Directv dumps the Weather Channel

I know,big deal,but to me it is.
I used to be a huge weather geek and spent many a late night watching The Weather Channel and early morning for my job to know weather conditions for my clients.
I enjoyed learning more (It should never stop,folks) about weather,found it interesting and like any other channel that employs personalities had my favorites and those that I didn't like as much.

However,it was an affair that quickly went sour.
NBC bought TWC and added it to its family of channels and quickly began to reassemble what had been built for almost thirty years.
Longtime fan favorites began to watch their careers either end at TWC or see their roles reduced by being shuffled to unfamiliar time slots in favor of other less talented weatherpersons,some of which that weren't even AMS certified and in one case,included hiring a dancer from Las Vegas with zero weather experience.
TWC began to shove Stephanie Abrams as their main weather star and despite her obnoxious behavior and less than popular style continued to do so along with increasing the exposure of Al Roker from the parent network at NBC.
I was already losing interest when they did not renew the contract of Nicole Mitchell (see our interview series with Nicole for more),but the final straw was when TWC became less than weather.
Multiple reality shows aired every day and on occasion,weather related films were shown.
Not exactly what you expect from the Weather Channel.
It became a chore to watch and that isn't what television is supposed to be all about.

Directv and TWC began to squabble about their new contract.
Directv and all cable/satellite providers are constantly raising prices and this is over the price each channel charges them.
It's all a shell game,but Directv has drawn a line in the sand,dropped TWC,despite the network's claims of being a public service and appears to be not turning back.
In the past when these contests occur,Directv will take the channel and run ads for you to contact the network in question and talk to them so an agreement can be worked out.
This time,the new network (Weather Nation) was simply dropped in the TWC channel slot without a trace or acknowledgement of the change,
The new channel owned by Directv in Weather Nation has appeared and despite it being bare bones,looks to have some of what built TWC.
I haven't watched much,so I'm not sure of its quality,but I'll give it a chance.

The Weather Channel did this to themselves with their decision making and its sad to see it go,even being a rusted shell of its former glory.
Good for Directv for refusing to pay for past performance.
Here is hoping that it stays the course....

Editors Note: I swapped e-mails with Nicole on this topic and she informs me that "the founder of WeatherNation was a long-time MN Meteorologist who seems very passionate about weather"
I'm looking forward to giving Weather Nation a full chance this week! 

Photo Credit:Nicole Mitchell