The revolving door is spinning at The Weather Channel. TVNewser has learned that Weather Channel chief operating officer Freddy Flaxman has decided to leave the company. And while its chief executive officer Dave Shull remains in that position, he will spend more time with TWC’s new parent company, Entertainment Studios, in Los Angeles over the next few months.
It has been a volatile few years for The Weather Channel, from the 2015 layoffs, as well as programming changes due in part to the evolution in how viewers are consuming content, particularly how they consume news about the weather. Weather Channel co-founder John Coleman passed away in January, and this past March the network was sold to Entertainment Studios, a media company owned by media entrepreneur and former TV host Byron Allen that includes several networks including Cars.tv, Pets.tv and Recipe.tv.
Nevertheless, 2017—which had three devastating hurricanes—was TWC’s most watched year since 2013. The Weather Channel traditionally beats the cable news competition among adults 25-54 during times of inclement weather, and it consistently tops the Harris Poll’s list of Best TV News Brands.