In the field of telecommunications , the concept of triple play service refers to the provision of three essential services — high-speed broadband Internet access, television, and latency-sensitive telephone services — all delivered over a single broadband connection. This approach emphasizes the convergence of multiple services by a single supplier, aiming to enhance user convenience and streamline service delivery.
91-452: Verizon Fios is a bundled Internet access , telephone, and television service provided by Verizon Communications that operates over a fiber optical network within the United States. The early stages of Fios began when Bell Atlantic (now Verizon Communications) was testing its video service " Stargazer " in 1995. This was the first commercial video on demand (VOD) service, which
182-447: A BPL network using technologies such as IEEE P1901 / G.hn . Since the devices all rely on AC power (or DC power via 802.3af or 802.3at which rely on AC power at the PoE hub), connecting them with only one cable each for both power and gigabit data cuts wiring costs, and most rooms are already wired for power. The challenges in offering triple play are mostly associated with determining
273-609: A geosynchronous satellite —sometimes up to one full second of delay between speaking and being heard. Cable's main competition for voice and Internet access came from telcos , which were not yet able to compete for television in most markets because DSL over most local loops could not provide enough bandwidth. As an interim marketing move while they installed fiber closer to the customer , telcos such as AT&T , Verizon , & Xfinity did co-promotion deals with satellite TV providers to sell television, telephone, and Internet access services bundled for billing purposes, although
364-586: A hashtag usable for posts). In July 2012, the Weather Company (former owner of the Weather Channel) purchased competing weather website Weather Underground . While the Weather Channel already had success with its own mobile apps, it planned to use Weather Underground's large network of digital forecasting and tracking websites to bolster its digital growth. Weather Underground operates separately from
455-501: A promo for one of The Weather Channel's programs or services, leading into the segment with the announcer stating "And now, your Local on the 8s ". On November 12, 2013, the promo segment was replaced by an intro that was built into the Local on the 8s segment. As of April 2018, the segment airs at approximately :18 past each hour. It also usually airs at approximately :48 past each hour during live Weather Channel broadcasts. On July 11, 2023,
546-442: A text message with their ZIP code to 42278 (which spells "4cast"). The Weather Channel also provided weather forecasts for other online services including Yahoo! . In addition, The Weather Channel maintained apps for the iPhone , iPad , Android , Apple TV , Kindle Fire , and Windows mobile and tablet platforms. TWC formerly maintained two versions of its mobile applications: a free version that incorporates advertising and
637-510: A "malicious software attack" on their network. Previously taped shows were aired while engineers worked with backup equipment, and live programming returned to normal within a few hours (at the time, AMHQ ). The perpetrators of the malware attack were never identified. In May 2022, on The Weather Channel's 40th birthday, it launched a new direct-to-consumer subscription-based app. In August 2023, IBM announced it will be selling its weather unit and The Weather Channel's subsidiaries and apps to
728-555: A 9% increase, totaling $ 140,000 per month. The dispute was also over the Weather Channel's programming format shifting from an information-based channel to an entertainment-based service. The Weather Channel said in a statement, "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", and encouraged Dish Network customers to switch to other pay television providers. Dave Shull, senior vice president for programming for Dish Network said
819-446: A Forecast" presentations were then replaced by an additional hour of Weather Center and a two-hour block of long-form original programs. The Weather Channel's first and most recognized logo was a blue rectangular box with rounded edges that debuted with the Weather Channel's first broadcast on May 2, 1982. This logo was revised in 1996, with the corners becoming less rounded and the logo becoming slightly flat. The weather.com URL text
910-445: A cable license; AT&T said they would fight this decision in court. For telephone local exchange carriers (LEC), triple play is delivered using a combination of optical fiber and digital subscriber line (DSL) technologies (called fiber in the loop ) to its residential base. This configuration uses fiber communications to reach distant locations and uses DSL over an existing POTS twisted pair cable as last mile access to
1001-570: A cable modem system from Motorola . Triple-play services in the United States are offered by cable television operators as well as by telecommunication operators, who directly compete with one another. Providers expect that an integrated solution will increase opportunity costs for customers who may want to choose between service providers, permit more cross-selling , and hold off the power companies deploying G.hn and IEEE P1901 technology with its radically superior service and deployment characteristics for at least another decade or so. Outside
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#17328555829411092-517: A central optical network terminal located in the existing telco closet. Over such a short distance, DSL can deliver much higher bitrates than is possible running DSL over the local loop from the nearest central office (as is common with basic DSL). Triple play has led to the term " quadruple play ", where wireless communications is introduced as another medium to deliver video, Internet access, and voice telephone service. Advances in both CDMA and GSM standards, utilizing 3G , 4G , or UMTS allows
1183-431: A contributor for its prime time schedule starting November 2. The network also announced it would no longer greenlight original long-form programming, and expanded live forecast programming on its schedule throughout 2016 after all remaining long-form programs already in development concluded their runs. In a memo sent out to network staff by Weather Company CEO David Kenny, it explained its refocus on weather-based programs
1274-446: A core competency for them as have been prices and terms of service. Cable providers want to compete with telcos for local voice service, but want to discourage telcos from competing with them for television service. Incumbent telcos want to deliver television service but want to block competition for voice service from cable operators. Both industries cloak their demands for favorable regulatory treatment in claims that their positions favor
1365-579: A forecaster for Good Morning America ) and Frank Batten , then-president of the channel's original owner Landmark Communications (now Landmark Media Enterprises ). The channel launched at 8:00 p.m. Eastern Time on May 2, 1982. Originally, regional and local information was obtained from the National Weather Service for broadcast. Since 2002, all forecasting has been done on-site in Atlanta. On January 3, 2008, Landmark Communications put
1456-834: A half-page national forecast for USA Today , for which TWC provided content until September 2012, when rival AccuWeather replaced the Weather Channel as the paper's forecast provider. On March 28, 2022, TWC announced a content partnership with CBS News , under which it will provide weather reports on CBS Mornings , the CBS Evening News , and the CBS News streaming network , as well as collaborate on investigative journalism relating to weather and climate. On May 2, 2022, The Weather Channel en Español launched on Local Now as TWC celebrates their 40th anniversary. TWC en Español has 24/7 coverage. Milmar Ramírez, Henry Golac, Jessica Fernández, Lorena Lim, Albert Martínez, and Abel Hernández leads
1547-600: A less expensive deal to Verizon Fios, which rejected the offer. Verizon cited the wide availability of the Internet and mobile apps for consumers to access weather content any time of day as the reason for dropping TWC and its services. The Weather Channel had earlier signed renewal agreements with major providers that are members of the National Cable Television Cooperative (NCTC), including Time Warner Cable and Cox Communications . While Verizon claimed it
1638-409: A minimal tie to weather. On May 31, 2010, NewsBlues reported the Weather Channel's decision to cancel the movie block, due in part to viewer criticism of movies being shown on what is intended as a news and information channel, as well as a snafu that occurred during an April 2010 tornado outbreak that led to a scheduled movie being aired instead of wall-to-wall severe weather coverage. The "Flick and
1729-411: A move that caused controversy with many longtime viewers, the Weather Channel began airing weather-related movies on Friday nights on October 30, 2009. The first feature to be broadcast by the channel was the 2000 film The Perfect Storm . After December 2009, these weekly movies were discontinued for the time being in favor of running Weather Center , which already aired throughout primetime during
1820-479: A new multi-year carriage agreement with Dish Network, the financial terms of which were not disclosed. Despite the earlier announcement that the Weather Channel would be dropped, the channel was never officially removed from Dish Network. The Weather Cast ceased operations in anticipation of the launch of a Weatherscan -based service announced as part of the agreement that would provide local weather information for Dish Network customers. The proposed movie scheduled for
1911-454: A news and information cable network. Since the creation of the series Atmospheres in 2000 and Storm Stories in 2003, the Weather Channel had seen a gradual transition toward a mix of weather forecasting and weather-related entertainment programming that paralleled the launch of sister network Weatherscan , the evolution of the always-on "L" bar/weather ticker, the development of weather.com and popular branded mobile phone applications, and
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#17328555829412002-421: A number of technical challenges with regards to the rollout of triple-play services. Voice, video, and high-speed data all have different characteristics and place different burdens on the network that provides access to these services. Voice services are greatly affected by jitter , whereas packet loss has a greater effect on video and data services. In order to use a shared network resource such as cable or DSL,
2093-609: A pay version called "TWC Max" that does not feature advertising, the latter was discontinued in favor of an all ad-supported model on January 6, 2014 . Aside from location-based weather forecast information, the apps provided radar maps, and tropical and seasonal updates, as well as social media related functions that track weather-related Twitter messages and allow users to send Facebook friends severe weather alerts. The channel also disseminated severe weather information, and photos and videos submitted by meteorologists and viewers, on its Twitter feed ( @TWCBreaking , which also served as
2184-530: A separate sports package under its new "Custom TV" service. ESPN's contract requires the two networks to be part of the basic service. Verizon and ESPN reached a deal in May 2016. The terms of the deal were not made public. On May 19, 2015, Cablevision sued Verizon in the Southern District of New York to challenge Verizon's claim that it is 100 percent fiber-based. Cablevision started an advertising campaign to take
2275-412: A single station, and operate several individual stations providing combined local weather and traffic information for major metropolitan areas. The Weather Channel also simulcast on SiriusXM from 2016 onward during the following storms: TWC also maintains content partnerships with a number of local U.S. radio stations to provide local forecasts, using announcers separate from the meteorologists seen on
2366-487: A violation of FCC policy. According to several property managers, Verizon refused to meet its obligations unless they entered into such deals. One additionally claimed Verizon had doubled their price per apartment unit within two years. City officials found that in the case of 37% of the properties examined, Verizon failed to meet its obligations per the agreement. Critics argued that such exclusive deals could negatively impact consumers by reducing their choices and hindering
2457-404: Is also available on the channel's national satellite feed that features forecasts for each region of the United States. The name comes from the timing of the segment, as airs at time slots that end in "8" (examples: 9:18 and 12:48); because of this manner of scheduling, the forecast segments air on the channel in ten-minute intervals. From 2006-2013, each forecast segment had usually been preceded by
2548-503: Is an incumbent in the Canadian market), allow the caller to enter and leave the range of their home Wi-Fi network, and only pay GSM rates for the time they spend outside the range. Calls at home are routed over the IP network and paid at a flat rate per month. No interruption or authorization for the shift is required— soft handoff takes place automatically as many times as the caller enters or leaves
2639-638: Is available to approximately 68 million pay television households in the United States-down from its 2013 peak of 101 million households. In August 2023, it was announced that IBM was selling The Weather Company and its assets to the Francisco Partners . The Weather Channel was founded on July 18, 1980, by television meteorologist John Coleman (who had served as a chief meteorologist at ABC owned-and-operated station WLS-TV in Chicago and as
2730-485: Is delivered using IPTV where the content is streamed to the subscriber in an MPEG-2 transport format. On an HFC network, television may be a mixture of analog and digital television signals. A set-top box (STB) is used at the subscriber's home to allow the subscriber to control viewing and order new video services such as "movies on demand ". Access to the Internet is provided through Asynchronous Transfer Mode or DOCSIS , typically provided as an Ethernet port to
2821-644: Is that local governments typically impose "build-out" and community access requirements so a cable provider is forced to wire the entire town within a specified period of time. All three Republican members of the FCC voted for this decision, while both Democratic members voted against it and one predicted either U.S. Congress or the courts would overturn it. In October 2007, the Hartford Courant reported that Connecticut regulators have ordered AT&T to stop signing up new customers for its IPTV service until they got
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2912-635: The Francisco Partners . As a part of the deal, IBM will retain the company's weather data which it uses to power artificial intelligence models to sell its enterprise clients for NASA . Over the years, attempts to broadcast international versions of TWC–apart from the Australian version of the Weather Channel (now Sky News Weather Channel )–have failed. TWC operates websites that provide localized forecasts in Brazil , France , Germany , India , Latin America and
3003-621: The NBC television network's local network affiliates ; that service announced its discontinuation three months later. Over-the-air digital subchannels carrying Weather Plus have since switched to the similarly formatted The Local AccuWeather Channel , kept the Weather Plus engine, or switched affiliations to other networks such as This TV or the Retro Television Network ; some have shut down entirely. From November 2008 to February 2009,
3094-505: The United Kingdom , but some of these sites may not have developed since 2003. The Weather Channel shares radar imagery and forecasts with The Weather Network / MétéoMédia in Canada, particularly for the Weather Channel's Canadian forecasts. As of September 2018 , the Weather Channel was received by approximately 79.128 million households that subscribe to a pay television service throughout
3185-544: The HD version has local forecast capabilities. As of August 2015, some providers (such as Comcast) are using the IntelliStar 2 on the standard definition channel in some locations. DirecTV began carrying the "Local on the 8s" segment in HD via an app on set-top boxes on September 29, 2009. The Weather Channel provides forecasts for satellite radio provider Sirius XM Radio in the United States. Both services run regional forecasts on
3276-895: The United States, notably in Ecuador , Pakistan , India , Japan , and China , power companies have generally been more successful in leapfrogging legacy technologies . In Switzerland and Sweden , dark fiber is available reliably to homes at tariffed rates (in Switzerland four dark fibres are deployed to each home) supporting speeds in excess of 40 Gbit/s —only to the local caches, however, as backhaul cannot typically support more than 10 Mbit/s connections to global services. Since 2007, access providers in Italy have been participating in an initiative called Fiber for Italy, which aims to build an infrastructure that can deliver 100 Mbit/s symmetrical bandwidth to consumers, in order to enable
3367-527: The United States. Americans regard the Weather Channel as the most trustworthy media organization, according to a 2022 poll by The Economist and YouGov . Local on the 8s (or the Local Forecast ) is a program segment that airs on the American network The Weather Channel. It provides viewers with information on current and forecasted weather conditions for their respective area; a version of this segment
3458-970: The Weather Channel and continues to provide its own forecasts, though its website incorporates some weather news and video content from TWC. The website weather.com and most of the Weather Channel's digital assets were sold to IBM in January 2016. The Weather Channel as a television operation used weloveweather.tv but this website was shut down in 2023. Archived October 19, 2020, at the Wayback Machine . Company information can be found on weathergroup.com Weather forecast programming made up TWC's entire schedule prior to its incorporation of weather-related original programming – referred in network promotional materials and press releases as "long-form programming" – in 2000 (with few breakaways from its forecast programs prior to then, outside of educational program The Weather Classroom , an original program produced as part of
3549-450: The Weather Channel and its assets up for sale. On July 6, 2008, NBC Universal , Bain Capital , and Blackstone Group agreed to jointly purchase the Weather Channel from Landmark, making it the channel's first ownership change in 26 years. The sale was finalized on September 12, 2008. NBC Universal also owned NBC Weather Plus , a rival service which was carried by and featured content from
3640-418: The Weather Channel extended the display of its lower display line (which was revamped with a new graphics package) to commercial breaks and through entire broadcasts of its original programs. In August 2015, reports surfaced that the Weather Company's owners were considering a sale of all or part of the venture, having hired Morgan Stanley and PJT Partners to explore their options. On October 28, 2015, it
3731-529: The Weather Channel itself, which remained owned by the Bain/Blackstone/NBCUniversal consortium, and entered into a long-term licensing agreement with IBM for use of its weather data and "The Weather Channel" name and branding. In August 2016, reports surfaced that Sinclair Broadcast Group had expressed interest in acquiring ownership of the Weather Channel. On March 22, 2018, Byron Allen 's Entertainment Studios announced its acquisition of
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3822-531: The Weather Channel laid off seven long-time on-camera meteorologists: Kristina Abernathy, Eboni Deon, Kristin Dodd, Rich Johnson, Cheryl Lemke, Mark Mancuso and Dave Schwartz (Schwartz would return to TWC in April 2014, but died of cancer on July 30, 2016). With the exception of Deon, all had been on the air for more than ten years, and three of them had been employed by the network for more than twenty years. In July 2010,
3913-442: The Weather Channel on May 2 of that year. Al Roker of NBC's Today began hosting a one-hour morning program called Wake Up With Al , alongside meteorologist Stephanie Abrams later in the summer. However, for New York City-based forecasting operations (those utilized for forecasts on MSNBC and CNBC , for instance), the former NBC Weather Plus forecasting, radar and graphics systems remain in place, with banners changed to fit
4004-399: The Weather Channel terminated Bill Keneely, the last of the original on-camera meteorologists who appeared on the network's first broadcasts in 1982. In December of that year, the network also laid off on-camera meteorologist Nicole Mitchell , who later would file a lawsuit against the Weather Channel in 2012, alleging that she had been terminated because the channel's new owners disapproved of
4095-446: The Weather Channel's fees were harder for the satellite provider to justify paying as more people receive weather information through the internet and mobile services: "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." On May 24, 2010, the Weather Channel announced that it had reached
4186-417: The Weather Channel's graphics scheme. On September 10, 2009, the Weather Channel co-founder Frank Batten died. In January 2012, David Kenny took over as chief executive officer of the Weather Channel, replacing former AOL executive Mike Kelly, who had been appointed as the company's CEO in the summer of 2009. Although all operations, sales support and marketing and the bulk of employees are located in
4277-495: The Weather Channel's television assets from the NBCUniversal/Bain/Blackstone partnership. The actual value is undisclosed, but was reported to be around $ 300 million. The channel's non-television assets , which were separately sold to IBM two years prior, were not included in the sale. In the early morning of April 18, 2019, the Weather Channel was temporarily unable to air live programming due to what they called
4368-1074: The cable television industry's Cable in the Classroom initiative). The number of hours devoted to TWC's in-studio forecast programs has steadily eroded since then. The network's live studio programs are aired regularly from 6:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m. Eastern Time on weekdays and from 6:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. Eastern Time on weekends and holidays. America's Morning Headquarters airs weekdays between 6:00 a.m. and 2:00 p.m. Eastern Time, followed by The Weather Channel LIVE , which airs from 2:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m. Eastern followed by Weather Unfiltered , which airs from 6:00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m. Eastern. On weekends, America's Weekend Headquarters from 6:00 a.m. to 9:00 a.m., followed by Weekend Recharge from 9:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m., followed by Pattrn from 1:00 to 2:00 p.m. Eastern Time. The Weather Channel also broadcasts original weather-related documentary/entertainment series and specials . These programs ran throughout
4459-577: The case mainstream. The two companies agreed to end the dispute in September 2015. The terms of the deal were not disclosed at the time. Triple play (telecommunications) A so-called quadruple play (or quad play ) service integrates mobility as well, often by supporting dual mode mobile plus hotspot-based phones that shift from GSM to Wi-Fi when they come in range of a home wired for triple-play service. Typical Generic Access Network services of this kind, such as Rogers Home Calling Zone (Rogers
4550-495: The channel announced a phased overhaul of its programming schedule during 2016, in which the channel would gradually shift its focus back towards a forecast-based lineup. The channel cancelled Wake Up with Al , citing high production costs in New York City compared to Atlanta. It announced that AMHQ would be refocused on weather, eliminating lifestyle segments, with Stephanie Abrams becoming host and original host Sam Champion as
4641-510: The channel broadcasts weather forecasts and weather-related news and analysis, along with documentaries and entertainment programming related to weather. A sister network, Weatherscan , was a digital cable and satellite service that offered 24-hour automated local forecasts and radar imagery. Weatherscan was officially shut down on December 12, 2022. The Weather Channel also produces outsourced weathercasts, notably for CBS News and RFD-TV . As of November 2023 , The Weather Channel
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#17328555829414732-495: The city. Verizon was required to target its fiber upgrades in low-income areas, including parts of the Bronx, Brooklyn, Manhattan, and Queens. Verizon also claimed that they would be required to make paid resident service available usually within seven days. In the settlement, Verizon did not admit wrongdoing. On March 10, 2015, at midnight EDT, The Weather Channel and its sister network, Weatherscan , were pulled from Verizon Fios after
4823-548: The copper lines for copper-line phone service at the time that Fios was installed. On March 13, 2017, Verizon was sued by the City of New York for numerous violations of its agreements with the city, which required the provider to pass a fiber-optic network in "underground conduit, along above-ground utility poles, or otherwise—in front of (or behind) each residential building" in the city by June 30, 2014, and to provide access to officials in their deployment database within thirty days. In
4914-410: The current logo with the text "25 YEARS" inside it in blue. When NBCUniversal acquired the network in 2008, the network has participated in the "Green is Universal" campaign, which occurs twice a year, usually during April and November. The network's logo changes to a shade of green as part of the campaign promoting environmental conservation. Since 2014, the network has utilized a red-colored version of
5005-458: The delivery of triple- and quad-play services. Other triple-play deployments include Deutsche Telekom , Vmedia , Telecom Italia , Swisscom , Telekom Austria , and Telus . There are multiple and intense regulatory battles over triple-play services, as incumbent telcos and incumbent cable operators attempt to keep out new competitors; since both industries historically have been regulated monopolies, regulatory capture has long been as much
5096-415: The disadvantages of adapting broadband transmission to a legacy network. This is particularly common in greenfield developments where the capital expenditure is reduced by deploying one network to deliver all services. For existing multiple-dwelling-unit (MDU) buildings, where running fiber to each unit may not be feasible, telcos often use VDSL to connect individual units over existing copper through
5187-440: The growth of broadband access in the area. In response, Verizon claimed it would reinforce its policies with employees to ensure this would not be an issue moving forward and questioned the investigation's integrity, although the company was never afforded the opportunity to respond to the allegations. In November 2020, Verizon settled the lawsuit with New York City, whereby the company agreed to bring Fios to 500,000 households in
5278-533: The halt in expansion as a violation of Verizon's agreements with some municipalities and states, since Verizon has collected revenue to deploy infrastructure upgrades that never occurred. In New Jersey, Verizon collected $ 15 billion in fees from customers and tax subsidies in exchange for promising fiber optic broadband for the whole state. The New Jersey state government altered the deal in 2014 to allow Verizon to substitute wireless Internet access to fulfill its promise instead. Critics pointed out that wireless Internet
5369-535: The headquarters in Atlanta, Kenny declined to move there, and continues to live in Boston as a remote worker . Later in 2012, the Weather Channel's holding company changed its name from The Weather Channel Companies to The Weather Company . The company also purchased competing weather service and website Weather Underground the same year. On March 10, 2015, Verizon FiOS dropped the Weather Channel and WeatherScan for their rival AccuWeather . On September 9, 2015,
5460-481: The increased viewing and interest in documentary programs on the topic of weather. In November 2013, the channel introduced a new initiative of "weather all the time" in response to the criticism. All original programming–which was rebranded under the tagline Natural Drama – now had direct relevance to weather-related subjects, and the network emphasized its promise to interrupt original programming either regionally or nationally during major weather events. In addition,
5551-495: The introduction of a new studio that features various environmentally friendly technologies. The IntelliStar 2, the seventh-generation STAR system and the first to generate graphical weather data in HD, was officially released in July 2010 (although similar to previous recent STAR systems, among its modifications include an animated Lower Display Line and a Vocal Local narration track recorded by TWC meteorologist Jim Cantore ). The system
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#17328555829415642-626: The lawsuit before the New York Supreme Court , The city identified approximately one million households that were not yet served by the network, including a larger number of outstanding requests than those claimed by Verizon, along with allegations that Verizon refused to install Fios in certain areas, that it routinely failed to make service available to “tens of thousands” customers within the time it had agreed to, that it required multi-family residential units to enter into bulk purchases or exclusivity deals to receive service promptly or at all,
5733-494: The logo during hurricane coverage; the red logo has also appeared during severe tornado outbreaks. On May 20, 2010, Dish Network announced that it was dropping the Weather Channel at 12:00 a.m. Eastern Time that day in favor of its own similar weather information channel, the Weather Cast . The carriage dispute was over the rates that the Weather Channel asked Dish Network to pay: from 11¢ per subscriber per month to 12¢,
5824-484: The music for Local on the 8s was replaced with band and jazz music. When the HD feed was launched, none of the channel's programming was actually presented in high definition, outside of a national "satellite" version of the "Local on the 8s" segment; Epic Conditions and WeatherVentures became the channel's first two programs to be presented in HD, when they premiered on October 1, 2007. TWC began broadcasting studio programming in high definition on June 2, 2008, with
5915-451: The other direction, also in March 2007, the FCC limited the powers of municipalities and states over telcos that want to compete with cable TV companies. Consumer groups expressed displeasure with this FCC ruling because they fear telcos will only offer service to the richest neighborhoods, which is a major point of contention between telcos wanting to offer television service and local governments
6006-548: The public interests. In March 2007 cable operators scored a major victory when the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) overruled two state public service commissions by ruling that incumbent local exchange carriers must connect to VoIP services. Regulators in South Carolina and Nebraska had been allowing local telcos to block Time Warner Cable from offering local phone service in their states. In
6097-495: The range. By about 2000, cable TV companies were in a technical position to offer triple play over one physical medium to a large number of their customers, as their networks already had sufficient bandwidth to carry hundreds of video channels. Cable's main competition for television in North America came from satellites, which could not compete for voice and interactive broadband due to the latency imposed by physical laws on
6188-429: The region affected by a particular weather event) and nationwide, depending upon the impact of the weather phenomenon/story and if a local provider utilizes a later model WeatherStar unit that allows the use of dual feeds that can substitute programming with long-form weather coverage in a given area. TWC normally utilizes a different music theme for these events, dubbed "Storm Alert Mode", used for both WCL and LOT8's. In
6279-537: The rest of the schedule. During severe weather events affecting portions of the United States, the Weather Channel may preempt original programming in favor of airing extended coverage under the umbrella title Weather Center Live (which changes the color of the word "LIVE" from blue to red) to provide long-form coverage and analysis until its aftermath; in some events, the on-air graphics (including Lower Display Line) can go black-and-red (similar to colors that WCL uses); pre-emptions vary between local (isolated to viewers in
6370-667: The rest of the work week. Despite the controversy, the Friday night film block resumed on March 26, 2010, under the title "Flick and a Forecast," co-hosted by the Weather Channel meteorologist Jen Carfagno and MSNBC contributor Touré , with the documentary Into Thin Air: Deaths on Everest . During the broadcasts, the Lower Display Line that normally appears on TWC shows to provide local weather information (with breakaways during forecast and most long-form programs only for commercial breaks)
6461-431: The right business model, backend processes, customer care support, and economic environment, rather than technology. For example, using the right billing platform to address a variety of subscriber demographics or having the appropriate subscriber density to financially justify introduction of the service are a few factors that affect decisions to offer triple play. In addition to the challenges mentioned above, there are
6552-452: The service aimed to replace copper wires with optical fibers . By August 2006, Fios TV was available in parts of seven states. In March 2010, Verizon announced that it was winding down its Fios expansion, concentrating on completing its network in areas that already had Fios franchises but were not deploying to new areas, which included the cities of Baltimore and Boston , which had not yet secured municipal franchise agreements. Some viewed
6643-469: The service operators to enter into quadruple play and gain competitive advantage against other providers. The grouping together of services (as triple or quadruple play) is called multi-play . Other advanced technologies such as WiMax or 802.16 has allowed new market entrants to achieve triple play. Many speculate that this means serious, new competition for established providers of bundled telecommunications services. These services can be delivered with
6734-458: The service provider may use network equipment that employs quality-of-service mechanisms to adjust to the requirements of the different services. The Weather Channel The Weather Channel ( TWC ) is an American pay television channel owned by Weather Group, LLC, a subsidiary of Allen Media Group . The channel's headquarters are located in Atlanta, Georgia . Launched on May 2, 1982,
6825-559: The services provided through a satellite link and the services provided through a phone line are not technically related. Telcos that own wireless phone networks also included those as part of such billing-only bundles because most cable companies do not own wireless networks. The first triple-play deployment was by the US operator Cox Communications in 1997, delivered via a Hybrid fiber-coaxial network using digital and analog TV set top boxes, digital telephony devices from Arris International , and
6916-419: The subscriber's home. Cable television operators use a similar architecture called hybrid fibre coaxial (HFC) to provide subscriber homes with broadband, but use the available coaxial cable rather than a twisted pair for the last mile transmission standard. Subscriber homes can be in a residential environment, multi-dwelling units, or even in business offices. Using DSL over twisted pair, television content
7007-401: The subscriber. Voice service can be provided using a traditional plain old telephone service (POTS) interface as part of the legacy telephone network or can be delivered using voice over IP (VoIP). In an HFC network, voice is delivered using VoIP. Some service providers are also rolling out Ethernet to the home networks and fiber to the home , which support triple-play services and bypass
7098-411: The team. It was confirmed by Charter Spectrum that The Weather Channel en Español will cease programming on December 31, 2024. TWC provided numerous customized forecasts for online users through its website, weather.com, including home and garden, and event planning forecasts. Third-party web analytics providers Alexa and SimilarWeb rated the site as the 146th and 244th most visited website in
7189-462: The television channel. For some affiliates, the Weather Channel provides a limited amount of live coverage during local severe weather events (with the Georgia-based announcers connected via ISDN ). Distribution of TWC radio content is currently handled by Westwood One . Similarly, the Weather Channel also provides weather reports for a number of newspapers around the United States. This included
7280-427: The time required by her simultaneous duties as a captain in the U.S. Air Force Reserve as one of the " Hurricane Hunters " team; such reserve duties are protected by U.S. law (Mitchell later served as the chief meteorologist at Al Jazeera America , which for a time also employed Eboni Deon). Inevitably, the merger of NBC on-air meteorologists began in May 2009. Former NBC Weather Plus meteorologist Todd Santos joined
7371-465: The two parties were unable to come to terms on a new carriage agreement. The services have respectively been replaced by the AccuWeather Network (which launched on March 13) and a widget provided by Fios featuring forecast content provided by WeatherBug . No public announcement was made regarding the removal until over 12 hours after TWC and Weatherscan were pulled. The Weather Channel offered
7462-459: The world respectively, as of July 2015. SimilarWeb rates the site as the second most visited weather website globally, attracting more than 126 million visitors per month. It also provided WAP access for mobile phone users, desktop widgets for quick reference by computer users, and customized weather feeds for individual websites. Cell phone customers could also receive local forecasts from TWC sent to their mobile handsets via SMS by sending
7553-427: Was a long-term business decision (instead of a carriage dispute), The Weather Channel launched a campaign to urge viewers to contact Fios about restoring the cable channel and its services. It was announced on June 19, 2019, that The Weather Channel would return to Fios carriage beginning June 24, 2019. In April 2015, ESPN Inc. sued Verizon for breaching its carriage contract by offering ESPN and ESPN2 as part of
7644-420: Was announced that IBM would acquire most of the Weather Company's assets, including weather.com, Weather Underground, the related mobile applications, and their underlying data platforms, for an undisclosed amount. IBM planned to leverage its Watson technology as part of the acquisition, foreseeing its use for weather analytics and predictions. The deal, which closed the following January, does not include
7735-399: Was done so that "our most passionate fans come to us for the weather and the science behind the weather, not our original shows." Around 50 TWC employees–including production, engineering, and financial staff–were laid off, and the television channel's budget was reduced to shift resources to the company's Internet and mobile properties. The channel's original format was similar to that of
7826-427: Was gradually rolled out to major U.S. cable providers strictly for use on the HD feed, and would not replace existing operational STAR units from IntelliStar and older used on TWC's standard definition feed or Weatherscan, making it one of the few channels which by necessity does not have an "autotune to HD" version for providers that utilize set-top boxes allowing HD tuning to standard definition channel positions, unless
7917-461: Was permanently added underneath the logo in 1999. On August 15, 2005, the logo was overhauled again; the logo became a straight-edged square with no white trim on the edge and "The Weather Channel" text became oriented in title-case and left-justified, similar to its Canadian sister channel the Weather Network . A 25th-anniversary logo used in 2007 featured a white square edged in blue connected to
8008-448: Was removed, appearing only a few times each hour during the film as a substitute for the standard "Local on the 8s" segments, with a translucent TWC logo bug appearing at other times during the film when the LDL was not on-screen. While the films shown within the "Flick and a Forecast" block were weather-related in some form, some films featured (such as Misery and Deep Blue Sea ) had only
8099-401: Was slower and less reliable. Fios TV is one of three services offered by Verizon Fios. Fios TV uses QAM technology to deliver signals to a customer's property using its fiber optic cables. At the home, the optical network terminal turns the signal into a radio frequency signal that can be used on a home's existing coaxial cables , feeding the signal to a set-top box (STB). Fios Internet
8190-624: Was tested for 1,000 homes in Northern Virginia . During this time there were talks of developing a fiber optic-based service. In 1996, VP of Programming Bob Townsend told the Baltimore Sun that Stargazer would be "folded into (Bell Atlantic's) deployment of fiber to the curb." In September 2005, Verizon Communications began offering a fiber optic digital television service, which became available for 9,000 customers in Keller, Texas . Called Fios TV,
8281-800: Was the first service offered under Verizon's Fios brand, and is one of three of the product line's current offerings. The broadband Internet service initially launched in Keller, Texas, in 2004, a year before Fios TV was available. In addition to its TV and Internet services, the company also has a voice over IP service via its fiber-optic network, Fios Digital Voice. The service initially launched in Virginia and Maryland in September 2008 and eventually fully replaced an earlier service, VoiceWing, which Verizon offered from 2004 to early 2009. While Verizon also offers plain old telephone service (POTS), it has been reported in various markets that Verizon physically disconnected
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