The Weather Company is shaking up its management ranks and bringing in former DISH Network executive Dave Shull to operate a “newly formed, fully integrated division” called The Weather Channel Television Group.
Shull will oversee programming, distribution, broadcast operations, video technology and addressable TV advertising platforms. He’ll report to David Kenny, chairman and CEO of The Weather Company. David Clark, president of The Weather Channel, and other executives will report to Shull.
“The landscape is changing, and we are evolving with it,” Kenny said in a statement. “This new structure is what we need to win. [Dave’s Shull’s] breadth of experience will help unite these sometimes disparate disciplines to ensure we’re connecting the dots and leveraging all of our assets to the best of our ability.”
Shull was most recently chief commercial officer and executive vice president at DISH Network, which dropped The Weather Channel for a time in 2010. Weather also has encountered distribution disputes with several pay TV providers. Last year, DirecTV dropped Weather, only to restore it three months later. The channel remains off Verizon FiOS, which brokered a distribution deal with competitor AccuWeather last month.
The Weather Company portfolio extends beyond the TV network. Weather also owns Weather Underground and WSI, which provides weather data to the media, aviation and energy sectors.
The owners of The Weather Company, which include The Blackstone Group, Bain Capital and NBCUniversal, are reported to be looking at their options, including the possible sale of the company. The three acquired Weather in 2008 for a reported $3.5 billion.
(This story first appeared on Adweek)