Comcast Technology Solutions was selected by  AccuWeather to create, manage and distribute linear and over-the-top video channels.

Comcast Technology Solutions’ Managed Channel Origination service is designed to improve operations efficiency, reduce capital expenses and enable customers to monetize top notch viewing experiences at scale.

“At AccuWeather, our ability to inform viewers instantly and continuously relies on having the right back-end infrastructure in place, which is why we turned to Comcast Technology Solutions,” said Helen Swenson, chief content officer for AccuWeather. 

"We chose CTS because they are a trusted leader in managed channel origination, with a long-standing legacy of delivering exceptional quality and reliability. By centralizing our efforts with CTS, we can reach our various linear TV and OTT distributors in a unified way,” Swenson said. “Their cutting-edge facilities and advanced capabilities enable us to streamline operations, automate tasks, and free up valuable resources—so that we can devote more energy to creating and monetizing our content at scale.”

The two companies reached a multi-year agreement. For AccuWeatehr, CTS will acquire, prepare, create, package, and deliver linear TV and OTT channels.

Financial terms were not disclosed.

Comcast Technology Solutions has provided Managed Channel Origination for hundreds of channels from its facilities in the U.S. to serve North American audiences. Last year, CTS extended its MCO capabilities to Europe, the Middle East and Africa by leveraging Sky’s master control video and metadata platforms.

“AccuWeather is synonymous with providing timely, accurate, and enlightening weather information that impacts the lives of millions of viewers,” said Bart Spriester, senior VP and general manager of streaming, broadcast, & advertising for Comcast Technology Solutions. 

“We’re very proud that they have entrusted our Managed Channel Origination service to economically streamline their ability to reach and monetize audiences at scale. Our commitment with MCO is to help companies reduce capital costs and improve operational efficiency through a unique combination of capabilities that only Comcast Technology Solutions can bring to bear,” Spriester said.

Managed Channel Origination is part of Comcast Technology Solutions’ Live Linear Suite.

AccuWeather said that Steven R. Smith has been named CEO, effective immediately.

Smith, who had been president, taking over for AccuWeather founder Dr. Joel Myers, who becomes executive chairman of the company.

The change is part of the company’s succession plan. Myers will remain involved in the business, focusing on high-level strategy, new product development, innovation and business development. Smith will oversee operations and focus on growth opportunities.

“Steve and I have been working in lockstep on this succession plan to ensure a smooth and effective transition. Now that the time has come, it is with great pleasure that I make his appointment official,” said Myers. “Steve has been by my side leading the growth and transformation of AccuWeather for over 25 years, and I am proud to say that the student has become the master. He has been instrumental in our success, and this new appointment reflects my full confidence in his leadership of this great company I founded over 60 years ago.”

Smith joined Accuweather as a forecasting intern in 1997 after wearing a B.S. in meteorology from Penn State. 

“Carrying the mantel of such an authentic brand as AccuWeather is an awesome responsibility, and one that I embrace wholeheartedly. I am fortunate that I will continue to have Joel and the rest of our visionary leadership team by my side as we build upon our legacy of superior accuracy and write this exciting next chapter in AccuWeather’s history together,” said Smith.

“I look forward to collaborating with our extraordinary team of meteorologists and content, data, and digital experts to continue to break new ground in technology and AI to bring the very best weather insights to the public, our partners, and our clients across all AccuWeather platforms,” Smith said.

AccuWeather forecasts appear on digital signage, in 700 newspapers, are heard on over 400 radio stations, and viewed on 100 television stations. The  AccuWeather Now streaming service is available to more than 200 million active users on many platforms, including Roku, Xumo, Red Box, LG, Amazon, and Freevee.

Philo said it has added an AccuWeather Channel to its streaming service, effective Tuesday as storms are rolling in several regions of the country.

AccuWeather is the first weather channel on Philo, which now offers 64 channels to its 800,000 customers who pay $20 a month.

“We are excited to provide AccuWeather’s precise and reliable weather coverage to our customers. The inclement winter season often means weather news needs to be timely and accurate” said Mike Keyserling, COO and head of content acquisition at Philo. “Philo is focused on bringing new and differentiated content to our service while maintaining value for our subscribers.”   

AccuWeather’s meteorologists and field reporters provide coverage of local, regional and national weather conditions, severe warning alerts and forecasts.

“We are thrilled to be joining the Philo family of top TV streaming programming,” said Sarah Katt, GM, AccuWeather TV Network. “We are deeply committed to delivering the most accurate and reliable local and breaking weather coverage to help everyone in every community plan their lives and get more from their day, and we look forward to now being able to bring this breadth of weather forecasts, news and insights to Philo’s audience as well.”

AccuWeather broadened its streaming horizons this week with the launch of an app for Android TV, Google’s online video and services platform for smart TVs and TV-connected streaming devices.

AccuWeather said the app for Android TV is powered in part by its patented AccuWeather MinuteCast minute-by-minute forecasts showing precipitation type and intensity for the next two hours. It also shows start and end times of weather events, “hyper-localized” to a user's exact viewing location.  

The app also features a library of breaking weather videos and “RealFeel”  temperature and current conditions, and severe weather alerts.

Elsewhere in the Google arena, the AccuWeather app is also offered on Android phones and tablets and the recently launched Android Wear 2.0 platform.

Swirl Networks and AccuWeather have teamed on an indoor mobile location marketing initiative that relies on real-time weather data.

They said retail marketers that use Swirl’s platform can now tap into AccuWeather's data sets, which includes weather conditions and forecasts for more than 2 million locations worldwide, to help tailor and trigger in-store mobile experiences based on the shopper’s local weather conditions.

The integration, they said, enables Swirl’s mobile platform to offer targeting based on both weather and indoor location. Swirl’s mobile presence marketing platform uses a range of indoor location signals, including Bluetooth beacons, WiFi, and Visible Light Communications (VLC) to deliver targeted content to a shopper’s smartphone based on their precise in-store location.

The new deal with AccuWeather, they said, will help retailers and brands create in-store mobile messages, content and services they deliver based on a variety of local weather data, including weather forecast conditions, temperature, wind, precipitation, UV index, and pollen count.

By way of example, they said a pharmacy chain could alert in-store shoppers that pollen and allergen counts are forecasted to rise and put up special offers on allergy relief products that are available in the medicine aisle.