NBC Weather Plus

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'NBC Weather Plus'
NBC Weather Plus logo
Type Digital television network
Cable television network (Weather/meteorology)
Country United States
Availability National (in select areas)
Owner NBC Universal (NBC Universal Television Stations)
Key people Jay Ireland (President, NBC Universal Television Stations and Chairman, NBC Weather Plus Board of Directors)
Michael Steib (Vice President) Jordan Hoffner (Vice President)
Launch date November 15, 2004
Website www.nbcweatherplus.com/
www.weatherplus.com/

NBC Weather Plus ([1]) is a 24-hour weather-oriented broadcast/cable television network jointly owned by NBC Universal and its broadcast affiliates. It debuted on November 15, 2004 and is the first-ever 24/7, all-digital national-local broadcast network. NBC Weather Plus is headquartered at Rockefeller Center in New York City. The service is broadcast on digital subchannels of certain NBC affiliates in the United States and is available on digital cable systems. NBC Weather Plus' main competitor is The Weather Channel.

The channel's staff also provides weather updates for fellow NBC Universal cable channels CNBC and MSNBC, and MSNBC airs 'sample' hours of the channel in holiday periods when Don Imus' show does not air in the morning. In addition, Weather Plus is promoted during Football Night in America, and is used to provide gametime temperature and conditions for the later NBC Sunday Night Football game.

As a joint venture between NBC and its affiliates, NBC Weather Plus features a balance of national and local coverage. Live broadcasts are aired throughout the day from national and NBC-affiliated local meteorologists, along with a mix of real-time video, meteorological reports and dynamic graphics. When severe weather breaks, affiliate stations may decide to forego the national forecast to continue with their local reporting; this local reporting, in turn, may be picked up by the national channel to show breaking severe weather news and images across the country.

Contents

[edit] Local Forecasts

[edit] Programming

The Local Forecasts are the part of NBC Weather Plus' programming schedule which viewers see the current conditions and local forecast for their respective area. These forecasts are usually shown after most national forecast segments. Pre-recorded weather segments featuring local weather information from meteorologists of local NBC affiliates are shown proceeding weather information.

Digital television and cable viewers can see current weather conditions for their location and surrounding areas, weather forecasts, doppler radars of the region, and the day's actual high and low temperatures.

NBC Weather Plus national feed, 2005.
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NBC Weather Plus national feed, 2005.
Local version of NBC Weather Plus from Milwaukee's WTMJ, showing an ad in the top-left corner, local branding above the WeatherPlus logo, and time in the bottom-left.
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Local version of NBC Weather Plus from Milwaukee's WTMJ, showing an ad in the top-left corner, local branding above the WeatherPlus logo, and time in the bottom-left.

WNBC in New York was the test station for NBC Weather Plus. Internet viewers who see the national feed, including those areas which weatherplus.com and nbcweatherplus.com does not supply a certain city's Weather Plus feed, things are different for its viewers. During this time, the segment includes daily forecasts for each region of the United States and satellite loops and Doppler radars of the Northeast, Southeast, Midwest, Northwest, and Southwest, respectively.

Music for the local forecasts comes mostly from commercially available music, including those composed by Frank Gari, who composed the music package used by NBC Weather Plus.

[edit] The "L" Bar

NBC Weather Plus uses an "L-Bar" across the left side third and bottom third of the screen to continuously air local weather information, even during commercial breaks.

The left side of the bar is reserved for sponsorship of Weather Plus programming on the top left (sponsors of NBC Weather Plus' programming is more often seen on local feeds), the middle left displays the sky condition, temperature, wind speed/direction and humidity for each city and the bottom left is reserved for station identification (on local feeds, featuring the NBC affiliate's logo augmented above the Weather Plus portion of the logo) and current time.

The cycle for each city's weather information display are as follows:

  • The current condition display cycle for one city runs for 30 seconds.
  • The 24-hour forecast cycle runs 15 seconds.
  • The five-day forecast cycle runs 15 seconds.

The bottom of the bar to the right of the time and station ID displays the forecast for the next 24 hours featuring sky condition, temperature and estimated precipitation, followed by the five day forecast showing sky condition and predicted high and low temperatures. Occasionally, the current conditions display shows the icons telling the sky condition with the icon displaying sun despite it being nighttime. This also occurs on The Weather Channel but usually only in the hour following sunset. Not all cities where the current conditions are displayed on the left side of the "L" bar, feature that city's forecast. Example: Dallas NBC affiliate KXAS' Weather Plus feed displays the current conditions for Alliance, Texas but shows the forecast for Dallas-Fort Worth.

Digital television and cable viewers can see current weather conditions and weather forecasts for their location and surrounding areas, while internet viewers who see the national feed instead of a local feed, the bar displays current conditions and daily forecasts for 50 U.S. cities.

[edit] Online services

In early 2006, NBC Weather Plus launched its online component, www.nbcweatherplus.com and www.weatherplus.com both of which highlight on-air content, provide up-to-the-minute local forecasting, and cover additional weather-related stories. Many NBC affiliates carrying NBC Weather Plus also broadcast their local feeds on their respective websites and at nbcweatherplus.com and weatherplus.com

[edit] Personalities

[edit] Current On-Camera Meteorologists

[edit] Programming Schedule

Source: NBC Weather Plus.

The following list is the current programming lineup provided by NBC Weather Plus (as of December 2006).

Time Show
Top of hour-:04 past the hour Local Forecast
 :04-:07 past the hour National Forecast
 :07-:09 past the hour Local Forecast
 :09-:15 past the hour Seasonal Outlook
 :15-:19 past the hour Local Forecast and weather outlook
 :19-:22 past the hour Plus Five Forecast with 5-day national outlook
 :22-:24: past the hour Local Weather
 :24-:30 past the hour Weather News
 :30-:34 past the hour Local Forecast
 :34-:37 past the hour National Forecast
 :37-:39 past the hour Local Forecast
 :39-:45 past the hour Seasonal Outlook
 :45-:49 past the hour Local Forecast and weather outlook
 :49-:52 past the hour Plus Five Forecast with 5-day national outlook
 :52-:54: past the hour Local Weather
 :54 past the hour-Top of hour Weather News

[edit] Affiliates

WNBC Weather Plus, 2005
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WNBC Weather Plus, 2005
WCAU Weather Plus, 2006
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WCAU Weather Plus, 2006


Market NBC Weather Plus Affiliate Digital cable channel Station Owner
Albany WNYT 13 Time Warner Cable 556
Adelphia 169
Berkshire Digital Cable 713
Hubbard Broadcasting
Albuquerque-Santa Fe, NM KOB 4 TBA Hubbard Broadcasting
Atlanta WXIA 11 Comcast 211 Gannett
Baltimore WBAL 11 Comcast 208 Hearst-Argyle
Bangor, ME WLBZ 2 TBA Gannett
Baton Rouge WVLA 33 TBD White Knight Broadcasting
Bend, OR KTVZ 21 TBA News-Press & Gazette Company
Billings, MT KULR 8 TBA Max Media
Birmingham WVTM 13 Brighthouse Networks 183
Charter Communications 653
Media General
Boston WHDH 7 Comcast 297 Sunbeam Television
Brownsville, TX KVEO 23 Communications Corp of America
Buffalo WGRZ 2 Adelphia 114 Gannett
Charlotte WCNC 6 Time Warner Cable 221 Belo
Chattanooga, TN WRCB 3 Comcast 244
Charter Communications 196
Sarkes-Tarzian, Inc.
Cheboygan, MI WPBN/WTOM 7/4 Barrington Broadcasting
Chicago WMAQ 5 Comcast 194
WOW! Internet Cable Phone 130
NBC
Chico, CA KNVN 24 TBD Evans Broadcasting
Cincinnati WLWT 5 Insight Communications 137 Hearst-Argyle
Cleveland WKYC 3 Time Warner Cable 522
Comcast 208
WOW! Internet Cable Phone 130
Gannett
Columbia, MO KOMU 8 Mediacom (coming soon) University of Missouri-Columbia
Columbia, SC WIS 10 Time Warner Cable 806 Raycom Media
Columbus, OH WCMH 4 Time Warner Cable 80
Insight Communications 100
WOW! Internet Cable Phone 130
Media General
Dallas-Ft. Worth KXAS 5 Time Warner Cable 365
Charter Communications 105
NBC
Denver KUSA 9 Comcast 249 Gannett
Detroit WDIV 4 None Post-Newsweek Stations
Duluth, MN KBJR 6 TBA Granite Broadcasting
El Paso KTSM 9 Time Warner Cable 1302 Communications Corp of America
Fort Wayne, IN WISE 33 TBA Granite Broadcasting Corporation
Fresno KSEE 7 None Granite Broadcasting Corporation
Green Bay, WI WGBA 26 TBA Journal Broadcast Group
Greenville-Spartanburg, SC WYFF 4 Charter Communications 244 Hearst-Argyle
Hartford-New Haven, CT WVIT 30 Comcast 248
Cox Communications 800
NBC
Honolulu, HI KHNL 8 TBA Raycom Media
Houston KPRC 2 Time Warner Cable 320 Post-Newsweek Stations
Huntsville, AL WAFF 48 Comcast 194
Knology 133
Mediacom 99
Raycom Media
Indianapolis, IN WTHR 13 TBA Dispatch Broadcast Group
Jackson, MS WLBT 3 Time Warner Cable 102 Raycom Media
Jacksonville WTLV 12 Comcast 247 Gannett
Johnstown, PA WJAC-TV 6 Atlantic Broadband 11 Cox Enterprises
Kansas City, MO KSHB 41 TBA E.W. Scripps
Kennewick/Pasco/Richland, WA KNDU 25 TBA The KHQ Television Group
Knoxville WBIR-TV 10 Comcast 196 Charter Communications 196 Gannett
Lake Charles/Lafayette, LA KPLC 7 TBD Raycom Media
Lancaster, PA WGAL 8 Comcast 248 Hearst-Argyle
Lansing, MI WILX 10 TBA Gray Television
Las Vegas KVBC 3 Cox Communications 124 Sunbelt Communications Company
Lima, OH WLIO 35 TBA Block Communications
Los Angeles KNBC-TV 4 Charter Communications 304
Comcast 193
Cox Communications 804
Time Warner Cable 1194
NBC
Louisville, KY WAVE 3 Insight Communications 128 Raycom Media
Lubbock KCBD 11 Cox Communications 112 Raycom Media
Marquette, MI WLUC 6 TBA Barrington Broadcasting
Memphis WMC-TV 5 Time Warner Cable 4 Raycom Media
Miami-Ft. Lauderdale WTVJ 6 Comcast 250 NBC
Milwaukee WTMJ-TV 4 Time Warner Cable 104 Journal Broadcast Group
Minneapolis-St. Paul KARE-TV 11 Comcast 249
Time Warner Cable 1112
Charter Communications 391
Gannett
Mobile WPMI 15 Cox Communications 716
Comcast 194
Clear Channel
Montgomery WSFA 12 Brighthouse Networks 213 / 228
Knology 121
Charter Communications 183
Raycom Media
New Orleans WDSU 6 (Coming soon) None Hearst-Argyle
New York City WNBC 4 Time Warner Cable 731
Comcast 248
NBC
Oklahoma City KFOR-TV 4 Cox Communications 247 The New York Times Company
Orlando WESH 9 Brighthouse Networks 1021 Hearst-Argyle
Peoria, IL WEEK-TV 25 Insight Communications 138 Granite Broadcasting Corporation
Philadelphia WCAU 10 Comcast 248 NBC
Phoenix KPNX 10 Cox Communications 763 Gannett
Pittsburgh WPXI 11 Comcast 208
Armstrong 445
Cox Enterprises/Sinclair Broadcast Group
Pocatello, ID KPVI 6 TBA Sunbelt Communicatios Company
Portland, ME WCSH 6 Time Warner Cable 166 Gannett
Portland, OR KGW 8 Comcast 128 Belo
Providence, RI WJAR 10 Cox Communications 800
Comcast 750
Full Channel 190
Media General
Raleigh-Durham WNCN 17 Time Warner Cable 219 Media General
Reno KRNV 4 Charter Communications 224 Sunbelt Communications Company
Richmond WWBT 12 Comcast 208 Lincoln Financial Media
Rochester, NY WHEC 10 Time Warner Cable 110 Hubbard Broadcasting
Sacramento KCRA 3 Comcast 193 Hearst-Argyle
Salinas, CA KSBW 8 Hearst-Argyle Television
Salt Lake City KSL 5 Comcast 153 Bonneville International
San Antonio WOAI 4 Time Warner Cable 80
GVTC 130
Grande Communications 130
Clear Channel
San Diego KNSD 7/39 Cox Communications 107
Time Warner Cable (channel unknown)
NBC
San Francisco KNTV 11 Comcast 186 NBC
Seattle KING-TV 5 Comcast 115
Millenium DigitalPix 108
Belo
Sioux Falls, SD KDLT 46 Red River Broadcasting
Springfield, MO KYTV 3 Mediacom (channel unknown) Schurz Communications
Spokane KHQ-TV 6 Comcast 114 The KHQ Television Group
St. Louis KSDK 5 Charter Communications 127 Gannett
Steubenville-Wheeling, OH WTOV 9 Comcast 208 Cox Enterprises
Syracuse WSTM 3 Time Warner Cable 133 Barrington Broadcasting
Toledo WNWO 24 Time Warner Cable 80
Buckeye 626
Barrington Broadcasting
Tyler, TX KETK 56 Communications Corp of America
Waco-Temple, TX KCEN 6 Frank Mayborn Enterprises, Inc.
Washington, DC WRC 4 Comcast 208 NBC
Waterloo, IA KWWL 7 Mediacom 22 & 107
Cedar Falls Utilities 11
Quincy Newspapers
West Palm Beach, FL WPTV 5 (coming soon) TBA E.W. Scripps
White River Junction, VT/Lebanon, NH WNNE 31 (coming soon) TBA Hearst-Argyle Television
Wilmington, NC WECT 6 Time Warner Cable 939 Raycom Media
Winston-Salem, NC WXII 12 Time Warner Cable 541 Hearst-Argyle
Yakima, WA KNDO 23 The KHQ Television Group
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[edit] See also

[edit] External links

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