The Weather Channel Facts
The Weather Channel is a cable and satellite television network that revolutionized the reporting of weather and weather-related news by being on 24 hours a day. The Weather Channel is headquartered in Vinings, Georgia, near Atlanta.
The Weather Channel History
The Weather Channel went on the air on May 2, 1982 and reports the weather and other meteorological information for the United States as well as other countries and regions of the world. The Weather Channel originally gathered its local forecasts from local National Weather Service offices, but since 2002 has done local forecasting in-house; however, current weather and forecast model data does come from National Weather Service and the ultraviolet index from the EPA.
The Weather Channel also uses special proprietary equipment that inserts local weather forecast and warning information if it is viewed on a cable TV system. The original WeatherStar technology has been upgraded on most cable systems to IntelliStar, including Vocal Local to announce the three-day local forecast.
Satellite viewers see a roundup of local Weather Channel forecasts for major cities across the U.S., as well as satellite and radar images, and severe weather watch and warning maps when active.
Based off modified versions of the WeatherStar technology, The Weather Channel produced a service called Weatherscan, on which a separate channel constantly displays local and regional conditions and forecasts, along with The Weather Channel’s logo and advertisements.
The Weather Channel Network
The Weather Channel sister station in Canada is The Weather Network in English and MétéoMédia in French, which uses similar technology that is currently in use in the USA. The Weather Channel also ran The Weather Channel Latin America (TWCLA), which operated in Spanish in Mexico, Puerto Rico and Spanish-speaking South America.
TWCLA ceased operations in December 2002.The Weather Channel also runs websites in Brazil (Canaldo Tempo), the United Kingdom (Weather Channel), France (Meteo 123) and Germany (Wetter 123). A UK version of The Weather Channel ran from 1 September 1996 to 30 January 1998, when it was closed due to low viewing figures. The Weather Channel is a wholly owned subsidiary of Landmark Communications.
A definitive history of the network,The Weather Channel: The Improbable Rise of a Media Phenomenon, by Frank Batten and Jeffrey L. Cruikshank, was published by Harvard Business Press in May 2002, on The Weather Channel’s 20th anniversary.
The Weather Channel Logo
In March 2005, The Weather Channel announced that it would receive a new logo/tagline, “Bringing Weather to Life,” replacing the 2001 “Live By it” campaign. This change occurred on August 15, 2005. As a part of this rebranding, changes in formats and programming are expected to take place as part of a gradual transition.
The Weather Channel’s most recognized logo started out as a slightly-squished blue rectangular box that debuted on The Weather Channel’s first broadcast on May 2, 1982. This logo would later be revised in 1996, with the corners and “Weather Channel” text font less rounded.
The URL text “weather.com” was permanently added underneath the logo in 1999. More recently, in August 2005, the logo was re-overhauled; the blue rectangle’s corners are straight, the “Weather Channel” text is now in lower-case, and the alignment of the text is now displayed on the left.
