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NBC Weather Plus:
NBC Weather Plus
NBC Weather Plus logo
Type Digital television network
Cable television network (Weather/meteorology)
Country United States
Availability National (in select areas)
Owner NBC Universal and NBC affiliates (exact percentages unknown)
Launch date November 15, 2004
Dissolved December 31, 2008

NBC Weather Plus was a 24-hour, commercially-sponsored, weather-oriented broadcast/cable television network jointly owned by NBC Universal and the local affiliates of the NBC network. It debuted on November 15, 2004 and is scheduled to shut down by the end of the year [1]. The network's headquarters was initially located at the MSNBC World Headquarters in Secaucus, New Jersey, and then CNBC Global Headquarters in Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey after MSNBC's move to 30 Rockefeller Plaza with the broadcast side of NBC News, where Weather Plus staff also appeared within the new MSNBC studios to deliver forecasts and interact with NBC News personalities in person. The service is broadcast on digital subchannels of certain NBC affiliates in the United States, and is available on digital cable systems in Standard Definition (SD) format.

Prior to 2008, NBC Weather Plus competed with The Weather Channel, which was itself acquired by a consortium led by NBC Universal in September 2008, as well as a similar digital service offered by AccuWeather, The Local AccuWeather Channel. Shortly after the acquisition of The Weather Channel on October 8, 2008, NBC announced that Weather Plus would be shut down by the end of 2008. The remaining on-camera meteorologists from Weather Plus are now referred to as "NBC meteorologists" during their NBC and MSNBC appearances, while The Weather Channel's staff has began to appear more on NBC News programs, either from TWC's Atlanta headquarters, New York, or on location from a weather event.

The service effectively shut down operations on December 1, 2008. What few affiliates remain are currently receiving a computer-updated loop of satellite/radar images, current weather conditions and temperatures, and daily forecasts for major regions of the country.

Contents

[edit] Programming

[edit] Local forecasts

The local forecasts were the part of NBC Weather Plus' programming schedule which viewers saw the current conditions and local forecast for their respective area. These forecasts were usually shown after most national forecast segments. Pre-recorded weather segments featuring local weather information from meteorologists of local NBC affiliates were shown proceeding weather information.

Viewers could see current weather conditions for their location and surrounding areas, weather forecasts, doppler radars of the region, and the day's actual high and low temperatures.

Local version of NBC Weather Plus from Milwaukee's WTMJ, showing an ad in the top-left corner, local branding above the Weather Plus logo, and time in the bottom-left.

Internet viewers who saw the national feed, including those areas where the network's website did not supply a certain city's Weather Plus feed, instead saw a segment including daily forecasts for each region of the United States and satellite loops and Doppler radars of the Northeast, Southeast, Midwest, Northwest, and Southwest, respectively. Unlike The Weather Channel, however, NBC Weather Plus did not carry the national feed on DirecTV, Dish Network, or C band satellite.

Music for the local forecasts came mostly from commercially available music, including those composed by 615 Music, who composed the music package used by NBC Weather Plus.

For the most part, the local stations labeled the NBC Weather Plus service as "Weather Plus" with the station branding before it, often being used in unison as the NBC station's on-air weather branding during newscasts. Many NBC affiliates continued to use the "Weather Plus" branding for their on-air weather branding, though some did not.

WNBC in New York was the test station for NBC Weather Plus.

[edit] National programming

NBC Weather Plus did not air its programming entirely live, and it used a digital video jukebox system to shuffle certain segments of the weathercasts unless severe weather breaks. This system was especially true with the seasonal outlooks, weather news segments at :24 and :54 minutes past the hour, and with late night programming. If one watched NBC Weather Plus closely in any given day, one might have found the same weather news segment that originally aired in the morning repeated long into the night, the same weather information airing at 11:00 p.m. airing at 4:00 a.m., and the same seasonal outlook (severe weather, tropical weather, or winter weather) segment that originally aired in the morning repeating long into the late afternoon. In the latter case, this is problematic due to the fact that if severe weather of either category occured (unless it is very significant), updated information may not have been available.

[edit] Appearance on other networks

The channel's staff also provided weather updates for fellow NBC Universal cable channels CNBC and MSNBC, and MSNBC aired 'sample' hours of the channel in holiday periods during the morning hours. In addition, Weather Plus was promoted during Football Night in America, and was used to provide gametime temperature and conditions for the later NBC Sunday Night Football game. Increasingly during times of significant national weather events (such as a major winter storm system), Weather Plus meteorologists have appeared live on NBC Nightly News to provide analysis. The Weather Channel now provides these services.

[edit] The "L" Bar

NBC Weather Plus used an "L-Bar" across the left side third and bottom third of the screen to continuously air local weather information, even during commercial breaks, national weather, and Weather Plus University.

The left side of the bar was reserved for sponsorship of Weather Plus programming on the top left (sponsors of NBC Weather Plus' programming was more often seen on local feeds), the middle left displayed the sky condition, temperature, wind speed/direction and humidity for each city and the bottom left was reserved for station identification (on local feeds, featuring the NBC affiliate's logo augmented above the Weather Plus portion of the logo) and current time was on the lower left, along with permanent text for station identification on some stations. (During Weather Plus University, the sponsorship tag was removed.)

The cycle for each city's weather information display was as follows:

  • The current condition display cycle for one city ran for 20 seconds.
  • The 24-hour forecast cycle ran 10 seconds.
  • The five-day forecast cycle ran 10 seconds.

However, the above did not hold true for the left side of the L-Bar on Sacramento NBC affiliate KCRA. Instead, the current conditions cycled continuously and the time was on the right-hand side in the lower-third.

The bottom of the bar to the right of the time and station ID displayed the forecast for the next 24 hours featuring sky condition, temperature and estimated precipitation, followed by the five day forecast showing sky condition and predicted high and low temperatures. Occasionally, the current conditions display showed the icons telling the sky condition with the icon displaying sun despite it being nighttime. This also occurs on The Weather Channel but usually only in the hour following sunset. Not all cities where the current conditions were displayed on the left side of the "L" bar featured that city's forecast and may instead have used the conditions of the closest reporting station to that community. Example: Dallas NBC affiliate KXAS' Weather Plus feed displayed the current conditions for Alliance Airport but showed the forecast for Dallas-Fort Worth.

Digital television and cable viewers were able to see current weather conditions and weather forecasts for their location and surrounding areas, while internet viewers who watched the national feed instead of a local feed saw current conditions and daily forecasts for 50 U.S. cities.

[edit] NBC Weather Plus Personalities

Some personalities remain with NBC and The Weather Channel.

  • Gary Archibald (seen on MSNBC weekends)
  • Jeff Ranieri (seen on MSNBC weekday afternoons)
  • Bill Karins (seen on MSNBC weekday mornings)
  • Jackie Meretsky (maternity leave, expected to return to MSNBC Morning Joe)
  • Todd Santos (Seen on NBC Early Today and MSNBC First Look)
  • Raphael Miranda
  • Samantha Davies
  • Britta Merwin
  • Jim Nichols
  • Ibby Carothers
  • Kristen Cornett now with St. Louis CBS affiliate KMOV-TV
  • Elise Finch now with New York City CBS affiliate WCBS-TV
  • Michelle Grossman now with Philadelphia NBC affiliate WCAU
  • Sean McLaughlin
  • Byron Miranda now freelancing at KTVU and KIRO-TV

[edit] Programming schedule

The following list was the channel's programming wheel (until October 2008).[2] Note that some network segments had a different title at times due to a sponsor for the forecast such as State Farm Road Coverage, which replaced Coast To Coast Forecast.

Time Show
Top of hour-:04 past the half-hour Local Weather
 :04-:06 past the half-hour Coast To Coast Forecast
 :07.30-:09.30 past the half-hour Local Weather
 :09.30-:13.30 past the half-hour Severe Weather Outlook
 :15-:19 past the half-hour Local Weather
 :19-:21 past the half-hour Plus Five Forecast
 :22.30-:24.30: past the half-hour Local Weather
 :25.00-bottom of half-hour National feature segment or affiliate report spotlight

During severe weather, stations can choose to drop the national segments in favor of local coverage; the NBC Weather Plus control room can then choose to show that feed nationally during the Coast To Coast Forecast or the Plus Five Forecast, depending on what part of the programming cycle the network is in. The local broadcast is shown live if possible.

NBC Weather Plus also aired the "NBC Weather Plus Weather Alert," which interrupted regular programming when a breaking weather story occurs. Breaking severe weather news and images from a particular NBC affilate may be shown.

To fulfill FCC E/I requirements, NBC Weather Plus showed Weather Plus University on Saturday and Sunday afternoons.

In late October 2008, the national OCM segments were phased out, as well as some of the local Weather Plus systems. This leaves only six-minute music forecast segments and commercial breaks. With this, the remaining OCM staff of the channel are now referred to on other NBC News programs as only "NBC meteorologists".

[edit] Closure

NBC announced on October 7, 2008 that Weather Plus would be phased out by the end of the year, after the NBC affiliates expressed a desire to shut the service down.[3] Though NBC cited its purchase of The Weather Channel as a factor in the shutdown,[4] it has been stated that the closure would have happened even if the acquisition had not happened.[3]

Weather Plus began its phase-out in November 2008.

[edit] Affiliates

This film, television or video-related list is incomplete; you can help by expanding it.
DMA Market NBC Weather Plus Affiliate Digital subchannel Digital cable channel Station Owner Replaced by
#1 New York WNBC 4 DT2 Time Warner Cable 161
Comcast 248
RCN 189
Cablevision 109 (NY / NJ), 118 (CT)
Verizon FiOS 860 (NY / NJ)
NBC O&O
#2 Los Angeles KNBC 4 DT2 Charter Communications 304
Comcast 193
Cox Communications 804
Time Warner 1194
NBC O&O Interrupted by News Raw (daytime and early evening hours)
#3 Chicago WMAQ-TV 5 DT2 Comcast 194
RCN 190
WOW! Internet Cable Phone 130
NBC O&O
#4 Philadelphia WCAU (TV) 10 DT2 Comcast 248 NBC O&O
#5 Dallas-Ft. Worth KXAS-TV 5 DT2 Time Warner Cable 365
Charter Communications 105
Verizon FiOS 860
NBC / LIN TV
#6 San Francisco KNTV 11 DT2 Comcast 186 NBC O&O
#7 Boston WHDH-TV 7 DT2 Comcast 297 Sunbeam Television
#8 Atlanta WXIA-TV 11 DT2 Comcast 211 Gannett
#9 Washington, D.C. WRC-TV 4 DT2 Comcast 208
Cox Communications 803
Verizon FiOS 860
NBC O&O
#10 Houston KPRC-TV 2 DT2 Comcast 320 Post-Newsweek Stations This TV
#11 Detroit WDIV-TV 4 DT2 Comcast 249
WOW! Internet Cable Phone 130
Post-Newsweek This TV
#12 Phoenix KPNX 12 DT2 Cox Communications 83
Qwest Choice TV 66
Gannett
#13 Tampa WFLA-TV 8 DT2 Bright House 607
Knology 133
Comcast 243
Media General
#14 Seattle KING-TV 5 DT2 Comcast 115
Millennium Digital Media 108
Belo
#15 Minneapolis-St. Paul KARE 11 DT2 Comcast 249
Time Warner Cable 1112
Charter Communications 391
Gannett
#16 Miami-Ft. Lauderdale WTVJ 6 DT2 Comcast 216 NBC O&O
#17 Cleveland WKYC-TV 3 DT2 Time Warner Cable 522
Cox Communications 211
Comcast 208
WOW! Internet Cable Phone 130
Gannett
#18 Denver KUSA-TV 9 DT2 Comcast 249 Gannett
#19 Orlando WESH 2 DT2 Brighthouse Networks 1021 Hearst-Argyle
#20 Sacramento KCRA-TV 3 DT2 Comcast 193 Hearst-Argyle
#21 St. Louis KSDK 5 DT2 Charter Communications 127 Gannett
#22 Pittsburgh WPXI 11 DT2 Verizon FiOS 460
Comcast 208
Armstrong 445
Former Adelphia 111
Cox Enterprises
#23 Portland (OR) KGW 8 DT2 Comcast 308 Belo
#24 Baltimore WBAL-TV 11 DT2 Comcast 208
Verizon FiOS 860
Hearst-Argyle
#25 Charlotte WCNC-TV 36 DT2 Time Warner Cable 221 Belo
#27 San Diego KNSD 39 DT2 Cox Communications 107
Time Warner Cable 253
NBC / LIN TV
#28 Raleigh-Durham WNCN 17 DT2 Time Warner 219 Media-General
#29 Hartford-New Haven WVIT 30 DT2 Comcast 248
Cox 800
Cablevision 109
Charter 755
NBC O&O
#31 Kansas City KSHB-TV 41 DT2 Time Warner Cable 1442 E.W. Scripps
#32 Columbus WCMH-TV 4 DT2 Time Warner Cable 80
Insight Communications 100
WOW! Internet Cable Phone 130
Media General
#33 Cincinnati WLWT 5 DT2 Insight Communications 431
Time Warner Cable 906
Hearst-Argyle
#34 Milwaukee WTMJ-TV 4 DT2 Time Warner Cable 104 Journal Broadcast Group
#35 Salt Lake City KSL-TV 5 DT2 Comcast 153 Bonneville International
#36 Greenville / Spartanburg / Asheville WYFF 4 DT2 Charter Communications 244 Hearst-Argyle
#37 San Antonio WOAI-TV 4 DT2 Time Warner 80
GVTC 130
Grande Communications 130
Clear Channel
#38 West Palm Beach WPTV-TV 5 DT2 Comcast 216 E.W. Scripps
#40 Birmingham WVTM 13 DT2 Bright House Networks 183
Charter 653
Media-General
#41 Lancaster WGAL 8 DT2 Comcast 248
Blue Ridge Cable 136
Hearst-Argyle
#43 Las Vegas KVBC 3 DT2 Cox Communications 124 Sunbelt Communications Company
#44 Albuquerque-Santa Fe KOB-TV 4 DT2 Comcast 208 Hubbard Broadcasting
#45 Oklahoma City KFOR-TV 4 DT2 Cox Communications 247 The New York Times Company
#46 Greensboro WXII 12 DT2 Time Warner Cable 541 Hearst-Argyle
#47 Memphis WMC-TV 5 DT2 Time Warner Cable 4 Raycom Media
#48 Louisville WAVE (TV) 3 DT2 Insight Communications 128 Frankfort Plant Board Digital 150 Raycom Media
#49 Buffalo WGRZ 2 DT2 Time Warner Cable 114 Time Warner Cable of Olean 111 Gannett
#50 Jacksonville WTLV 12 DT2 Comcast 201 Gannett
#51 Providence WJAR 10 DT2 Cox Communications 800
Comcast 750
Full Channel 190
Media General
#54 New Orleans WDSU-TV 6 DT2 Cox Communications 108
Charter Communications 183
Hearst-Argyle
#55 Fresno KSEE 24 DT2 Comcast 195 Granite Broadcasting
#56 Albany WNYT 13 DT2 Time Warner Cable 556
Adelphia 169
Berkshire Digital Cable 713
Hubbard Broadcasting
#59 Mobile / Pensacola WPMI-TV 15 DT2 Cox Communications 716
Comcast 194
Clear Channel
#60 Knoxville WBIR-TV 10 DT2 Comcast 196 Charter Communications 196 Gannett
#61 Richmond WWBT 12 DT2 Comcast 208
FIOS 860
Raycom Media
#62 Tulsa KJRH 2 DT2 Cox Communications 222 Scripps-Howard Broadcasting
#64 Fort Myers WBBH-TV 20 DT2 Comcast 247 Waterman Broadcasting Corporation
#71 Toledo WNWO 24 DT2 Time Warner Cable 80
Buckeye CableSystem 626
Barrington Broadcasting
#72 Honolulu KHNL 13 DT2 Oceanic Time Warner 115 Raycom
#73 Des Moines WHO-TV 13 DT2 Mediacom 246 Local TV, LLC
#74 Portland WCSH 6 DT2 Time Warner Cable 166 Gannett
#76 Springfield (MO) KYTV (TV) 3 DT3 Mediacom 212 Schurz Communications
#77 Spokane KHQ-TV 6 DT2 Comcast 114 The KHQ Television Group
#78 Rochester (NY) WHEC 10 DT2 Time Warner Cable 110 Hubbard Broadcasting
#79 Syracuse WSTM-TV 3 DT3 Time Warner Cable 133 Barrington Broadcasting
#83 Columbia (SC) WIS 10 DT2 Time Warner Cable 806 Raycom Media
#84 Huntsville WAFF (TV) 48 DT2 Comcast 194
Knology 133
Mediacom 99
Raycom Media
#86 Chattanooga WRCB 3 DT2 Comcast 244
Charter Communications 196
Sarkes-Tarzian, Inc. Retro Television Network
#87 Jackson (MS) WLBT 3 DT2 Time Warner Cable 102 Raycom Media
#89 Waterloo / Cedar Rapids KWWL 7 DT2 Mediacom 22 & 107
Cedar Falls Utilities 11
Quincy Newspapers
#90 Burlington WPTZ 5 DT2 Burlington Telecom 305 Hearst-Argyle
#91 Brownsville KVEO 23 DT2 Time Warner Cable 861 Communications Corp of America
#93 Baton Rouge WVLA 33 DT2 Cox Communications 133 White Knight Broadcasting
#95 Waco / Temple KCEN 6 DT2 Frank Mayborn Enterprises, Inc.
#96 Peoria WEEK-TV 25 DT2 Comcast 138 Granite Broadcasting
#98 Johnstown WJAC-TV 6 DT2 Atlantic Broadband 11
Former Adelphia 106
Cox Enterprises Retro Television Network
#99 El Paso KTSM 9 DT2 Time Warner Cable 1302 Communications Corp of America
#103 Myrtle Beach WMBF 32 DT2 TBA Raycom Media
#106 Fort Wayne WISE-TV 33 DT3 Comcast 249 Granite Broadcasting Corporation VIPIR radar
#110 Reno KRNV 4 DT2 Charter Communications 224 Sunbelt Communications Company
#111 Tyler KETK 56 DT2 Suddenlink 222 Communications Corp of America
#113 Traverse City WPBN 7 DT3 Charter Communications 201 Barrington Broadcasting
#115 Sioux Falls KDLT 46 DT2 Midcontinent Communications 606
Knology 132
Red River Broadcasting
#117 Montgomery WSFA 12 DT2 Brighthouse Networks 213 / 228
Knology 121
Charter Communications 183
Raycom Media
#123 Lafayette KPLC-TV 7 (Lake Charles)
WVLA 33 (Baton Rouge)
DT2
DT2
Cox Communications 130 (KPLC) Raycom
#124 Salinas KSBW 8 DT2 Comcast channel 186 Hearst-Argyle
#126 Yakima KNDO 23 DT3 Charter Communications 287 The KHQ Television Group
#126 Kennewick / Pasco / Richland KNDU 25 DT3 Charter Communications 287 The KHQ Television Group
#136 Wilmington WECT 6 DT2 Time Warner Cable 939 Raycom Media
#137 Duluth KBJR 6 DT3 Charter Communications 391 Granite Broadcasting
#139 Columbia (MO) KOMU-TV 8 DT2 Mediacom 247 University of Missouri
#145 Albany (GA) WALB 10 DT2 Mediacom 26 Raycom Media
#147 Lubbock KCBD 11 DT2 Cox Communications 112 Raycom
#152 Bangor WLBZ 2 DT2 Time Warner Cable 166 Gannett
#155 Steubenville / Wheeling WTOV 9 DT2 Comcast 208
Jefferson County Cable 11
Cox Enterprises Retro Television Network
#163 Pocatello KPVI 6 DT2 Sunbelt Communications Company
#165 Hattiesburg / Laurel WDAM 7 DT3 Comcast 243 Raycom
#175 Lake Charles KPLC-TV 7 DT2 Suddenlink 247 Raycom
#178 Marquette, Michigan WLUC 6 DT2 Charter Communications 306 Barrington Broadcasting
#181 Charlottesville WVIR 29 DT2 Comcast 208 Waterman Broadcasting Corporation
#196 Lima WLIO 35 DT3 Block Communications

[edit] References

  1. ^ http://www.wpxi.com/news/18179321/detail.html
  2. ^ NBC Weather Plus
  3. ^ a b Greppi, Michelle (2008-10-07). "NBC Shutting Down Weather Plus", TelevisionWeek. Retrieved on 7 October 2008. 
  4. ^ Guthrie, Marisa; Malone, Michael (2008-10-07). "NBC Universal Shutting Down Weather Plus", Broadcasting & Cable. Retrieved on 9 October 2008. 

[edit] External links