TVTonic Announces Content License with The Weather Channel
National and Regional Weather Channels Added to TVTonic’s Guide; Provides Subscribers with Instant, On-Demand Access to Video Weather Forecasts
NEW YORK — October 24, 2007 — Wavexpress, a provider of broadband media technology and services, majority-owned by Wave Systems Corp. (NASDAQ: WAVX), today announced a new content license with The Weather Channel that will give TVTonic viewers the latest weather reports on demand. The Weather Channel will be providing TVTonic with 10 new channels that span both national and regional weather.
Among the new additions to the TVTonic lineup are nine regional channels and one national weather channel. All of these channels will be updated twice daily, and will feature segments hosted by meteorologists from The Weather Channel. The channels are now available in “The Weather Channel” category in TVTonic’s guide, making the most up-to-date video weather reports just a click away.
“As the leader in delivering weather news and information, we are continually expanding to new platforms for reaching the people who rely on us every day,” said Tom Flournoy, vice president, advanced media at The Weather Channel. “Through the TVTonic application, users will be able to view both national and regional forecasts on demand on both their PCs and televisions, so the information will always be available no matter where they may be.”
TVTonic, a free offering available with any PC running Microsoft Media Center, and for online access by any PC user at www.tvtonic.com, is designed to create a television experience out of Internet video by taking the hassle out of searching for quality video on the Internet and allowing the viewer to simply see what’s on, pick a channel, sit back and watch. TVTonic can manage a viewer’s subscriptions much like a digital video recorder (DVR) for the Internet. Viewers select the channels they want to record and TVTonic caches the shows on the hard drive. This is designed to ensure that the content is ready for viewing in a seamless, near-HD quality format that remains high quality in full-screen mode. TVTonic is also designed to be navigated with a remote control, either on a consumer’s PC or living room TV, for easy surfing across channels.
“When users flip through channels in TVTonic, they often come not only for entertainment but also to be informed about the world around them,” said Michael Sprague, president of Wavexpress. “Our content partnership with The Weather Channel will add a whole new dimension of programming to our robust lineup, giving users the latest weather reports for their region on demand. Whether browsing for entertaining shorts or the latest music videos, news or weather, TVTonic makes the best online video content available with the simple click of a remote.”
New channels in “The Weather Channel” category of the TVTonic guide include: National Forecast, Northwest Forecast, Northeast Forecast, Southwest Forecast, East Central Forecast, Southeast Forecast, South Central Forecast, Central Forecast, North Central Forecast and West Central Forecast.
Weather Channel Is Sold to NBC and Equity Firms
Published: July 7, 2008
An investor group led by NBC Universal and two private equity firms clinched a deal for the Weather Channel on Sunday after three weeks of negotiations.
Though the parties did not disclose the price, the buyers, NBC and the private equity firms Bain Capital and the Blackstone Group, will pay just under $3.5 billion, people briefed on the matter said.
That is less than the $5 billion that the Weather Channel’s parent, Landmark Communications, sought when it put the basic cable channel and related properties like weather.com up for sale in January.
In a sign of the weaker debt markets that have clamped down on large private equity deals, more than half of the price will be paid in equity, to be divided roughly equally among the three buyers, these people said.
The deal was mostly wrapped up shortly after June 13, when Time Warner, the only other remaining bidder, dropped out.
Though not the flashiest property, the 26-year-old Weather Channel is the leading brand of weather information on television, reaching 96 million households on basic cable, according to Landmark.
Beyond the Weather Channel, the deal also includes the Weather.com Web site, which attracts nearly 40 million unique users a month. It also encompasses Weather Services International, a forecasting service with more than 5,500 clients.
Under the terms of the deal, the Weather Channel will be run as an independent operation, rather than being merged into NBC’s own meteorological offering, NBC Weather Plus. Built as a competitor to the Weather Channel, Weather Plus has long been seen as an also-ran, with fewer viewers and generally higher placement on the channel dial.
NBC will still provide management services. The buyers also intend to help expand the Weather Channel’s online and mobile services.
“This deal makes us the pre-eminent leader in news and information,” Jeffrey Zucker, NBC Universal’s chief executive, said, citing the company’s assets in NBC News, the business channel CNBC and the news channel MSNBC. “We’re No. 1 in business news, No. 1 in general broadcast news, and now we’re No. 1 in weather news too,” he said.
After the deal closes, viewers may see The Weather Channel storm expert Jim Cantore on MSNBC and the “Today” weatherman, Al Roker, on cable.
“The cross-promotional opportunities will work both ways,” Mr. Zucker said. “We’re very excited about it.”
Mr. Zucker said the future of Weather Plus was “undetermined at this point,” and said the company and its affiliate partners would evaluate it “in the next few months.”
NBC Weather Plus was built four years ago to be a competitor to The Weather Channel, using NBC’s local affiliates and the multicasting abilities of digital television. It is a name for a number of services, including a 24-hour network sponsored by local stations, a Web site, and short weather updates for NBC’s cable channels. The service has not yet turned a profit and is perceived to be faltering.
Other corporate bidders dropped out early in the process. Private equity firms, seen as the other possible bidders, have been largely sidelined by the yearlong dearth of cheap financing.
The deal is expected to close by the end of the year.
The sale of the Weather Channel is part of a larger breakup of Landmark, a privately held company controlled by the Batten family of Norfolk, Va. Landmark is seeking to sell its other holdings, like its daily newspapers. Among those are The Virginian-Pilot of Norfolk and The News & Record of Greensboro, N.C.
“While we are extremely proud of how far we’ve come, I know that as part of the NBC Universal consortium, The Weather Channel and its employees will have increased opportunities for growth,” Frank Batten Jr., Landmark’s chief executive, said in a statement.
Two of the biggest providers of the deal’s financing are two hedge funds that specialize in high-yield debt, Blackstone’s GSO Capital and Bain’s Sankaty Advisors. Others financing the deal are Deutsche Bank, which was also the buyers’ lead financial adviser, and General Electric’s GE Commercial Finance unit.
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