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Platinum Member Username: PlymouthCanada Post Number: 13990 Registered: Jan-08 | Dish Network to Drop Weather Channel Dish Network Corp. is dropping the Weather Channel for more than 14 million of its satellite-television customers, in another sign of the growing friction between TV programmers and distributors. Instead, Dish Network said it is airing a new weather-focused channel that will replace Weather Channel. Dish Network said Weather Channel'"owned by NBC Universal and private-equity firms Bain Capital LLC and Blackstone Group LP'"is asking for exorbitant monthly fees to pipe the channel to households that subscribe to Dish Network TV service. "Dish has chosen to be the first distributor to drop The Weather Channel rather than pay the standard industry rates others in the industry have already agreed to pay," the Weather Channel said in a statement. The Weather Channel encouraged Dish Network customers to switch to other TV providers. A rising number of TV-fee impasses are causing channels like the Food Network, Walt Disney Co.'s ABC and News Corp.'s Fox to go dark or threaten to be dropped from TV lineups around the country, as consumers get caught in the middle of financial disputes between TV-channel owners and TV distributors. Cable- and satellite-TV companies pay an average of 12 cents a month for each television household that has access to the Weather Channel, according to research firm SNL Kagan. Neither the Weather Channel nor Dish Network would say how much of a fee increase the Weather Channel is seeking. While the two sides have tried and failed to reach a deal for several months, it was still possible they could reach an agreement before their existing TV contract expired at midnight EDT Thursday. In addition to its financial complaints, Dish Network also said the Weather Channel is relying too much on "weather-tainment" such as movies, and turning away from local-weather reporting, according to Dave Shull, senior vice president for programming. Mr. Shull said Weather Channel fees are harder for Dish Network to stomach as more people get weather information online. "They're looking for bid increases when I feel like there's a real migration to the Web, and it's difficult to really justify those rate increases at this time." More than 100 million households have access to the Weather Channel. Dish Network said its new weather channel, called The Weather Cast, will have more local-weather updates. Source: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704513104575256880784721458.html?m od=WSJ_latestheadlines |
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Platinum Member Username: PlymouthCanada Post Number: 13991 Registered: Jan-08 | [May 20, 2010] DISH Network Launches The Weather Cast ENGLEWOOD, Colo., May 20, 2010 /PRNewswire via COMTEX/ -- DISH Network L.L.C., America's fastest-growing pay-TV provider, today introduced The Weather Cast, a new 24-hour weather service featuring live round-the-clock weather reporting, interactive forecasting, and real-time national storm tracking. DISH Network is the first and only television provider to offer a national "all weather, all the time" service to its customers. The Weather Cast will replace The Weather Channel, which has recently moved away from weather reporting to a mix of movies and other entertainment-focused programming. "Our customers always tell us that the only thing they want in a weather channel is weather reporting," said Dave Shull, senior vice president of Programming. "We believe The Weather Cast is the best available weather service in America." In contrast to The Weather Channel, The Weather Cast devotes 100 percent of its program schedule to weather reporting. There are no movies, no wake up shows and no stories about storms. Further, because its program schedule is all forecasting, it means that The Weather Cast has more time to focus on local weather. The Weather Channel is customized for cable and has never offered satellite customers the localization they require. For more information, visit www.dishnetwork.com/weather. About DISH Network DISH Network L.L.C., a subsidiary of DISH Network Corporation (Nasdaq: DISH), provides more than 14.3 million satellite TV customers, as of March 31, 2010, with the highest quality programming and technology at the best value, including the lowest all-digital price nationwide. Customers have access to hundreds of video and audio channels, the most HD channels, the most international channels, state-of-the-art interactive TV applications, and award-winning HD and DVR technology including 1080p Video on Demand and the ViP® 722 HD DVR, a CNET and PC Magazine "Editors' Choice." DISH Network Corporation is included in the Nasdaq-100 Index (NDX) and is a Fortune 200 company. Visit www.dish.com, follow on Twitter, @dishnetwork (www.twitter.com/dishnetwork), or become a Fan on Facebook, www.facebook.com/dishnetwork. SOURCE DISH Network L.L.C. |
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Platinum Member Username: NydasPost Number: 18954 Registered: Jun-06 | Will the Viewsat Weather Forecaster still forecast the weather? |
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Platinum Member Username: Insearchofbass2 hifonics 2607s, 2dcSounds12xls SPL\idmax12SQ Post Number: 14143 Registered: Jun-04 | i have dish network so this is an event that affects me........no big deal though I guess |