Editing The Weather Channel (section)

====DirecTV carriage dispute====
[[DirecTV]] removed the Weather Channel from its lineup on January 14, 2014, after the two parties were unable to come to terms on a new carriage agreement;<ref name="DirecTV-TWC">[https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/business/2014/01/14/directtv-weather-channel/4470233/ DirecTV customers lose The Weather Channel], ''[[USA Today]]'' (via the [[Associated Press]]), January 14, 2014.</ref> as a result, DirecTV became the first major pay television provider to drop the channel in its history.<ref name="Variety"/> Two weeks before the channel's carriage agreement was set to expire on December 31 (after which the deadline for a new carriage deal was extended by two weeks), the satellite provider began carrying [[WeatherNation TV]] (the successor to the Weather Cast and owned by WeatherNation, LLC) on channel 361 on December 16, 2013–placing the channel next to the Weather Channel's slot on channel 362;<ref>{{cite news|last=Flint|first=Joe |title=DirecTV issues veiled threat in talks with Weather Channel|url= https://www.latimes.com/entertainment/envelope/cotown/la-fi-ct-directv-weather-20131226,0,3840158.story|work=[[Los Angeles Times]]|access-date=December 26, 2013 |date=December 25, 2013}}</ref> WeatherNation replaced the Weather Channel on channel 362–while still being carried on channel 361–when TWC was pulled.<ref name="Variety">{{cite news|last=Spangler|first=Todd|title=Weather Channel Pulled from DirecTV|url=https://variety.com/2014/biz/news/weather-channel-pulled-from-directv-1201054279/|work=Variety|access-date=January 14, 2014|date=January 13, 2014}}</ref><ref name="Times TWC">{{cite news|last=Flint|first=Joe|title=DirecTV no longer carrying Weather Channel after contract dispute|url=https://www.latimes.com/entertainment/envelope/cotown/la-et-ct-weather-channel-off-directv-20140113,0,4788207.story#ixzz2qOYJ2DkU|newspaper=Los Angeles Times |access-date=January 14, 2014|date=January 14, 2014}}</ref>

The Weather Channel's chief executive officer David Kenny stated that it offered DirecTV the best rate for its programming (according to SNL Kagan, the Weather Channel's average carriage fee at the time was 13¢ per subscriber), and blasted the satellite provider's removal of the channel by stating that it was putting profits ahead of public safety.<ref name="DirecTV-TWC"/> Representatives for DirecTV stated that it added WeatherNation TV in response to subscriber complaints regarding the number of reality programs on the Weather Channel, which it estimated had amounted to 40% of its daily schedule<ref name="Variety"/><ref name="Times TWC"/> (WeatherNation TV, which outside of its carriage by DirecTV is primarily carried on [[terrestrial television|broadcast television]] stations as a main channel affiliation or a [[digital subchannel|digital multicast service]], does not run programming outside of forecasts with the only interruption in its weather coverage coming from affiliates that carry children's programs to fulfill [[Federal Communications Commission|FCC]] [[E/I|educational programming]] requirements; however, WeatherNation has been criticized for its very limited amount of live programming, which TWC does provide, especially during significant weather events<ref>{{cite web|title=DirecTV Fight Puts WeatherNation On Radar|url=http://www.tvnewscheck.com/article/74008/directv-fight-puts-weathernation-on-radar/page/1|first=Ryan|last=Nakashima|publisher=TVNewsCheck (via the [[Associated Press]])|date=February 10, 2014|access-date=June 9, 2014}}</ref>). DirecTV stated that weather information is also available through broadcast television stations carried as part of its local channel tier, as well as the provider's designated emergency channels.<ref name="Times TWC"/> The Weather Channel fought back by airing commercials encouraging people to not subscribe to DirecTV by parodying the provider's popular "Get Rid of Cable" ad campaign.

On April 8, 2014, the Weather Channel and DirecTV both settled on a new agreement (TWC decided to alter its programming lineup by trimming the amount of reality programming on weekdays in half, restricting them to its nighttime schedule, in response to complaints from DirecTV subscribers), with the provider restoring the channel on channel 362 the following day. Access to local weather content using the red button feature did not return until May 2, 2014.<ref>{{cite web|last=Lieberman|first=David|title=The Weather Channel Returns To DirecTV|url=https://deadline.com/2014/04/the-weather-channel-returns-directv-deal-711602/|website=Deadline Hollywood |access-date=April 8, 2014|date=April 8, 2014}}</ref>