Jim Cantore to DIRECTV Customers: 'Nobody Can Do Weather Like We Do'

Jim Cantore Published: Jan 14, 2014, 7:57 AM EST weather.com

(Editor's Note: This letter was written and first published on January 13, 2014. DIRECTV dropped The Weather Channel from its lineup after the midnight deadline.)

Dear DIRECTV Customers:

I am very sad that DIRECTV may lose The Weather Channel after midnight tonight. I have worked more than 27 years to provide viewers with the most critical weather information, when they need it most. As a network, our focus has always been to save lives and teach people about weather and climate. Many of you have grown up with The Weather Channel and you know we've been with you before, during and after storms as a trusted resource for those who need our information to stay prepared and ready for what the weather brings.

I have personally sent a note to DIRECTV CEO Mike White asking him to keep us on as part of DIRECTV’s programming. I told him how many of our viewers, especially in rural areas, rely on our service to keep them informed and safe when weather threatens. Of the hundreds of storms I have covered, people always make it a point to personally thank me for being there and taking them through the storm. If DIRECTV drops The Weather Channel, it means the families living in 20 million homes are at risk in times of severe weather without the vital information they are accustomed to getting from The Weather Channel.

This is not a fight over a large increase -- DIRECTV is fighting with us for about a penny a subscriber. If you compare this cost to other networks, you’ll find we are one of the least expensive. I promise you the negligible increase we are asking is worth every life we save when our viewers receive our expert forecasting and critical information. The Weather Channel's slight rate increase is 100% earmarked for increasing the exact local severe coverage that will make The Weather Channel's already-essential coverage even more precise and imperative for our viewers.

I am overwhelmed by the genuine outpouring of trust in our company ever since we first started talking to you about losing DIRECTV. We have seen an extraordinary and overwhelming response, with hundreds of thousands of emails, faxes, calls to DIRECTV and posts on social media. I hope you will add yours if you haven’t already. You can go to www.keeptheweatherchann el.com for more information on how you can be heard by DIRECTV.

We are listening to all your constructive comments and at the end of the day I feel it's just irresponsible for DIRECTV to drop The Weather Channel and deny their viewers access to critical and potentially life-saving information in times of severe weather. I think it’s a dangerous gamble to put lives at risk for a penny. I think you’ll agree. Nobody can do weather like we do. Nobody.

Respectfully,

Jim Cantore
Meteorologist
The Weather Channel

The Weather Channel is off DirecTV, which means 20 million households aren’t getting it right now. DirecTV wants to decrease the monthly fee the channel gets for being carried (averaging 13 cents per month, according to sources), while the Weather Channel asked for a 1 penny per month increase. (Are you laughing? One cent a month adds up to about 2.4 million per year. That’s certainly enough to keep Jim Cantore in tight T-shirts.)

The TerryReport advice to the people at the Weather Channel is this: settle this thing and quickly. Cave-in, in other words. The wolves are howling at the door as competitors to the Weather Channel line up and, more importantly, people debate whether such a channel is needed in the age of smartphones and broadband Internet where everyone wants to give you the latest news and weather for free. Settle this thing, dudes. 

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