The Weather Channel has been in the headlines for all of the wrong reasons over the past year. It has been dropped from major providers and has seen losses of over 11 million viewers as a result. It is important to note the major difference between the word subscriber and viewer. HBO has subscribers, people who choose to add the channel and pay a premium charge for it. TNT has viewers. Customers who purchase basic cable packages receive TNT as part of the bundle and then choose to watch or avoid it. The Weather Channel is not a premium network so it has not lost subscribers. But it has lost television viewers. It should not be a surprise to see a network like the Weather Channel go through touch times in the digital age. When it first launched most people did not have access to weather 24-7 via apps and websites. The market has moved on via other innovations.
Will The Weather Channel Leave TV?
There are problems closing in on TWC from opposite sides. Cable companies trying to save money on licensing costs driven by highly saught after content and loss of cable subscribers across the board over the last few years causing the channel to loose out on viewers because they have walked away from cable and pay TV in general. In an interview with The Wrap Weather Channel CEO David Kenny thinks that the traditional model is on its way out as the dominant media platform.
“The old cable model is sort of like the DVD model of Netflix,”
The Weather Channel app for IOS is the number 2 most popular app on its market. With multiple OTT box options and the preponderance of smart and connected devices the network could well find a new niche for itself long before a number of traditional cable networks do. While it is believed that a number of current cable channels would not be able to exist without the cable bundle a nimble company with a proven audience has a chance.
