DirecTV Extends Pact With WeatherNation

DirecTV said it signed a multi-year agreement with WeatherNation, the multi-format, local, regional and national television weather news service the satellite-TV provider has carried as an alternative to The Weather Channel, which was dropped from DirecTV's lineup on Jan. 13.

 “This new multi-year agreement strengthens our relationship with WeatherNation and ensures our customers will have a service that is fully committed to providing all weather related information all the time,” Dan York, chief content officer for DirecTV, said in a release. “The overwhelmingly positive comments we’ve been receiving from customers made the decision to extend our agreement easy and expedient.”  

“We’re extremely excited about continuing our relationship with DirecTV to deliver customized, round-the-clock, accurate weather reporting for its 20 million customers,” Michael Norton, president of WeatherNation, said in the release. “We’re looking forward to being a primary TV destination for instant access to the latest weather news, radar imagery, forecasting and severe weather coverage for years to come.”

WeatherNation's continuous coverage of weather news also is available on the DirecTV Everywhere platform for in- and out-of-home live streaming. DirecTV and WeatherNation had earlier said they were introducing new Zip code forecasts and severe weather alerts as part of a commitment to enhance weather services for viewers. DirecTV and The Weather Channel fell out over financial issues, with the programmer saying DirecTV wanted to pay a lower license fee while The Weather Channel was seeking an increase of one cent per subscriber monthly.