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The Weather Channel to rebrand as Sky News Weather

SKY News has taken management and operational responsibility for The Weather Channel.

As tipped by TV Tonight, Foxtel and Australian News Channel have  confirmed that SKY News has taken management and operational responsibility for The Weather Channel.

The channel will be re-launched as Sky News Weather early in 2013.

Foxtel CEO, Richard Freudenstein said, “The Weather Channel has developed a reputation as Australia’s premier weather service, it makes sense that it should come together with the nation’s most dynamic and comprehensive news service. Integration of the two services will not only improve the quality of the weather information for viewers of both channels, it will deliver The Weather Channel in a more efficient and cost effective way.”

Australian News Channel CEO Angelos Frangopoulos said, “Sky News is delighted to take responsibility for producing The Weather Channel. For the first time The Weather Channel will have access to our news gathering, including live coverage, based across Australia.

“The Weather Channel and Weather Active are an important service to Australians and we plan to further develop them.”

The Australian News Channel management team will work with staff of The Weather Channel to confirm the new structure for the service. Employees will be advised of the new structure and staffing arrangements in the coming weeks.

15 Responses

  1. Does this mean we can no longer get a 10 day local forecast online like we did on the old Skyweather.com website? I have dug around but can’t seem to find anything

  2. The red button doesn’t function on this channel anymore. I’m wondering if this is going to be permanent. Without all of the red button features, it’s time to ignore this channel.

  3. this is Rubbish. The sky weather website is horrible! and it messed up the weather channel app as well. Moving to weather zone, way to ruin a good product. Could have at least used the same website but just re coloured it red and put your logo on it. This site is a terrible experience. And the app is hopeless

  4. @Hoin, the channel probably could be called “Fox Weather” if Australian News Channel wanted to. FOX8, Fox Classics and Foxtel itself are all majority owned by Telstra (as was the old Fox Footy Channel). That only a small slice of ANC is actually owned by News Corp is not a problem.

  5. Here is my other major problem with Sky News Australia…. if you are going to market yourself as broadcasting unrivallled coverage of the news and major events (or words to that extent)…how about you start broadcasting full news bulletins throughout the night, on the hour and be a proper 24 hour Australian News Channel. At this time of the year 3am AEDT is 5am in New Zealand and 12 Midnight in Western Australia.

    Surely there are enough subscribers who will tune in across the Tasman or in the West (not to mention shift workers and other businesses and emergency services with Foxtel all over Australia or SKY in New Zealand) to put on a Live bulletin, especially for major breaking news happening in Australia, the USA or Europe being reported by Aussie Journalists.

    We have so many British ex-pats in Australia and New Zealand so surely Sky News UK would have enough viewers to commence broadasting as a stand alone channel in Full Screen on a Foxtel channel no.somewhere between 605 – 699.

  6. Memo: To Mr Angelos Frangopoulos, CEO of Australian News Channel

    cc: Richard Freudenstein, CEO of Foxtel

    I hope there is a damn good reason your not telling us about that explains your reasons for changing the name of The Weather Channel to “Sky News Weather”.

    I have no issue with the Australian News Channel producing and running the Weather Channel, but what is wrong with the name “The Weather Channel” ?

  7. A bit of history: Sky Channel began in the UK in the 1980s a decade before pay TV started in Australia. The TAB registered the name in Australia and used it for their own satellite TV service which was broadcast in pubs, clubs and betting agencies when regional radio stations began dropping their racing coverage. Sky Channel also broadcast other sport (such as boxing) and music videos.

    When pay TV started in Australia in 1995 the TAB arranged to have their racing channel (Sky Racing) carried on Foxtel. At the same time Australian News Channel (owned by British Sky Broadcasting) started a local news channel on Foxtel branded Sky News Australia, a variant of the UK’s Sky News.

    Foxtel cannot call The Weather Channel Fox Weather because the channel is now owned by British Sky Broadcasting.

  8. Now if they can really improve their weather forecasts that would be great start, never set your week on their ong range forecst it is never right and also stop the revovling door of presenters, they alwasy change, we think the weather channel is for graduates out of weather school and retired or meteoroligists who have taken redundancy from the BOM

  9. I use the weathere channel online….and actually find it quite good and as accurate as forcasting can be…no one can read mother natures mind…..it is not an exact science.

  10. If the weather channel actually got the weather right once in a while it would be good. they seem to focus on the bigger things and not so much the minor details. there 10 day forecast is a joke, they can’t even get a 3 day forecast right.

    @everyone who commented before me. Sky (racing) and Sky News are two totally different companies.

    Sky racing – Its parent company Tabcorp also owns other racing media assets including Sky Channel, Sky International and 2KY radio.

    Sky News – Sky News Channel’s parent company Australian News Channel Pty Ltd is owned by British Sky Broadcasting, Seven Media Group and Nine Entertainment Co., each with a 33% stake in the company respectively.

    For any channel to operate under Sky News it must either have its own name like A-PAC (Australian Public Affairs Channel).

  11. This is bad news. The Weather Channel is a much more polished professional product than Sky News. Angelos and co will just cheapen the whole experience.

    And why “Sky News Business” and “Sky News Weather”?

    Why not just

    Sky News
    Sky Business
    Sky Weather

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