# DISH Network Launches The Weather Cast



## tsmacro (Apr 28, 2005)

New State-Of-The-Art Service Features All Weather, All The Time

ENGLEWOOD, Colo., May 20, 2010 /PRNewswire via COMTEX News Network/ -- DISH Network L.L.C., America's fastest-growing pay-TV provider, today introduced The Weather Cast, a new 24-hour weather service featuring live round-the-clock weather reporting, interactive forecasting, and real-time national storm tracking. DISH Network is the first and only television provider to offer a national "all weather, all the time" service to its customers. The Weather Cast will replace The Weather Channel, which has recently moved away from weather reporting to a mix of movies and other entertainment-focused programming.

"Our customers always tell us that the only thing they want in a weather channel is weather reporting," said Dave Shull, senior vice president of Programming. "We believe The Weather Cast is the best available weather service in America."

In contrast to The Weather Channel, The Weather Cast devotes 100 percent of its program schedule to weather reporting. There are no movies, no wake up shows and no stories about storms. Further, because its program schedule is all forecasting, it means that The Weather Cast has more time to focus on local weather. The Weather Channel is customized for cable and has never offered satellite customers the localization they require. For more information, visit www.dishnetwork.com/weather.

About DISH Network

DISH Network L.L.C., a subsidiary of DISH Network Corporation (Nasdaq: DISH), provides more than 14.3 million satellite TV customers, as of March 31, 2010, with the highest quality programming and technology at the best value, including the lowest all-digital price nationwide. Customers have access to hundreds of video and audio channels, the most HD channels, the most international channels, state-of-the-art interactive TV applications, and award-winning HD and DVR technology including 1080p Video on Demand and the ViP(R) 722 HD DVR, a CNET and PC Magazine "Editors' Choice." DISH Network Corporation is included in the Nasdaq-100 Index (NDX) and is a Fortune 200 company. Visit www.dish.com, follow on Twitter, @dishnetwork (www.twitter.com/dishnetwork), or become a Fan on Facebook, www.facebook.com/dishnetwork.

SOURCE DISH Network L.L.C.


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## tsmacro (Apr 28, 2005)

So this makes it sound like they're kicking The Weather Channel to the curb?


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## sigma1914 (Sep 5, 2006)

tsmacro said:


> So this makes it sound like they're kicking The Weather Channel to the curb?


Smart idea...An actual real weather channel.


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## RAD (Aug 5, 2002)

I wonder what the cost of the channel is to Dish vs. what Dish was paying for TWC and if that was the driving factor for making the switch?


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## tsmacro (Apr 28, 2005)

sigma1914 said:


> Smart idea...A actual real weather channel.


Yeah I agree. I stopped watching "The Weather Channel" regularly years ago, got frustrated turning to them for current weather info and they were too busy showing something else at the time.


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## James Long (Apr 17, 2003)

> The Weather Cast will replace The Weather Channel, which has recently moved away from weather reporting to a mix of movies and other entertainment-focused programming.
> 
> For more information, visit www.dishnetwork.com/weather.


From the link ...DISH Network is pleased to announce that The Weather Cast will replace The Weather Channel on DISH Network Channel 214. DISH Network is dedicated to providing the best weather programming possible and we are pleased to now offer The Weather Cast as our primary channel for local and national weather.

Our contract with The Weather Channel is expiring and they are demanding unreasonable contract terms that would impact customer pricing. We felt that the pending contract expiration presented an ideal opportunity to respond to feedback from customers who have been asking for better weather programming.

The Weather Cast is designed specifically for satellite TV customers and has the advantage of better local coverage. The Weather Cast offers coverage in 8,000 more zip codes than The Weather Channel and provides better local and national weather and advanced storm tracking, while still sticking to its core mission of delivering the weather information you asked for 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

In addition to The Weather Cast on channel 214, DISH Network will be providing additional weather programming in the coming months on channel 213. Stay tuned for even more weather coverage or sign up for The Weather Cast enhancement email updates.​
TWC is still on 214 at the moment.


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## tsmacro (Apr 28, 2005)

James Long said:


> From the link ...DISH Network is pleased to announce that The Weather Cast will replace The Weather Channel on DISH Network Channel 214. DISH Network is dedicated to providing the best weather programming possible and we are pleased to now offer The Weather Cast as our primary channel for local and national weather.
> 
> Our contract with The Weather Channel is expiring and they are demanding unreasonable contract terms that would impact customer pricing. We felt that the pending contract expiration presented an ideal opportunity to respond to feedback from customers who have been asking for better weather programming.
> 
> ...


Just checked one of our tv's here at work and I see they're both currently on. So this sounds like they're doing this as a way of playing hardball in the negotiations with The Weather Channel. Well if it means we end up with a channel that actually shows us current weather info all the time it works for me!


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## Nick (Apr 23, 2002)

What...no movies?  Screw that!


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## bones boy (Aug 25, 2007)

The Weather Channel is the assumed "standard" for weather on TV and has been for 20+ years - I'm surprised it's taken this long for a competitor to come along, although I think there is something to be said for making deals with both - why can't two weather channels flourish?


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## James Long (Apr 17, 2003)

There has been a hidden channel 250 WETHR for a while - that went away today when this was added. The people on air now seem to be introducing themselves and talking about how good things will be. And I find no reference to "The Weather Cast" other than DISH. I wonder who is producing it.

The interactive portion (working on the SD version on my 211 and 622) is very similar to the old TWC application. Overall the graphics are very close to TWC. It should be well received.

Hopefully something can be worked out to _KEEP_ TWC for those who like the other shows,


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## scooper (Apr 22, 2002)

I must admit that TWC has gone downhill from my perspective on their basic weather coverage. I'll have to take a look at this new channel.

Is it going to be in all packages that TWC was in ?


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## l8er (Jun 18, 2004)

A channel that actually talks about weather! What a novel idea.

I used to watch The Weather Channel when it actually had programming on that focused on weather coverage and forecasting, but that's been quite a long time ago.


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## JosephB (Nov 14, 2005)

James Long said:


> There has been a hidden channel 250 WETHR for a while - that went away today when this was added. The people on air now seem to be introducing themselves and talking about how good things will be. And I find no reference to "The Weather Cast" other than DISH. I wonder who is producing it.
> 
> The interactive portion (working on the SD version on my 211 and 622) is very similar to the old TWC application. Overall the graphics are very close to TWC. It should be well received.
> 
> Hopefully something can be worked out to _KEEP_ TWC for those who like the other shows,


I get the feeling that Dish is producing this network. Their announcement video also refers to a companion network that will be regional in content and provided on spotbeams, so that would point to Dish producing this even more.


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## GrumpyBear (Feb 1, 2006)

I am liking 213 so far, wish the interaction part worked on the HD side. For those of us that work outside in the Pacific Northwest, this is a good channel so far. I always hated having to go to the interactive window to get the info before hand.
Comparing both 214 and 213 and both look great though, kind of funny how the weather channels put more effort into thier HD broadcasts over some other Family channels.


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## DJ Lon (Nov 3, 2005)

l8er said:


> A channel that actually talks about weather! What a novel idea.
> 
> I used to watch The Weather Channel when it actually had programming on that focused on weather coverage and forecasting, but that's been quite a long time ago.


Same here.

I watched the video on Dish's website. In a nutshell TWC's contract is up, NBC/Universal wanted a boatload of money to renew and Charlie said "I don't think so." 

And it's nice to see meteorgolist Paul Douglas again whom I remember from when I lived in the Twin Cities.


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## Jon Ellis (Dec 28, 2003)

Just turned on channel 213 and the first face I saw was Paul Douglas, the owner of WeatherNation - http://www.weathernation.net/. I think it's safe to assume they're the ones producing the channel. Douglas founded the company a few years ago after being let go by WCCO-TV in Minneapolis due to budget cuts.


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## Richard King (Mar 25, 2002)

Wow. Paul Douglas is the first person that I see. He was a local weather guy in Minneapolis for many years. Someone needs to work on the audio. I'm hearing a lot of distortion. Something is overloading somewhere in the audio chain. http://weathernation.net/weather/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=72&Itemid=53 It appears that this is a production of Paul Douglas as every face that I have seen so far are part of his crew.


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## Stewart Vernon (Jan 7, 2005)

A quick look, and it seems this new channel is reminiscent of what TWC used to be, before they started doing non-weather shows + movies.

I have to say that this is a bad time for TWC to be asking for more money, if that is really what the case is... because people have been stirring as they started to show movies... and "The Weather Cast" might just fit the bill.

Especially interesting that they are launching HD and SD at the same time.

I did see the "commercial" advertising the weather app for Dish receivers... so it really does seem to be Dish-centric... making me wonder if anyone else is going to pick up this channel.


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## Jhon69 (Mar 28, 2006)

What are my thoughts on Weather Cast? I like it! and the interactive weather on my 625 works better with Weather Cast than The Weather Channel ever did.


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## Greg Alsobrook (Apr 2, 2007)

This sounds interesting. (I'm a bit of a weather buff). I'd like to see this channel in action.


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## kcolg30 (May 11, 2010)

Hopefully they can provide the same info regarding hurricanes like TWC does.


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## Alan Gordon (Jun 7, 2004)

tsmacro said:


> So this makes it sound like they're kicking The Weather Channel to the curb?


The Weather Channel has been airing a message this afternoon that Dish Network will no longer be carrying them after Midnight tonight, and to call Dish and complain!

~Alan


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## JosephB (Nov 14, 2005)

They'll be back...especially if Comcast buys NBC. I foresee NBC/Comcast pulling a Disney and forcing Dish to pick TWC back up to keep Comcast stuff like E! and G4


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## GrumpyBear (Feb 1, 2006)

Can anybody confirm if this channel requires a phoneline or network connection?
Networked/phoneline 722 works fine, unnetworked/no phone 722 gets an error message.

edit,
all is fine now on the unnetworked/no phone line 722. I kept getting a check swith error before on it.
All is well now.


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## RAD (Aug 5, 2002)

Post about TWC and Dish in contract negotiations: http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showpost.php?p=18664337&postcount=53848


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## dclaryjr (Mar 11, 2007)

What! No more Stephanie Abrams in a wet t-shirt?


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## GrumpyBear (Feb 1, 2006)

TWC, may have picked a really bad time to ask for more money. Between the economy the way it is, most people wont have much sympathy for them, and Dish having an alternate that does the exact samething to replace it, most wont even miss it.


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## RAD (Aug 5, 2002)

GrumpyBear said:


> TWC, may have picked a really bad time to ask for more money. Between the economy the way it is, most people wont have much sympathy for them, and Dish having an alternate that does the exact samething to replace it, most wont even miss it.


Maybe TWC isn't asking for more money and Dish doesn't want to continue to pay what they're paying now?


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## tsmacro (Apr 28, 2005)

GrumpyBear said:


> TWC, may have picked a really bad time to ask for more money. Between the economy the way it is, most people wont have much sympathy for them, and Dish having an alternate that does the exact samething to replace it, most wont even miss it.


I agree if there's a channel there in the same place showing weather info, how many people will even notice the difference?


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## GrumpyBear (Feb 1, 2006)

RAD said:


> Maybe TWC isn't asking for more money and Dish doesn't want to continue to pay what they're paying now?


http://online.wsj.com/article/BT-CO-20100520-715627.html

Not sure how to take the money part. TWC says Dish doesn't want to pay "Market" price, and Dish says, they want a full time weather channel.
TWC is easily replaced with a fulltime HD Weather channel.


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## Matt9876 (Oct 11, 2007)

Interactive not working for 37801 area code,Graphics look odd and will take a bit to get use to,Audio has emphasis on the "S" sound "siss".

Needs a bit of work but glad for the push for better weather data.I rate them at a B- right now.

Gonna miss Jim Cantore.

Bet they have a monitor running TWC somewhere.


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## mike1977 (Aug 26, 2005)

l8er said:


> A channel that actually talks about weather! What a novel idea.
> 
> I used to watch The Weather Channel when it actually had programming on that focused on weather coverage and forecasting, but that's been quite a long time ago.


Sounds nice one will be able to turn to a channel...and get what they turned there for!!!

Now I'm dreaming of a Dish Network exclusive sci fi channel, where if we turn to it...we get science fiction shows and movies...and not wrestling!


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## Chihuahua (Sep 8, 2007)

Jon Ellis said:


> Just turned on channel 213 and the first face I saw was Paul Douglas, the owner of WeatherNation - http://www.weathernation.net/. I think it's safe to assume they're the ones producing the channel. Douglas founded the company a few years ago after being let go by WCCO-TV in Minneapolis due to budget cuts.


I remember *Paul Douglas* from his days with the now-defunct *Satellite News Channel* (1982-83).


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## GrumpyBear (Feb 1, 2006)

mike1977 said:


> Sounds nice one will be able to turn to a channel...and get what they turned there for!!!
> 
> Now I'm dreaming of a Dish Network exclusive sci fi channel, where if we turn to it...we get science fiction shows and movies...and not wrestling!


What do you mean? I thought Wrestling was Science Fiction:lol::lol::lol:

Sci-Fi does need to be reminded what they should be showing, but they don't have any competition yet.


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## Stewart Vernon (Jan 7, 2005)

Let's be honest about negotiations... neither company will really give you the whole truth.

Dish will always say "we do it for the people", and you know that's only part of it.

Meanwhile, the channel will twist things too... For example. TWC being part of the NBC/Universal family might actually be part of a negotiation including all of those channels. SO, they might be asking for a "package" increase because TWC is up for renewal... which means they are technically right if they say they aren't raising price on TWC as much... but Dish is also technically right if the increase is only being asked for now when TWC is up.

Math and statistics allow you to do funky things... like that Taco Bell commercial where they have some $2 deal and everyone is negotiating to decide what is the "free" part in the meal deal...


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## JWKessler (Jun 3, 2004)

Alan Gordon said:


> The Weather Channel has been airing a message this afternoon that Dish Network will no longer be carrying them after Midnight tonight, and to call Dish and complain!
> 
> ~Alan


Complain? I'd be more inclined to call Dish and thank them. TWC has been totally frustrating any time I wanted to get actual weather information. With all the ads they ran they should have been paying us to watch it!


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## NYBuddy (Mar 29, 2006)

Now if only they introduced a full time music video television channel, we could get rid on MTV and VH1! Goodbye Snookie! :lol:


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## sigma1914 (Sep 5, 2006)

Alan Gordon said:


> The Weather Channel has been airing a message this afternoon that Dish Network will no longer be carrying them after Midnight tonight, and to call Dish and complain!
> 
> ~Alan


Can us Directv subs call to get this new channel/service Dish has? :lol:

The Weather Cast would be great.


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## adunkle (Aug 19, 2006)

I like the channel. My only issue after watching for a couple of hours is that the information is outdated. I just saw a watch/warning map and it was timestamped 7:20pm. It is 11:38pm. Also showed Las Vegas at 93 degrees and the actual temp is 83 according to Weathertap. I think the channel has a good potential though.


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## Willh (Jan 1, 2009)

as of Midnight Central Time (my time zone), The Weather Channel is still on the air on Dish channel 214. but they still have two time zones left that haven't hit midnight yet and that Mountain and Pacific time. and if it isn't gone at 2:30 AM Central time, then we can say The Weather Channel and Dish made a deal.


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## James Long (Apr 17, 2003)

sigma1914 said:


> Can us Directv subs call to get this new channel/service Dish has? :lol:
> 
> The Weather Cast would be great.


New DISH subscribers are always welcome!  1-800-823-4929

BTW: It looks like The Weather Channel will be sticking around. No announcement of a deal but both parties have pulled their complaints off of their websites. So we get the best of both worlds!


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## GrumpyBear (Feb 1, 2006)

James Long said:


> New DISH subscribers are always welcome!  1-800-823-4929
> 
> BTW: It looks like The Weather Channel will be sticking around. No announcement of a deal but both parties have pulled their complaints off of their websites. So we get the best of both worlds!


Well if thats true, then we picked up an Extra HD channel.


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## Alan Gordon (Jun 7, 2004)

JWKessler said:


> Complain? I'd be more inclined to call Dish and thank them. TWC has been totally frustrating any time I wanted to get actual weather information. With all the ads they ran they should have been paying us to watch it!


I personally like The Weather Channel... including the non-forecast programming like "When Weather Changed History".

The movies however are pushing it, and I got a laugh out of Dish Network's statements regarding The Weather Channel's programming...

I may have to check this channel out tomorrow...

~Alan


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## adunkle (Aug 19, 2006)

I have no guide data for the new channel after 6am. I wonder if an agreement was reached at the last minute.


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## weirdude2304 (Oct 9, 2004)

I want comcast to carry the weather network or whatever it is called. I'm hoping I wake up one day and see that the weather channel went off air for some mysterious reason overnight.


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## Matt9876 (Oct 11, 2007)

Looks like an agreement was reached last night,For now we will have both weather networks.


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## Richard King (Mar 25, 2002)

NYBuddy said:


> Now if only they introduced a full time music video television channel, we could get rid on MTV and VH1! Goodbye Snookie! :lol:


Maybe they could call it "Rave".


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## BillJ (May 5, 2005)

I think there's a place for both. I do like many of the weather related programs on TWC. But I also get frustrated when I need to see the actual weather and have no idea when they might show it. I remember when TWC was all weather and I'm glad to have a channel like that. But I hope DISH can reach an agreement to carry TWC too.


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## kcolg30 (May 11, 2010)

Please wait while we find a representative to assist you. In order to ensure we are providing you with the highest level of customer satisfaction, this conversation will be recorded.
Thank you for being a valued DISH Network customer, I will be happy to assist you today. Please give me a moment to access your account and review the information you have already provided.
(***) DISHREP: How can I provide you with the best value and service today?
(***) DISHREP: I noticed that you have been idle for more than 1 minute. If there is no response, your session will disconnect in 30 seconds.

ME: OOOHHH NO I just found out the DISH Network will be shutting down The Weather Channel and will be replacing it with another weather channel called The Weather Cast. I have always seen TWC due to the Hurricane tracking and most important the host Stephanie Abrams.

(***) DISHREP: I’m very sorry to hear that you are having an issue. I’d be happy to resolve that for you.
(***) DISHREP: We have replaced The Weather Channel with The Weather Cast channel because our contract with them has expired. They are demanding unreasonable contract terms that would raise your prices. Customer feedback has also been very clear that The Weather Channel has moved away from its roots and started showing movies, less weather, and more commercials. Our customers wanted a channel that has 24/7 weather, local and national, quick and easy, which is why we are proud to now offer The Weather Cast channel

ME: So that means that I will not be able to see Stephanie Abrams any more. Will she be on the new channel that DISH is now providing.

(***) DISHREP: I am not she if she will be or not
(***) DISHREP: **sorry
(***) DISHREP: I am not sure, if Stephanie Abrams will be on the new channel
(***) DISHREP: Is there anything else I can assist you with today?

ME: Can I get a free PPV movie coupon since DISH is removing TWC and not providing me the ability to see Stephanie Abrams for my weather?

(***) DISHREP: No, I am sorry for any inconvenience
(***) DISHREP: There is no credit or coupons we can give out

ME: I am sad today that I will loose my favorite channel. Please talk to Charlie to see if he can help us keep TWC. Will you do that for me as a long time customer.

(***) DISHREP: We are always looking for ways to improve our service, and we appreciate your input. We will forward your comments and concerns to the proper department; however, we can not promise this will be implemented. Thank you again for choosing Dish Network and please feel free to contact us again with any future concerns.

ME: Thanks

(***) DISHREP: You're welcome.
(***) DISHREP: Thank you for being a DISH Network customer, have a wonderful day!
Thank you for visiting Dish Network. You may now close this window.
Your session has ended. You may now close this window.


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## mrb627 (Jan 8, 2006)

NYBuddy said:


> Now if only they introduced a full time music video television channel, we could get rid on MTV and VH1! Goodbye Snookie! :lol:


Hell YES!:joy:


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## ddobson (Nov 25, 2003)

The Weather Channel hasn't ever been as good as when John Coleman owned it back when it launched other than the improvements on the Local Weather but those are just technological advancements.

I certainly hope this works. This is awesome.. Lets get it on and really make a real Weather Channel.

Congrats to them and DISH...


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## xzi (Sep 18, 2007)

Ya sounds like lipstick on the pig again from DISH... trying to save money by dumping another popular channel. Nice work.


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## hallrk (Apr 15, 2010)

Maybe DISH will put together their own version of the MLB Network since they won't pick up that channel?


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## JWKessler (Jun 3, 2004)

NYBuddy said:


> Now if only they introduced a full time music video television channel, we could get rid on MTV and VH1! Goodbye Snookie! :lol:


Palladia actually has a lot of music.


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## tkrandall (Oct 3, 2003)

JWKessler said:


> Complain? I'd be more inclined to call Dish and thank them. TWC has been totally frustrating any time I wanted to get actual weather information. With all the ads they ran they should have been paying us to watch it!


+1


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## adunkle (Aug 19, 2006)

hallrk said:


> Maybe DISH will put together their own version of the MLB Network since they won't pick up that channel?


Having their own baseball channel might not be a bad idea. I would be interested in a minor league baseball channel. There are a lot of good minor league teams out there. I found myself watching a Pawtucket Red Sox game awhile back on an RSN. I like to watch the Indianapolis Indians when they are on.


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## Matt9876 (Oct 11, 2007)

Repost from another Dish forum:Member whatchel1 

"Just love start ups
Was just on the weather cast and they had a major F -up. The on screen talent (Paul Douglas) mic was muted for over a minute. Then they told him and he thru an on air hyssie fit. It was ROFL almost time. He did everything cussing on air "damn it to Hell". He walked off set and I bet someone got yelled at. They didn't even have the responses to roll to something else. It was just dead air w/the graphics he was using at the time. Got to see the studio door open and close it was hilarious. Guys it ain't recorded it's LIVE. Thanks to the buffer on the 722k I got to watch it over and got it recorded as well. This is gonna be on You-tube b4 too long."

Can't wait to see this on You Tube


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## coldsteel (Mar 29, 2007)

kcolg30 said:


> ME: Can I get a free PPV movie coupon since DISH is removing TWC and not providing me the ability to see Stephanie Abrams for my weather?
> 
> (***) DISHREP: No, I am sorry for any inconvenience
> (***) DISHREP: There is no credit or coupons we can give out
> ...


Do you feel proud for screwing with a CSR and looking like a complete idiot?


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## ebaltz (Nov 23, 2004)

Oh yeah! Funny, post to YouTube please and give us a link.


I for 1 am glad to see a new all weather weather channel. I never watch TWC anymore because of all the "programming" they are throwing out. That place went downhill once liberal backers got a hold of it and started making it into Al Gore-esque global warming central. Memo to them, that has been totally debunked, maybe you've seen that news on CNN. Oh wait, no one watches CNN either. ha ha ha Good riddens to the non-Weather channel. I welcome the new one with open arms!

Paul Douglass was fun in MN, he used to do the weather outside. Imagine that?


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## ebaltz (Nov 23, 2004)




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## TulsaOK (Feb 24, 2004)

coldsteel said:


> Do you feel proud for screwing with a CSR and looking like a complete idiot?


That was just embarrassing. I thought the CSR handled it well. Maybe that was the point of the post.


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## GrumpyBear (Feb 1, 2006)

coldsteel said:


> Do you feel proud for screwing with a CSR and looking like a complete idiot?


:lol: !Devil_lol: :uglyhamme: :icon_hroc:icon_lol: !rolling !rolling !rolling :lol:


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## hallrk (Apr 15, 2010)

adunkle said:


> Having their own baseball channel might not be a bad idea. I would be interested in a minor league baseball channel. There are a lot of good minor league teams out there. I found myself watching a Pawtucket Red Sox game awhile back on an RSN. I like to watch the Indianapolis Indians when they are on.


That's not a bad idea. I think there's enough of a market for it.


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## xzi (Sep 18, 2007)

All the minor league (MiLB) teams are still MLB properties, so not going to happen unless DISH ponies up to MLB.


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## ebaltz (Nov 23, 2004)

back to weather channel discussions please


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## Greg Alsobrook (Apr 2, 2007)

TWC posted this on Facebook a little while ago:



> The Weather Channel will preempt all long-form programming this afternoon and this evening in order to provide coverage of the severe weather threat across the Southeast, the Ohio Valley and the High Plains.


What? No movie?? :lol:

Guess they don't want to get dropped by DIRECTV too. :sure:


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## James Long (Apr 17, 2003)

Greg Alsobrook said:


> TWC posted this on Facebook a little while ago:
> 
> 
> > The Weather Channel will preempt all long-form programming this afternoon and this evening in order to provide coverage of the severe weather threat across the Southeast, the Ohio Valley and the High Plains.
> ...


I hope this new channel serves as a wake up call to TWC that they are not the only ones out there that can provide a service.

The Weather Cast needs to fix some of their growing pains. They are obviously more accustomed to pretape content fed to affiliate stations instead of providing a 24 hour feed. The ability for "do overs" is limited when you're live. Stale information also needs to be eradicated ... they made the commitment to be BETTER than The Weather Channel.

Networks replaying taped loops and inserting new material has been done for years - and there is no real problem with it as long as the tapes are updated when needed - and the break to live is done when there is stuff going on too volatile to not update every time the information is passed on.

This is an opportunity for The Weather Channel to prove that they are the network they promised to be when DISH and others signed their carriage contracts. That _their_ commitment to live breaking weather is still there.


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## Jhon69 (Mar 28, 2006)

Greg Alsobrook said:


> TWC posted this on Facebook a little while ago:
> 
> What? No movie?? :lol:
> 
> Guess they don't want to get dropped by DIRECTV too. :sure:


Well TWC can show all the movies it wants because on my 625 I still have Weather Cast still,in fact that's the weather channel that pops up for my Dish weather interactive and it works faster and better than TWC ever did.

I also still have TWC also.I hope Dish keeps both of them,then that will help curb any requests for price increases.:eek2:


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## Richard King (Mar 25, 2002)

Paul Douglas at an earlier time: 



 Watch until the end.


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## Slamminc11 (Jan 28, 2005)

kcolg30 said:


> Please wait while we find a representative to assist you. In order to ensure we are providing you with the highest level of customer satisfaction, this conversation will be recorded.
> Thank you for being a valued DISH Network customer, I will be happy to assist you today. Please give me a moment to access your account and review the information you have already provided.
> (***) DISHREP: How can I provide you with the best value and service today?
> (***) DISHREP: I noticed that you have been idle for more than 1 minute. If there is no response, your session will disconnect in 30 seconds.
> ...


wow, completely pathetic...on your part!


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## dough_boy747 (Jun 18, 2004)

i like the new channel, I thank it looks great, and to me it doea alot better than twc does about leting us know what kind of weather is in our eare.


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## Lincoln6Echo (Jul 11, 2007)

Remember when MTV actually showed music videos?

This new Weather Cast channel reminds me of the inception of MTV2 once MTV went to nothing but reality shows.


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## HobbyTalk (Jul 14, 2007)

It really is like TWC when it first started. Not sure how many remember back then but if you watched it for any length of time you would find that it pretty much a rolling tape that was repeated every hour. The only thing that broke it up was the local on the 8s that you seen on cable networks.


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## xzi (Sep 18, 2007)

I think the weather channel realized you can get your weather from the internet and on your phone these days, 24/7 so they decided to differentiate themselves from your local stations and internet options by showing movies and shows about---- WEATHER.

Novel idea. It's not my cup of tea but it's definitely better than a channel dedicated to my local forecast.


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## ki4cgs (Mar 9, 2004)

Matt9876 said:


> Guys it ain't recorded it's LIVE.


Actually everything on this channel is recorded right now. They don't have the ability to go live, yet.

This is a picture of the set:


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## Polardog (Mar 5, 2008)

ki4cgs said:


> Actually everything on this channel is recorded right now. They don't have the ability to go live, yet.
> 
> This is a picture of the set:


Yes.....I woke up this morning to video of SE radar that was being broadcast late last night. In fact the whole segment was at least 6 hours old.

One other observation.
I have not been able to use the interactive feature yet. Is this up and running ?


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## ruralruss (Feb 5, 2010)

ebaltz said:


> Oh yeah! Funny, post to YouTube please and give us a link.
> 
> I for 1 am glad to see a new all weather weather channel. I never watch TWC anymore because of all the "programming" they are throwing out. That place went downhill once liberal backers got a hold of it and started making it into Al Gore-esque global warming central. Memo to them, that has been totally debunked, maybe you've seen that news on CNN. Oh wait, no one watches CNN either. ha ha ha Good riddens to the non-Weather channel. I welcome the new one with open arms!
> 
> Paul Douglass was fun in MN, he used to do the weather outside. Imagine that?


Wow, did not know we were allowed to get political here. This could get to be fun!

Russ


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## Jhon69 (Mar 28, 2006)

So far I have noticed that Weather Cast doppler display in interactive is larger than TWC doppler display in interactive.:new_Eyecr


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## James Long (Apr 17, 2003)

ruralruss said:


> Wow, did not know we were allowed to get political here. This could get to be fun!


We are not. Let's talk about the weather (channels).


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## James Long (Apr 17, 2003)

Polardog said:


> One other observation.
> I have not been able to use the interactive feature yet. Is this up and running ?


Have you tried on the SD channel? It works smoothly on my 211 and 622. I have not gone back to my 301 and 501 to check yet.

The interactive didn't work on the HD version at last check.


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## Paul Secic (Dec 16, 2003)

sigma1914 said:


> Smart idea...An actual real weather channel.


+1!


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## Paul Secic (Dec 16, 2003)

Jon Ellis said:


> Just turned on channel 213 and the first face I saw was Paul Douglas, the owner of WeatherNation - http://www.weathernation.net/. I think it's safe to assume they're the ones producing the channel. Douglas founded the company a few years ago after being let go by WCCO-TV in Minneapolis due to budget cuts.


The weatherman who was on Good Morning America 26 years ago started TWC. I forget his name.


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## Paul Secic (Dec 16, 2003)

HobbyTalk said:


> It really is like TWC when it first started. Not sure how many remember back then but if you watched it for any length of time you would find that it pretty much a rolling tape that was repeated every hour. The only thing that broke it up was the local on the 8s that you seen on cable networks.


So does local newscasts repeat their stories every half hour in the same order. It's cost effective but STUPI!D!


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## James Long (Apr 17, 2003)

Paul Secic said:


> The weatherman who was on Good Morning America 26 years ago started TWC. I forget his name.


The Weather Channel was the brainchild of former WLS-TV Chicago chief meteorologist and Good Morning America forecaster John Coleman, who took his idea to Landmark's then-chief Frank Batten.

A major part of the plan for the new network was that it would be able to provide localized weather information to its viewers. This was done through WeatherSTAR units located at each cable company's headend. These WeatherSTARs were able to insert local conditions, forecasts, and warnings over the national feed.

On 30 July 1981, The Weather Channel, Inc. was founded in Norfolk, Virginia.​http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_The_Weather_Channel

I remember it being added as one of the first satellite channels on my then hometown cable system. The lineup was 12 VHF channels, mostly local broadcast with one distant station brought in via microwave link from a town close enough to receive it's signal. True "community antenna" cable. Then the system added "cable" channels 14-22 requiring special tuners. Eventually we had both movie channels, TBS and CNN. TWC replaced a locally generated weather channel that was a set of weather meters set up in an arc with a camera panning back and forth to show the dials. Advertisements were taped to the walls between the dials.

Nearly 30 years of weather ... a lot has changed, and while TWC isn't a channel I spend time watching it is a channel I expect to be there. I have been disappointed when I've turned there and they were not doing the weather.

If TWC remains on DISH I'll probably still turn there first ... then turn to The Weather Cast when TWC isn't airing weather.

I'm curious what will happen to the two channel plan for The Weather Cast if TWC sticks around. Will NASA get bumped (again)? I don't see TWC or Travel moving. ION could move (again) as well as Veria. Or the second channel could be forgotten.


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## ShapeShifter (Apr 21, 2008)

James Long said:


> TWC replaced a locally generated weather channel that was a set of weather meters set up in an arc with a camera panning back and forth to show the dials. Advertisements were taped to the walls between the dials.


LOL! :lol: I remember those days! A couple dozen channels, a new movie service called HBO, and a black and white camera panning past a clock, barometer, thermometer, and a wind gauge. We thought we were in heaven to have so many channels, and we could check weather 24/7 whenever we wanted! Talk about high tech! Unbelievable! :eek2:


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## dnero (Feb 12, 2008)

I remember when HBO came on at 3:00 in the afternoon when they first started they did not broadcast during the day at first.
I use Weather bug on my computer more than watching the Weather Channel.


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## nmetro (Jul 11, 2006)

James Long said:


> The Weather Channel was the brainchild of former WLS-TV Chicago chief meteorologist and Good Morning America forecaster John Coleman, who took his idea to Landmark's then-chief Frank Batten.
> 
> A major part of the plan for the new network was that it would be able to provide localized weather information to its viewers. This was done through WeatherSTAR units located at each cable company's headend. These WeatherSTARs were able to insert local conditions, forecasts, and warnings over the national feed.
> 
> ...


I remember when we first installed cable TV in Huntington, LI, NY (late 1960s). We thought we were in heaven with clear signals of the seven New York VHF channels (2, 4, 5, 7, 9, 11, 13), 2 VHF (3, 8) and 1 UHF (30) channels from Connecticut, and 1 UHF (21) channel from Long Island. Channel 6, was weather dials most of time, except for some local high school games, community access programming (Town of Huntington Town Council Meetings) and New York Ranger Hockey/New York Knicks basketball from Madison Square Garden. Funny, in those days, there was more variet y on the 12 channels, then there is on with over 200 hundred satellite channels today.


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## TulsaOK (Feb 24, 2004)

Should we rename this thread "I remember when......."?


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## James Long (Apr 17, 2003)

Kent Taylor said:


> Should we rename this thread "I remember when......."?


As long as we're talking about the weather (channels).


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## ehren (Aug 3, 2003)

Yeah sure love the weather channel showing the movie Dead Calm instead of ACTUAL WEATHER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


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## adunkle (Aug 19, 2006)

I am surprised Accuweather does not have a weather channel. I think that would be a good option for Dish instead of trying to start their own.


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## He Save Dave (Jun 6, 2006)

I'm on the fence trying to decide between DTV and dish. This could seal the deal for me. I love the weather channel besides the crap movies they show. Is there anywhere I can preview weathercast channel?


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## adunkle (Aug 19, 2006)

He Save Dave said:


> I'm on the fence trying to decide between DTV and dish. This could seal the deal for me. I love the weather channel besides the crap movies they show. Is there anywhere I can preview weathercast channel?


Here is a link to a Youtube of Weathercast. It will give you a good idea of what it is about.


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## James Long (Apr 17, 2003)

The Weather Cast has a website !!!
http://theweathercast.com/

(Domain created January 15th, 2010.)


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## BillJ (May 5, 2005)

TV weather is much less important today than when TWC launched. In severe weather I go straight to the internet. Better radar and warnings are updated straight from the issuer. Besides my DISH will probably be out due to rain fade.


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## ruralruss (Feb 5, 2010)

James Long said:


> We are not. Let's talk about the weather (channels).


I presumed and hoped as much, just wanted to hear you say it.

Russ


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## juan ellitinez (Jan 31, 2003)

adunkle said:


> I am surprised Accuweather does not have a weather channel. I think that would be a good option for Dish instead of trying to start their own.


They do It is on subchannel in many markets (ie Allentown,pa channel 69)


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## JWKessler (Jun 3, 2004)

BillJ said:


> TV weather is much less important today than when TWC launched. In severe weather I go straight to the internet. Better radar and warnings are updated straight from the issuer. Besides my DISH will probably be out due to rain fade.


A weather radio - with a good antenna if you are far from the transmitters - is an even better backup since your computer probably will be useless when the power and/or your internet service goes down due to storms.

I have a Radio Shack scanner I use to listen to railroad activity and the local police and fire. This unit also picks up the weather really well, it runs on batteries and does not require a functioning internet.


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## JWKessler (Jun 3, 2004)

One of the reasons I dumped cable for satellite was the annoying emergency broadcast "service" that would cut into whatever I was watching to give me information I didn't need. It would even break in if I was watching programming recorded on my DVR. It would also interrupt recordings in progress so a movie I was trying to record on HBO for example might be broken into several segments with five or so minutes missing between each. Arggh!

The alerts could be trigged by weather happening far from me in a different state - or it could happen when they tested the system, which seemed to occur a lot. Any time a thunder storm was within a couple of hundred miles of me, the alerts would come in. During the spring this would happen every day or two and sometimes several times a day.

The most annoying part was it would interrupt whatever I was currently viewing and switch me over to The Weather Channel - where they were usually running yet another block of commercials. Several times I was watching actual local weather news on a local station when the alert came in and switched me to TWC's advertising or some other blather I wasn't interested in.

I hope Dish never invents something this useless and annoying.


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## Polardog (Mar 5, 2008)

James Long said:


> Have you tried on the SD channel? It works smoothly on my 211 and 622. I have not gone back to my 301 and 501 to check yet.
> 
> The interactive didn't work on the HD version at last check.


I've tried the SD version of Weather Cast on channel 213. Interactive did not work. I still cannot get the interactive local weather on Weather Cast HD 213.

I have a VIP612 with a phone line connected.

I went to Dish channel 100 and there I was able to get the interactive feature to work once I navigated through the menu.

The interactive feature is supposed to work on channel 213 right ?
Just hit select a few times while tuned in to channel 213 HD for local information is what I understand.

Or is channel 100 the only location for interactive ?


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## tpwillie (Apr 15, 2010)

I have the interactive working on my 625 with no problems.It is pretty much the same as on TWC. The new channel seems pretty much a waste of time to me. I watched for 25 minutes but there was nothing said about any weather across MO, IL, IN or OH but there was a lot about Minneapolis and Fargo and clouds in Dallas. Just one more of the over 200 channels that do nothing for me.


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## Paul Secic (Dec 16, 2003)

James Long said:


> There has been a hidden channel 250 WETHR for a while - that went away today when this was added. The people on air now seem to be introducing themselves and talking about how good things will be. And I find no reference to "The Weather Cast" other than DISH. I wonder who is producing it.
> 
> The interactive portion (working on the SD version on my 211 and 622) is very similar to the old TWC application. Overall the graphics are very close to TWC. It should be well received.
> 
> Hopefully something can be worked out to _KEEP_ TWC for those who like the other shows,


I don't have a channel 250 as of yesterday.


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## jsk (Dec 27, 2006)

I was just looking up information on TWCast and it looks like it was developed by WeatherNation, a Minnesota company that provided weather forecasts for TV and radio stations.

Here is a blog from the CEO and on air meteorologist about the launch:

http://www.startribune.com/blogs/94642579.html?elr=KArks7PYDiaK7DUvDE7aL_V_BD77iiUiD3aPc:_Yyc:aUU


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## Paul Secic (Dec 16, 2003)

dnero said:


> I remember when HBO came on at 3:00 in the afternoon when they first started they did not broadcast during the day at first.
> I use Weather bug on my computer more than watching the Weather Channel.


On my cable system in the early 80's they had UPI News all morning, then Calipie came on in the afternoon. Then at 6PM HBO came on. All on a singe channel. Some days we got wrestling from MSG.


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## VegasDen (Jul 12, 2007)

The Weather Channel has become the Whether Channel...whether or not they would actually show the weather was anybody's guess.


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## James Long (Apr 17, 2003)

Polardog said:


> The interactive feature is supposed to work on channel 213 right ?
> Just hit select a few times while tuned in to channel 213 HD for local information is what I understand.


Some patience is required. Tune to channel 213 and WAIT for the interactive popup (it comes up reasonably quick). THEN you can press select once and get the feature.

The popup will disappear if you don't select it but once the popup has appeared you will be able to use the interactive at any time by pressing select.



Paul Secic said:


> I don't have a channel 250 as of yesterday.


You had 250 before?


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## levibluewa (Aug 13, 2005)

If they don't go live 24/7 with their radar info, etc., I'm not sure how they'll make it. I too preferred the Weather Channel back when they did weather. All the ads and bumpers repeated ad nauseam makes me turn them off. I remember when they first started they didn't have advertisers...just live studio and local cut-aways. One thing I don't understand is why DISH could never get the local on the 8s to work. Although its not like the cable version Directv has been able to offer an abbreviated version via zip code which is far superior to what DISH interactive offers. Maybe the new channel will improve with time.


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## kcolg30 (May 11, 2010)

James Long said:


> Some patience is required. Tune to channel 213 and WAIT for the interactive popup (it comes up reasonably quick). THEN you can press select once and get the feature.
> 
> The popup will disappear if you don't select it but once the popup has appeared you will be able to use the interactive at any time by pressing select.
> 
> You had 250 before?


The interactive feature does not work on HD. It only comes up for me on SD. On HD nothing comes up, just the channel.


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## RAPP81 (Feb 14, 2007)

NBCU is probably digging for more cash for TWC. Our NBC O&O in the SF Bay Area started to obnoxiously plug TWC and weather.com in all of their weather segments in their newscasts just about a week or so ago.


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## samhevener (Feb 23, 2006)

The interactive local is working on my 322, but as of today nothing is closed captioned on the channel. I posted a message at the Weathercast website asking when closed captioning will start.


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## Polardog (Mar 5, 2008)

James Long said:


> Some patience is required. Tune to channel 213 and WAIT for the interactive popup (it comes up reasonably quick). THEN you can press select once and get the feature.
> 
> The popup will disappear if you don't select it but once the popup has appeared you will be able to use the interactive at any time by pressing select.
> 
> You had 250 before?


The interactive popup has never appeared on either the SD or HD channel 213 for me. And I've watched Weather Cast for a long enough time for this to happen. As I mentioned in an earlier post I was able to get the interactive feature (the same one seen in the Weather Cast promos on 213) to come up on Dish channel 100 after navigating the menu there.

I've had a VIP 612 in the house for 2 years now. Not sure of what model I had previously.


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## James Long (Apr 17, 2003)

And now ... it's gone. Channel 213 is a big blue screen with a message.

The WeatherCast is no longer available.

Coming soon...

Your local weather information fro Dish Network
and The Weather Channel.

The most accurate information all of the time for your
city and region.​


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## James Long (Apr 17, 2003)

The Weather Cast is gone ... discussion continues in a new thread ...

Dish & Weather Channel Reach Agreement including new services


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