Weather Channel Settles with DirecTV, Phasing Out Some Reality Shows

The Weather Channel has finally settled its dispute with DirecTV after a bitter fight that resulted in the channel being kicked off the cable provider for almost three months. In January the two companies got into a fierce public argument over a distribution agreement, with The Weather Channel arguing it’s a public utility and removing it would be a “public safety issue” for DirecTV customers, while DirecTV argued they have another weather channel being distributed; one that doesn’t have massive amounts of reality programming.

So in the settlement, according to The New York Times, the Weather Channel will “reduce reality programming by half on weekdays,” as well as backing away from “programs about the weather… rather than updates on the current weather.”

The Weather Channel took the blame and made a direct apology to DirecTV for the public campaign they made against the cable provider, saying, “Our viewers deserve better than a public dispute.”

[photo via The Weather Channel]

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Follow Josh Feldman on Twitter: @feldmaniac

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