Latest from Next TV in Accuweather-network

DirecTV Adds AccuWeather, Drops WeatherNation

kent.gibbons@futurenet.com (Kent Gibbons) — Wed, 01 Aug 2018 21:41:57 +0000

AT&T-owned DirecTV, the top U.S. pay-TV service (rankings), today dropped weather-centric WeatherNation and installed rival AccuWeather Network in its place.

WeatherNation had forecasted the drop on Monday, issuing a release about the upcoming drop from DirecTV and the DirecTV Now streaming service.

The official statement from DirecTV and AccuWeather was: "AccuWeather Network will be available on DIRECTV (Channel 361) starting Aug. 1. AccuWeather Network’s experienced team of meteorologists and weather broadcasters, both in the studio and in the field, provide weather forecasts with Superior Accuracy, plus compelling weather news and content 24 x 7."

WeatherNation, on DirecTV since 2014, was dismayed. “Ever since DIRECTV posted publicly that they would no longer carry WeatherNation as of Aug. 1, we’ve been bombarded by viewers expressing their frustration and asking us why?,” WeatherNation president Michael Norton said in the statement. “I wish we could give them an answer, but we’re just as shocked and dismayed as they are. It’s an unfortunate decision by DIRECTV, especially given overwhelming customer engagement and the fact that they offered no terms by which they would continue carrying the service.”

AccuWeather, meanwhile, launched today on channel 361, which had been WeatherNation's slot. Accuweather is also carried on Frontier and on Fios, which added it when Fios dropped The Weather Channel in 2015. Accuweather is not on DirecTV Now yet but is expected to be added soon.

WeatherNation's run on DirecTV goes back to the time in 2014 when, as "TV Answer Man" Phillip Swann noted, the satellite-TV provider had opted to drop TWC for a few months. The Weather Channel is long since back on DirecTV.

AccuWeather Names Sarah Katt as VP

MCN Staff — Thu, 11 Feb 2016 17:45:00 +0000

AccuWeather Network said it has appointed Sarah Katt as vice president of product development and operations for the network, reporting directly to John Dokes, general manager and chief marketing officer.

Most recently, Katt worked with Verizon Communications in a multi-platform video distribution strategy role. She was instrumental in the successful launch of FiOS1 Networks and managed the project as it continued to grow and develop, AccuWeather said.

FiOS -- which in March 2015 dropped The Weather Channel and installed AccuWeather Network in TWC's former slots -- is thus far the only announced multichannel-TV affiliate for the network, which also makes programming available via apps.

Katt earlier served in multi-platform video leadership roles with CBS News, the network said.

AccuWeather Forecast Calls for Big Data

George Winslow (Broadcasting & Cable) — Mon, 09 Nov 2015 13:00:00 +0000

IBM’s decision to acquire The Weather Co.’s data and digital assets in a deal The Wall Street Journal valued at more than $2 billion highlights the growing value of such properties — and rival AccuWeather also hopes to capitalize on that value as it works to gain more distribution for its fledgling channel.

AccuWeather had already accumulated 50 years of weather-forecasting experience before it launched the AccuWeather Network on Verizon’s FiOS TV this past March. It is a major supplier of forecasting systems and graphics to broadcasters, and has an impressive digital business.

AccuWeather has long been a multiplatform player with a focus on “innovations that make sure we are able to convey superior accuracy in weather forecasting,” John Dokes, general manager of AccuWeather Network and chief marketing officer of AccuWeather, said. It strives to create “flexible products that will help people personalize the weather,” he added.

That has paid off in some impressive growth this year, according to Dokes. In August, use of the company’s AccuWeather apps grew by 69% among active iOS users and 39% among active Android users. Use of the AccuWeather.com mobile website is up 18% year-to-date from 2014, he added.

Overall, AccuWeather supplies weather data to about 1.5 billion people per day in more than 100 languages and dialects, Dokes said.

Some of the mobile growth reflects the growing importance of smartphones, Dokes said. “But it also shows how we’ve continued to invest in our products and provide new innovative solutions that have kept us on the forefront of mobile usage,” he added.

To build on that, AccuWeather has launched a number of new products, most recently the AccUcast feature on its app. AccUcast uses interactive crowdsourcing capabilities to provide live weather conditions for much more specific locales and lets viewers see those reports on an interactive map.

“We want to make sure that people have access to minute-by-minute forecasts based on precise locations with products like MinuteCast, which can tell you that it will start raining in 23 minutes and that it will rain for 25 minutes after that,” Dokes said.