Bloomberg reports that ratings are down 20% over three years, and with the sort of programming they continue with, such as this lame “forecast from 2050” with Sam Champion and go-to storm chaser guy Jim Cantore, where in a CGI based forecast, he laments rising sea levels while standing in fake water.
Here is the fake forecast video, sponsored by the World Meteorological Organization (part of the U.N.):
It doesn’t look like their ratings and viewers will rebound any time soon, much like global warming itself, which is now in an extended pause that may last as long as 30 years.
Bloomberg reports:
DirecTV dropped the Weather Channel for about three months earlier this year after failing to come to an agreement about how much the network should be paid in affiliate fees. The Weather Channel agreed to cut back on its reality programming to include more local weather updates when DirecTV agreed to a new deal in April.
…
DirecTV, with 20 million subscribers, had pushed for a reduction of more than 20 percent in the fees it pays the Weather Channel, which had asked for an increase of 1 cent a month per subscriber.
The Weather Channel, based in Atlanta, averaged 13 cents a month per subscriber in 2013 and in 2012, according to estimates from researcher SNL Kagan. It averaged 214,000 daily viewers in 2013, down from 264,000 in 2011, according to data provided by Nielsen.
Maybe “Fat guys in the Woods” (yes that is really a TWC show) will save them:
Bloomberg also mentions that “the companies that own The Weather Channel—including Bain Capital, Blackstone, and NBC Universal—appear to be in the beginning stages of talks to sell the Atlanta-based weather behemoth”.
The billion dollar question is: who would buy it? NBCUniversal bought TWC in 2008 for about $3.5 billion. They’d be lucky to get half of that today in a sale, and any potential buyer would be even luckier to see any profit from it after the sale. Maybe Al Jazerra?
Ok…so Jim, standing in his fake water, is a hotty. But rather light on brain cells. Fun to look at but not much for intelligent conversation. I could say a lot more but dare not.
Tsk, tsk. Perhaps you are working to change WUWT into a HBO style website? : ) PS: I’ve been enjoying your posts for years, but I’m running the “Jim is a hotty” comment past my daughters before I’ll accept your premise. To me he looks like a guy who can’t hold his water.
For women, It’s all about looks.
“He beats his wife.”
“Yeah, but what a looker”
Rob, that is the most idiotic thing I have ever read on this blog. Way worse than climate hysteria.
a. smith:
Thanks for the video by John Coleman on the CAGW scam. Wish I could get everyone in this country to watch. it.
The day he passes on will be a very sad day for all of us at WUWT. I will mourn greatly when that day comes.
Click “watch on youtube” on that WMO 2050 video to see the comments. Sorry, thou shalt not comment! End of Debate!
With apologies to two very fine TV meteorologists, Anthony and John, and with no disrespect to the fine work and services many in the TV weather business do, I recommend using: http://forecast.weather.gov/ It’s a National Weather Service website. Set it for your area code or city and you get a pretty accurate forecast. Need the forecast for a city you are traveling to? Just type in the city’s name. I suppose all the TV fancy graphs, up-to-the-minute pictures, and human interest stories are well and good, but honestly do these things really improve your ability to prepare for the weather? The only issue I have with the NWS site is their % chance forecast is always low. Their 10% chance is really more like a 30% chance; their 20% is more like a 50% chance; and anything over 30% you should definitely count on it happening.
Sometimes the desserts are just indeed.
Brett will probably have to move on as well me thinks
http://www.accuweather.com/en/weather-blogs/climatechange
I used to watch the Weather Channel when you could actually get current weather on it. Now I recommend Weather Nation and Weather Underground which you can access for free on web based TV. In fact, I recommend internet television and broadcast television period. Satellite and cable TV have become a wasteland, at least they were a couple years ago when I dumped them.
Reblogged this on gottadobetterthanthis and commented:
I am of the opinion that persuasion is an illusion. Once people make up their minds, they won’t change for reason, data, or arguments (rhetoric). The opinion is fixed until pain forces change. [Instead of pain, an incentive and opportunity might arise that provides cause for change.]
As Weather Channel continues to fail, the pain of monetary loss will start forcing the change. Enough pain like this, and the media just might swing round and either drop this particular variety of alarmism, or it might even start deriding it. They will likely do whatever helps ratings.
Regardless, I don’t expect to ever hear apologies about global warming alarmism, but I do expect to quit hearing the hype. It will run its course. The global warming alarm will continue to be sounded by the true believers. It may never stop. Think of the recent Harold Camping. There are still believers in his failed alarmism, even though he completely disavowed, stating that he was wrong. He reportedly asserted that to predict such dates must ultimately be sinful. Yet people believe. Global warming alarmism is with us until Manhattan Island is under ice sheets again.
Probably losing viewers to Smart phones. TV seems to be losing to internet forms of communication and TWX would be more vulnerable to an app.
TWC
I suspect with the growth of smartphones people just rely on apps these days (weather being one of the inbuilt things in Apple iOS and Google Now for example). Ironically these are powered by TWC so I do wonder if the channel will become no more (on TV) but may live on in driving data on apps/online.
Why go to the effort of turning on your TV and waiting for local on the 8s when you can just view the current and forecast weather straight from your phones home-screen
Have not tuned into the weather channel for decades. When I was a budding meteorologist back in the 1980s I did, but today I find no use for it…especially their politics….UGH!!
I was one of the original OCM’s (On-Camera Meteorologists) back in the spring of 1982. Used to be proud of my affiliation with TWC. That ceased to be the case about 10 years ago, when they went into the AGW tank. I watch less than 10 minutes per year now…mostly during hurricane threats to see how badly other networks are kicking their arse. TWC has been an embarrassment for a long time now, plain and simple.
As a weather nerd and WW [whatevernumber] fan, I used to watch just two channels. You guessed it, and the military channel. John Coleman must cringe every time the Weather Channel program is on. At least the military channel still has its bearings and I still have wonderful memories of a peaceful time with a loved one watching that channel from sun up to sun down.
Yeah Pam, but you notice they had to change the channel’s name to American Heros Channel.
The word “military” in a channel’s name is offensive, un-PC, & might incite violence… /sarc
I watched from the beginning back in the ’80’s when I lived in Jersey. It was like home turning it on after I moved to Virginia. TWC is the reason (I’m sure) my household wasn’t chosen by Nielsen. I filled out the log file faithfully, sent it in. But, you see, TWC was my default channel.and took up most of my viewing time. Really. I knew all the backdrops they used for graphics, and I certainly remember it felt like they were owned by Michelin 🙂 Also the music. And in the morning with my first cup of java I’d cringe and yell at the TV “Oh, please don’t smile, Marny!”.
My complaints echo those mentioned above. I’ll just add that I also used to watch TWC all night because I love staying up all night and at least it was LIVE. The other channels are all reruns. Not anymore.
I do get weather info from the web and on my Kindle HDX but my TV is on the kitchen table and that’s where I eat and the only place I allow myself to have a smoke. I”m not giving up cable yet, I use it more for scheduling my daily life which it’s great for and for watching stuff live.
Thanks, John Coleman for what you gave us. Too bad someone else had to ruin it.
And TWC’s self promotion commercials:
The lady hanging sideways in a storm,
The antenna that elevated through snow from a hidden radio.
Reminds me of some commercials a Philadelphia radio station, WMMR, played in the late sixties; One advised the best antenna length for WMMR reception after which the voice said “for those with windshield imbedded antennas” followed by the sound of breaking glass.
Yeah, TWC used to have class; now TWC is just disgusting.
The only thing I watched on TWC with any regularity was the local radar. Now I get that from the NWS site radar.weather.gov – without the Kool-Aid.
Haven’t seen the Weather Channel in years – don’t watch TV anymore since I think it is probably a wonderful source of subliminal programming since it went digital. I do use the weather.com daily to see their “prediction” of the today’s weather. I stay on it only long enough to skim through the 10 day forecast since I am so fed up with the nonsensical sidebar videos they use, and the latest and greatest “so and so went to someplace to have fun but got killed” videos. Sort of like going on cnn.com and looking at all the disaster videos people give them with their cell phone cameras. “watch swimmer attacked by a great white while his wife watches on.” Good stuff. If the same garbage fills up the hours on the weather channel, no wonder people are not bothering to watch it.
Same here. It got to the point that I knew more about weather than The Weather Channel did. Which really isn’t saying much about me. But think what it says about The Weather Channel!!!!
Whoever manages their Facebook postings drunk the alarmist coolaid. It’s so bad it’s funny!
Just glanced at the view counter here. The Weather Channel supposedly had 214,000 viewers per day in 2013 and was declining. WUWT passed 200000000 about 4 AM PDT on the 10th, about 6.6 days ago. going by the current count you’re averaging about 185000 views/day since then. If we could get everyone to hit the reload button a couple more times a day you could be really kicking their butts.