In a move that will create more competition in the weather news programming sector, the National Cable Television Cooperative (NCTC) and WeatherNation TV, Inc. have reached a new, long-term agreement for carriage of WeatherNation.
As part of this deal, NCTC members will be able to launch the 24 hour weather news service to their subscribers in the second quarter of 2011.
"Members have asked for options in their choice of weather networks, and we are pleased to provide our members an agreement with WeatherNation," noted Frank Hughes, senior VP of programming for NCTC in a statement. "This new service provides excellent weather coverage at a very reasonable cost, helping members fight against ever-increasing programming costs."
The launch of the new channel grew out of a 2010 deal by Performance One Media to acquire the rights to the trademarks and brand from WeatherNation, a provider of centralized weather services for local stations and web sites around the U.S.
That company has been rebranded as Broadcast Weather. It continues to providing weather feeds from its centralized studios to a number of stations and web sites around the country and is producing the weather news programming for the new weather channel, WeatherNation, using HD studios and staff of meteorologists located ath Broadcast Weather's Excelsior Minnesota facility.
The initial carriage deal with NCTC is for a national weather service but the company ultimately plans to offer the option of customizing the service to local markets, notes Michael Norton, vice president, of WeatherNation TV, who expects to announce additional carriage deals in the upcoming months
At launch, WeatherNation TV, which is headquartered in Denver Colorado, will offer a weather news format 24 hours a day that will not be interrupted by documentary, entertainment or reality programming, Norton says.
