TVWeek’s Michele Greppi breaks the news that NBC and its affiliates board have agreed to shut down the four-year old Weather Plus digital weather channel.
Greppi writes, “NBC News President Steve Capus informed the on- and off-air Weather Plus staff headquartered at CNBC facilities in Englewood, N.J., Tuesday morning that the operation would be phased out in stages through the end of the year.” Ten NBC O&Os and 80 affiliates currently use Weather Plus.
In July, NBCU, along with two private equity firms, announced they were buying The Weather Channel for $3.5 billion. The deal closed Sept. 12, as Hurricane Ike was about to strike Texas. Even before the storm, Weather Channel meteorologists had begun appearing on NBC News programs.
As for the Weather Plus staff, Capus says, “We’re going to look at everybody and make a determination about what we’re going to do,” adding, “There are some real superstars behind the scenes whom we’ll work to move into other jobs. That’s going to be difficult, given the general climate right now, but we’ll do the best we can.”