Posts Tagged ‘weather channel’

Weather Channel tunes out ‘elevator music’

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution is reporting the Weather Channel has opted to stop playing smooth jazz-type music during local forecast segments.

The music, which was apparently popular enough to warrant a CD release of a sampling of the tunes, will replaced with soft rock.

“I think we’ve been doing an injustice to our viewers playing, for the lack of a better word, elevator music on the segments for all these years,” Geoffrey Darby, the cable network’s new executive vice president of programming, told the AJC.

The Idolator blog, meanwhile, has list, complete with sample tracks, of the June 2009 lineup.

Darby also mentioned the new tunes won’t be thematically intrusive. So don’t expect the Doors’ “Riders on the Storm” with the next tornado alert, says the AJC.

WX+ domains redirecting to Weather.com

As NBC continues to combine its operations with the Weather Channel, including referring to former WeatherPlus meteorologists as Weather Channel talent on air and utilizing the Weather Channel graphics and logo, the WeatherPlus.com site has been shuttered.

The site’s domains, which also include NBCWeatherPlus.com, are now redirecting to Weather.com, the official homepage of the Weather Channel.

WX Channel adds iPhone app

The Weather Channel has launched in iPhone application that provides weather information and video clips.

The new app includes a unique “multi-layer” design that allows users to customize the map view to their liking and with the information they find most relevant in very specific locations.

The program offers more than just maps and data, though. Users are able to access video forecasts and other video clips.

A tabbed navigation is designed to accomodate the many features of the application into the relatively small screen of the iPhone.

As shown in the screen grab at right, the app also includes advertising along the bottom to support the content.

Details and the download are available here from the Weather Channel’s mobile site.

WeatherPlus.com redesigns

Courtesy of the Online Design Digest blog, NBC has rolled out a new look for WeatherPlus.com. The new design features a light blue background with individual content modules topped by dark blue headers.

Internal content has also been better organized and now features some nifty dynamic effects.

The site’s navigation now features drop-down menus that have dashed outlines that make them look oddly like coupons.

It will be interesting to see how this new direction for WeatherPlus.com plays into NBC Universal’s planned acquisition of the Weather Channel, which includes the hot domain Weather.com.

Weather Channel’s new HD studio coming next week

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution has a preview of the Weather Channel’s new $60 million HD studio that will be unveiled next week, including some photos of the new facility.

The new studio set boasts a $400,000 HD projection screen that’s as big as a tennis court — plus over 5,000-square feet worth of other gadgets and broadcast space.