AccuWeather to launch streaming service later this summer

By Matt Collins Article may include affiliate links

AccuWeather is entering the streaming arena later in the summer of 2021.

The network, to be named AccuWeather Now, will stream 24 hours a day and combine a variety of programming focused on “all things weather,” according to a press release.

Content will focus on extreme and natural events, global forecasts and long and short form documentaries related to weather and climate. It’s all aimed at reaching a younger audience who want to be “in the know” about these subjects.

The announcement, which was made July 29, 2021, did not mention if the service will incorporate forecasts or if there will be a subscription fee.

AccuWeather already runs the AccuWeather Network that’s available on select cable and satellite providers and provides more traditional weather related programming in scheduled blocks.

In addition, the similarly named but distinct AccuWeather Channel service includes a mix of national and localized forecasts, is available to broadcasters to transmit on a digital subchannel.

The AccuWeather Channel features a mix of standalone graphics and maps and on camera personalities, depending on how much the local station opts to produce, but is designed to be highly automated.

Rival The Weather Channel, meanwhile, has also announced plans to launch The Whather Channel+, a premium streaming option that will cost $4.99 a month and incorporate the network’s weather and climate content with about 50 additional channels covering a variety of topics.

Fox Media is also planning a streaming weather service, Fox Weather, though some have expressed concern over how it will handle climate coverage when many Fox hosts do not believe climate change to be based in science.

AccuWeather also provides a variety of services to TV stations and other broadcasters, including access to its proprietary forecasts and data models or more full service options such as having AccuWeather forecasters appear on camera (or, in the case of radio, audio only) in customized segments.

When AccuWeather’s data is used, the broadcaster typically also uses the trademarked name “AccuWeather” somewhere in its branding, often in the title of its weather segments or a tagline such as “Your AccuWeather station.”

AccuWeather forecasts are also licensed to newspapers.

NBC ran a service called NBC WeatherPlus from 2004 to 2015 that offered various combinations of a national feed, local video segments and automated graphics and maps over the course of its operation. The national feed was shut down in 2008 when NBCUniversal bought The Weather Channel (it would eventually sell it off).

WeatherPlus was typically offered as a digital subchannel on NBC affiliated stations, who also had the option of branding their primary signal’s weather segments with the “WeatherPlus” name. Local stations could include localized forecasts and on camera segments as well as advertising.