By Suzanne Vranica
The Weather Channel said it signed a multiyear carriage
agreement with satellite provider Dish Network Corp., averting a
dispute that could have dealt a major blow to the TV network's
business.
The deal ensures that the channel, which specializes in
round-the-clock forecasts, will continue to be offered to Dish's
roughly 14 million subscribers. Weather Channel won't receive an
increase in carriage fees from Dish under the terms of the deal, a
person familiar with the situation said.
As part of the agreement, the Weather Channel will be available
on Dish's new online video service Sling TV by July, the company
said.
The pact is welcome news for the network's parent company,
Weather Co., which is owned by a consortium that includes
private-equity firms Bain Capital LLC and Blackstone Group LP, and
Comcast Corp.'s NBCUniversal. The channel is currently dealing with
the fallout from being dropped in March by Verizon Communications
Inc. from its FiOS TV service, which reaches 5.6 million
households.
The Weather Channel, like many other independent U.S. TV
channels, faces tough battles with cable and satellite providers
who are looking for ways to reduce their programming expenses as
more consumers "cut the cord," or drop pay TV connections.
Maintaining carriage of their networks and extracting higher
carriage fees--a traditional source of growth--has become
difficult.
Market researcher SNL Kagan estimates the Weather Channel gets
an average of 14 cents per subscriber a month from pay-TV
distributors, compared with $6.61 for ESPN.
Weather Co. Chief Executive David Kenny has been trying to
diversify the company's business by moving more into digital
advertising, but the company is still heavily reliant on TV
revenue.
Write to Suzanne Vranica at suzanne.vranica@wsj.com
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