D’Aleo.
Of course, TWC isn’t taking this lying down, they’ve started a Twitter war.
DIRECTV doesn't know the cost of dropping The Weather Channel, but you do. Take action: http://t.co/lNvwjyPSqf pic.twitter.com/HmH21yOehv
— The Weather Channel (@weatherchannel) January 11, 2014
The third comment is telling.
http://twitter.com/cshenkel/status/421992414744559618
As is this one:
@weatherchannel way to use human suffering to prove your point.
— Todd Amerman (@Paytodd1) January 11, 2014
@weatherchannel You clowns going to give this storm a stupid marketing name too?
— Young Ideas (@DickYoungsGhost) January 11, 2014
But alas, all this looks to be nothing more than saber rattling in contract negotiations.
http://twitter.com/DIRECTVService/status/422036228569968640
UPDATE:
DirecTV issued the following statement to the Washington Post:
We remain in discussions with The Weather Channel on how to provide its service to our customers at the best value since people now use so many other ways to retrieve weather-related information. We launched WeatherNation (DIRECTV channel 361) as an alternative to provide 24/7 hard news weather coverage in response to numerous customer complaints that more than 40 percent of The Weather Channel’s programming is dedicated to reality television shows. DIRECTV also offers city-by-city weather coverage on more than 1,400 local broadcast stations and on DIRECTV’s emergency channels in times of severe weather.
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Ironic that Weather Nation is the product of Paul Douglas, who here in the Twin Cities, Minnesota, is the TV guy who has drank the most global warming kool-aid.
BUT
What an excellent channel. Nothing but weather nerdery for us who remember the Weather Channel’s glory days, or even PBS’s morning weather show, they had before Weather Channel.
Critical life-saving community resource? On DirecTV? You’ve got to be kidding me. What’s the first thing to go out when it rains (let alone storms)? Satellite. Do yourself a favor and get a NOAA weather radio with battery backup.
Does TWC provide local updates through Direct TV? LMAO
Go ahead. Make my day! TWC (and short people) got no reason…
Re Hockey Schtick @January 11, 2014 at 2:40 pm
Great example of the Weather Channel’s global warming hype & alarm published today:
http://www.weather.com/health/climate-change-causes-infectious-disease-increase-korea-cdc-says-20140110
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I note that weather channel has removed the comments to – and the ability to comment on – this article.
If TWC is so confident in their programming why are they doing live weather right now (2:30 EST Mon) instead of the totally inane “Prospectors”? as scheduled?
DROP TWC! Yay to DirecTV for refusing to finance salaries of Al Roker and Abrams. Good riddance!!
The weather channel has become the commercial channel. Now it is fast becoming a reality show. It is worthless. If I want the weather now I use the internet.
Like many of the responses I’ve read here. I too am very disappointed with the Weather Channel’s content. Their decision to add these stupid shows really hit home on two consecutive Saturdays with severe thunderstorms here in Panama City FL. All I could get was Cantori Stories (STUPID) . It’s like they forgot what made them needed in the first place. Which was “Locals On The Eights with looping radar” I could care less about the thundersnow Jim was in or the ten year old weather news or the Alaskian Coast Guard or whatever!!!
Even the vortex is mislabeled; a true polar vortex is a tight system over the pole, with counter-rotating winds vs. the jet stream. It holds in and intensifies polar chill. IF it breaks down suddenly it can dump serious cold to lower latitudes, but that is not what is happening recently. Just ordinary jet stream swings.
‘inate’ isn’t a word. If you meant innate, it means inborn. If you meant inane, you missed.
In BC, Canada on the telco’s TV service, we get The Weather Network (not Channel), pretty much straight weather, but with a fairly heavy advert load. Sympathies.
=======================================================================
About 10 years ago work sent me to Calgary for a total of 6 weeks for computer training.
I remember TWN struck me as a “Celsius” version of TWC. Back then TWC was more like what it was intended to be. Glad to hear TWN didn’t follow in their footsteps.
(If they had, what would their version of “Wake Up With Al” be? “Wake Up With The McKenzie Brothers”?8-)
No real surprise here. There’s precious little history on The History Channel anymore, the cooking shows have disappeared from Food Network (but we get to watch stupid competitions over and over), The Arts & Entertainment Network is now home to Real Wives of Stupiddom Worldwide, and American Movie Classics airs garbage that’s anything BUT classic. Why would we expect to get live weather feeds on The Weather Channel?
When I turn on the weather channel they usually have some stupid reality show on instead of the weather! We need a weather channel that has the weather on all the time otherwise how can you call it the weather channel? They did it to themselves
[Snip. A valid email address is required. ~ mod.]
So what is happening is that Direct TV is getting rid of the weather channel because non believers in the fact that weather is changing, which slaps us in the face every day, don’t want to have or hear it said on TV. Which is Ok. that is their opinion. But my experience is that those that don’t believe are usually the very ones that yell the loudest when something happens and expect to helped before anyone else. Well I wish I could keep a list of those that don’t believe and probably have don’t nothing to help improve the situation with weather change … there by they can be reminded that they did not believe and should be last on the list to be helped
I read all these comments about the weather channel not doing the weather, but Im in the US and I get the weather that is going on at that very minute, in fact I know what is coming a week away and esp with the help of TWC online…. So what am I getting or seeing on the weather channel that everyone else is not getting
Sadly, TWC is a joke and not even a pale version of their former self. Landmark sold TWC to NBC and the bloodbath began. If you didn’t have a plastic surgeon on speed dial, forgetaboutit! I miss getting real weather info from nerdy, atmoshperic scientists. TWC should bring back all the true meteorologist they fired like Mark Mancuso, Bill Keneely, Rich Johnson, etc., These guys knew their stuff. They loved, lived, breathed weather and it showed! They gave us all the weather facts we craved. And they gave us weather info 24/7. Sorry NBC, I’m not tuning into TWC (or Weather Company, as they now like to be called) to watch reality TV. I can watch me some reallity TV elsewhere. On TWC I want to watch weather, not fake TV.
Note to the moderators: Don’t delete this post! All opinions need to be expressed!
jai mitchell says:
January 11, 2014 at 5:30 pm
the weather channel provides excellent real time monitoring of tornado developments in real time.
I couldn’t imagine living in tornado alley and not having access to their up to date information.
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Totally agree. That’s why, even though I don’t have DirecTV, I’m siding with those who are against DirecTV making this bad decision.
As far as climate change is concerned, worldwide news of record heat waves, droughts and other extreme weather patterns is why I believe that climate change is real and not a hoax.
[Reply: You are new here. This may come as a surprise, but this site does not censor different points of view. All comments are posted, unless they violate written site Policy. ~ mod.]
v & PP:
You are unaware that extreme weather events have been moderating [becoming less severe] over the past few decades?
Visit this site more often, and learn. TWC was just trying to scare you, for ratings.
@v
Exactly right! Science and facts just do not matter to these people. It’s an exercise in futility when you’re dealing with them.
[snip – we don’t publicize websites that label people “deniers”, plus you shouldn’t be using your Virginia grade school network to promote such things, see their acceptable use policy and your own responsibilities -Anthony]
Jane Doe says:
“Science and facts just do not matter to these people. It’s an exercise in futility when you’re dealing with them.”
Ah, psychological projection at its finest. Please, “Jane Doe”: tell us exactly which “science and facts” do not matter to readers of WUWT. Be specific.
@v
Right on!
@mods – I don’t have any alternate email to use.
@dbstealey
Rush Limbaugh and other conservatives have bashed the media for its coverage of the polar vortex, saying reporters are using the recent cold snap to push their global warming, quote, “agenda.” I’m seeing the same thing in several comments here. I could post data from NOAA, the IPCC, and other such scientific sources until I’m blue in the face yet the non believers will never ever believe that it’s real. It’s sad to see that we are living in a day and age where science (overwhelmingly supported science at that – 95-97% of scientists all around the world believe in man-made climate change) has become some partisan issue.
Jane Doe says:
January 14, 2014 at 5:14 pm (replying to dbstealey)
Odd, these “facts” things that YOU claim we (skeptics) do not believe.
Now, just what “facts” do you present in your classroom as evidence of global warming?
CO2 has increased constantly for the past 17 years. Global average temperatures (actually measured by satellites!) have been steady or dropping.
Actual summer temperatures measured in the Arctic at 80 north latitude since 1959 by the Danish Met. Institute (DMI) have been steady, despite a consistent increase in CO2.
Antarctic sea ice level have been increasing steadily since May 2011, have been setting new all-time record highs for 1-1/2 years now through ALL phases of the year (summer melt, fall and winter freezing, and spring maximums) while the planet’s CO2 levels have been steadily increasing.
Antarctic sea ice, if it continues to increase at today’s rates, will block the Straits of Magellan and Cape Horn to ship traffic in 8-12 years.
In the past, while CO2 was steady,
global temperatures increased,
remained steady,
and decreased about every 65-69 years since measurement began in the mid 1600’s.
In the recent past (since 1950) while CO2 has increased steadily,
global average temperatures have …
Decreased for 20 years (1945 – 1965),
Been Steady for 37 years
(1935-1945 = 10 years, 1965 – 1975 = 10 years,, and 1996 – 2014 = 17+ years).
And Increased (1975 – 1998) for 23 years.
That single little-bitty period between 1975 and 1998 when both CO2 and temperature have increased at the same time is outweighed by ALL of the rest of the planet’s history since it was formed 14 billion years ago!
Catastrophic global warming IS KILLING people today (25,000 died in the UK alone last year due to high heating costs CAUSED by YOUR CAGW dogma of fear and propaganda. Do YOU accept personal responsibility for those very real deaths?
Do YOU accept responsibility for condemning millions to an early death due to poor food, no storage and no transportation, bad water, bad roads, no sewage treatment, and bad air due to YOUR fear of a theoretical increase in temperature in 100 years?
An natural increase in the earth’s temperature (IF it continues, IF it does not decrease, and IF we are not condemned to a nightmare of another Modern Ice Age) will do no harm, but cause greater food, fodder, farms, fuel, and feasts to billions worldwide as plants and plankton and every living thing on earth prospers.
But YOU teach the partisan self-serving lie that more CO2 will cause harm, all the while denying the measured facts of the case while promoting the government-paid “scientists” using government tax money in government-funded labs running government-funded computer falseware programs to produce and promote government-serving policies to produce more government control and government taxes. Why? (Other than your own salary, of course.)