Weather Channel Cuts Shows, Personnel, In Stormy Operating Climate

The network also is moving former Good Morning America weathercaster Sam Champion out of its morning programming block at the end of October.

The fee-cutting strikes come as Climate Co. house owners NBCUniversal, Bain Capital and Blackstone Group are reportedly exploring a potential sale of the asset.

That said, Shull said the channel’s weather reports will strive to be more than just a “man and a map”, because basic weather forecasts are now so easily accessible on mobile devices.

The struggling network is looking to get back to its roots, with less expensive programming and a lineup that appeals more to weather geeks.

The network has over 200 meteorologists and will continue to deploy them to weather wracked parts of the country.

That show was the network’s version of one of the big three morning shows, heavy on lifestyle segments, with some hardcore weather info thrown into it. Almost 50 employees out of the channel’s 1,400 workforce will be laid off due to the company’s new restructuring plan.

Champion’s move to the Weather Channel followed a 25-year career with ABC.

Overall spending on TV will be lower, said Kenny as we are a technology company now that owns a television channel, mot a television company.

“The Weather Channel and The Weather Company has done that many times during their long history here in Cobb”, Mathis said. The company at least has one majorly lucrative side to the business, but well have to wait and see if The Weather Channel will survive in the cable world when its just bringing us the latest on tornadoes in the Midwest and hurricanes on the coast. So far this year, the network has averaged 246,000 viewers in primetime, though only 66,000 of those viewers were in the highly coveted age range of 18-to-49 year-olds.

DirectTV eventually went back to carrying the Weather Channel, but the dispute served notice that in the Internet era, the network once derided as the “map channel” was no longer an indispensable public service.

Champion, who was hired by the Weather Channel in 2014, will remain at the company in a role in its ongoing coverage and the new over-the-top product. With that in mind, the network is placing more effort behind content that attracts its core customer, and is likely to drop some of the emphasis it has recently developed on reality programming and documentary series. That service includes a new initiative called “Local Now”.