Starting today, The Weather Channel will expand its live coverage by up to 10 minutes an hour, a change long sought by viewers and even pay TV partners.
The move comes just two weeks after comedian and entrepreneur Byron Allen acquired The Weather Channel from Comcast, Blackstone Group and Bain Capital for approximately $300 million, according to Bloomberg News.
See Amazon’s Best-Selling Streaming Devices!
Click Amazon: The All-New Fire TV!
It’s unknown if the new owner influenced the change in programming strategy. But the channel last night began notifying viewers who subscribe to its newsletter that the expansion of live coverage would begin today.
Click Amazon: Today’s Deals of the Day.
Click Amazon: See Today’s Top-Selling TVs!
“Many of you have told us that you want to see more of our trusted weather coverage and we’ve taken note,” the newsletter stated. “Starting tomorrow (April 3), we will be extending our live coverage by up to 10 minutes per hour, giving you a chance to dig even deeper into the weather affecting you each day.”
To create more time for live coverage, The Weather Channel said it would “collapse our Local On the 8s so that they run during our live segments. Where you use to see our traditional Local On the 8s segments, you will see the same weather information displayed on the right side and/or bottom of the screen.”
The Weather Channel’s Twitter page tweeted this morning that the Local On the 8s segments, which offer greater detail on the viewer’s local weather forecast, would still run in the old format several times a day. Previously, they always ran during breaks from the channel’s live coverage.
“A reimagined version (of Local On the 8s) will air during the other ‘traditional’ LO8 slots during live programming,” the channel wrote.
Critics of The Weather Channel have long said it devotes too much time to reality programming and other segments rather than concentrating on live updates. In 2014, DIRECTV even made an expansion of live broadcasts a condition of its new programming agreement with the channel.
While the channel did reduce its reality programming somewhat after that, many said TWC still relied too heavily on non-live shows and segments.
— Phillip Swann
They need to focus on weather and not all the other programming. Weather Nation blows them away if you want to see weather informatiin.
I miss local on the 8s!!!
I miss locsl on the eights. Please NO MORE reality tv show reruns, some 10-+15 years old. Severe storms in our area Friday night and right at 8pm, TWC went to reality tv rerund, how nice. wish there were an sltermative
this is very disturbing. we really do not need to see the weather in other parts of the country. whoever decided on this change should know how unimportant and rediculous this move is. what a waste of time and space. bring back local on the 8s !!!
What about a new HD Weather scan
I understand people wanting weather for east coast but I live in Arizona and rely on the weather on the 8 so because we can not get that in the morning I will stop watching
I used the local on the eights a lot to get my weather. I will go to other sources for my weather now.
Loved Lo8 while here in Florida on holiday. Miss the voice over version and so have stopped watching Weather channel.
I rely on the local on the 8 and miss it. I would listen to it while getting ready in the morning. Can’t lisyen to it when it’s running across the bottom of your screen. Very disappointed
Please put local on the 8 ‘s back the way it was thank you ps I don’t like the way you are doing it now
I have stopped watching the weather Channel because Local on the 8’s has been reduced to little more than a postage stamp sized precipitation map. There is no longer enough info for for the present and week ahead. Since local weather is no longer important to the weather Channel, I’m done tuning in.
Since Local on the 8’s is gone, I do not watch weather channel at all. Weather is local…
I agree. No more Local on the 8’s I have stopped watching. I want to know what is going on in my area. Please change it back.
I relied on local on the 8’s to get the day started. Perhaps every 15 minutes. Watching all the national news and 10 more minutes of Stephanie Abraham’s lame jokes is way too much for me.
We always listened to The Weather Channel every morning getting ready for work. Now we listen to our local news channel instead so we can HEAR the weather forecast. We Miss the Local on the 8’s! PLEASE BRING IT BACK!!!
I will not watch TWC until Local on the 8s comes back
Please bring back Local on the 8’s. Talk about a STUPID decision. The weather channel is just that WEATHER REPORTS – I want to see LOCAL weather so I can plan my day, my week etc – it was timely and accurate. I depended on TWC – Why do people think change is needed – some things are good the way they are. Wow, I thought I was the only one who didn’t like Stephanie Abrams.
Agree Completely,
Some people don’t understand the quote: If it isn’t BROKE, DON’T fix it.
Do you think DirecTV will allow the Weather Channel on ALL the Packages now, with a new owner.
Don’t know anyone willing to pay an extra $30 $ 40 a month for the weather channel.
A “SELECT Package” Customer.
For the past 2 years I have been disappointed that Verizon FIOS switched from The Weather Channel to another weather provider. This week I am on vacation in Williamsburg VA and was looking forward to the ability to watch The Weather Channel! How disappointing!!! I really miss Local on the 8s!!! How can I plan my vacation week when the nearest “local” city is 100 miles away!!!??
We live in southern MD where the weather changes rapidly. I would rely on Weather on the 8’s before I got out of bed…and throughout the day. In the morning, I can see some some small information at the very bottom of the TV, but would need to put on my glasses and stand directly in front of the TV. It’s just not practical. My husband and I have no reason to ever watch the Weather Channel again. All they do is try to dramatize any weather event regardless of the severity, or lack there of, over and over. Totally useless to our family anymore. Bring back Weather on the 8’s,
I don’t like the new format and will stop watching TWC until local on the 8’s come back.
I hate this. The only reason I ever look at WC is for local on the 8s. Totally worthless now.
For decades I used to turn on weather channel every morning to catch Local on the 8s. I could listen to it while I was waking up. I often stayed for live reports, but only the local weather gets me to tune in. The new scroll across the botto and sides is a poor substitute. I can use an AP much more quickly AND get better info.
What a stupid decision to eliminate the local on the eights. We travel a lot and use the local on the eights to see weather in our area as well as areas we plan to visit shortly. TheThe Weather Channel should concentrate on weather and not try totry to be a variety reality show.
You folks have messed around with the weather content enough eliminating local on the eights at cetera. II have totally gone to AccuWeather. StickStick to the weather not reality TV.
Local on the 8’s used to be for my town. Now it’s for a town that’s 40 minutes away. Can I get it back to being local?
WHO WAS THE IDIOT THAT DECIDED TO GIVE US THE LOCAL WEATHER ALL THE WAY ACROSS THE COUNTRY!!! GUESS WHAT, I DON’T CARE WHAT THE LOCAL WEATHER IS IN NEVADA, VERMONT OR FLORIDA…I LIVE IN POWDERLY, KY, POPULATION 995, 18 DOGS, 6 CATS AND TWO SQUIRRELS. WHY WOULD I TURN TO THE WEATHER CHANNEL TO GET THE LOCALS ON THE 8 IN ATLANTA!!!
WE KEEP OUR TV ON THE WEATHER CHANNEL WHEN NOT WATCHING A PARTICULAR PROGRAM OR A MOVIE, IT WAS A GIVEN LIKE THE RADIO. BECAUSE OF THAT STABLE, WE ALWAYS WATCHED SHOWS ON IT. NOW WE DON’T EVEN STOP ON THE CHANNEL ANYMORE. KUDOS TO THE BRAIN CHILD THAT FIGURED OUT HOW TO DECREASE YOUR VIEWING AUDIENCE TREMENDOUSLY.
WHY DIDN’T YOU JUST RUN AN ALERT ACROSS THE SCHEME STATING “PLEASE
DON’T WATCH THE WEATHER CHANNEL ANY MORE”!!!!!!!!!!!!!! IT WOULD HAVE SAVED US TIME TRYING TO FIGURE IT OUT.
I WILL BE SO GLAD WHEN ANOTHER STATION COMES ALONG AND PICK UP YOUR SLACK (IT TOOK HALF THE IQ OF A 6 YEAR OLD TO FIGURE OUT THIS WAS STUPID MOVE).
Long gone is our beloved Comcast channel 101 in the Flint, MI area on Comcast–it was a Weather Channel-provided continuous version of local on the 8’s which we loved. Then local on the 8’s on the actual Weather Channel was changed to local on the half hour, which we unhappily adjusted to… Now, no local on the 8’s at all, just a tiny map in the corner which shows way too much info on other locales, and not enough (or pausing long enough) on our area. The “local on the 8’s” info on the bottom of the screen IS NOT a substitute. Wake up, Byron Allen–you are ruining the Weather Channel!!!
I also unhappily adjusted to local weather at 18 and 48 minutes, but now that is gone. The final straw was last night when 2 tornadoes touched down in my area (PA) after a couple of hours of intense thunderstorms and warnings. What was showing on the weather channel? Reruns of Highway thru Hell. If there is a hint of thunderstorms near Atlanta then you get live coverage of every thunder cell and an inordinate amount of discussion on conditions as they evolve. I’m giving up, as I don’t need to know what the up to the minute weather is in Georgia.
We are one of the many who are fed up with the WC’s decision to eliminate Local on the 8s. It was bad enough when they eliminated the local almanac, then Local on the 8s, and added all this crap like Highway to Hell and its spin off. You could do so much more to educate people about climate and weather. Who really watches Highway to Hell and Why Planes Crash and all the other nonsense you put on now???
LOT8s was my primary reason for watching TWC. With it being dropped to twice an hour and now apparently dropped altogether, my reason for watching has disappeared.
As far as the TWC Weather App goes, WeatherBug, MyRadar, Accuweather, etc. have better apps that are easier to use.
With each change of ownership, TWC has gotten further and further away from their original premise of Reporting and Forecasting the Weather at least at the local level. Someone coined the phrase “Think Globally, Act Locally”, but TWC doesn’t believe it.
I have also cut down watching TWC because of the overabundance of ads for just about every drug known to mankind.
Get back to your roots or you will end up with the other businesses who forgot what got them their success.
Give us back Local On The Eights Please…It’s Why We Watch The Weather Channel, not for the Live programming or Ads For Highway From Hell…We get more than enough Live Weather Coverage on any of our Local Channels…What’s Unique about the Weather Channel Always Has Been, “Local On The Eights”, which we rely on Daily…Convenient, Accurate…The Worse thing that could happen is this Sale and This New Owner…Bring Back Local On The Eights…!!
Not only did they drop the 8’s to the 18 and 48 half the time they don’t even stop whatever worthless program is on to run them when they say they will.
Bring back our local on 8. Don’t want to see weather on east coast or west coast. Always relied on local on 8 to see our weather. Will go somewhere else to get weather report. Use to watch you all the time now i don’t
Been watching the weather channel since conception, it has taken a turn for the worse for years. Would rather see the weather not ice trucker reruns or any of the others. I don’t watch that poor excuse for entertainment any where else. I don’t watch any tv actually but would like at the very least local on the. 8’s. Please put weather back on the channel specifically for weather or change the name to something like “Trash”. Sick of your poorhouses. Garbage commercials should be more than enough.
Bring back Local on the 8’s I stopped watching the weather channel, because the took my
local weather off, not really interested in weather else where!!!
At least update us every 15 to 20 minutes. Its nice to know when a pop up storm is headed my way. Used to watch while eating every meal. Even ordered extra TV package just to have the weather channel, I don’t like accuweatherl
What recently changed on the weather channel? Our local towns weather use to scroll at the bottom of the screen and now we have that information scrolling for different cities across the country, which does not relate to us. Can we get our local towns weather scrolling at the bottom please?
Sure miss the local on the 8’s when it gave actual local forecast. I now try to get my local forecasts from local channels or TWC website. Whoever decided this change should reconsider it.
without weather on the 8’s, I have no interest in the weather channel. bring back local forecasts
I was going to sign up for dish but since i cannot get local weather for Elkins WV I changed my mind!
Too much sports, reality and politics, nothing of importance.