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In its continuing battle with DirecTV, the Weather Channel is urging DirecTV subscribers to switch to television service providers that carry the Weather Channel. This is a screenshot from the Weather Channel website.
Schenectady Mayor Gary McCarthy has jumped into the battle between the Weather Channel and DirecTV.
McCarthy wrote a letter to DirecTV President and CEO Michael White on Wednesday praising the Weather Channel for providing weather information to his community during Hurricanes Irene and Lee and Super Storm Sandy.
"There is significant value in the timely and accurate forecasts the Weather Channel produces," he said.
Nearly 7,000 DirecTV subscribers in the Upstate New York city are among 800,000 in the state and 20 million nationally that lost access to the Weather Channel when DirecTV dropped the channel from its lineup on Jan. 13. About 81,000 subscribers in the Syracuse area lost access to the channel.
A Weather Channel spokesman said no new negotiations have taken place with DirecTV since Jan. 13.
The dispute is centered on monthly carriage fees. The Weather Channel is asking for a one-cent increase in the 13-cent per subscriber fee that DirecTV paid to carry the channel. DirecTV is seeking a reduction in the fees, according to the Weather Channel.
The Weather Channel has launched a public relations campaign critical of DirecTV, saying the satellite service is denying its 20 million subscribers important weather information, especially during severe storms. It has urged DirecTV subscribers to switch to television services that carry the Weather Channel.
DirecTV, which added WeatherNation to its lineup after dropping the Weather Channel, said it is trying to hold down costs for its customers. It said any increase in the Weather Channel's fees is unjustified because the channel has lost about a third of its viewers over the last two years.
White has said the manner in which people get weather information has changed dramatically because of the wide variety of free online and offline sources. He said the Weather Channel was the fourth choice of DirecTV customers when looking for weather information. They first looked to mobile devices and computers for instant weather information and then to local news sources, he said.
Contact Rick Moriarty at rmoriarty@syracuse.com or (315) 470-3148. Follow him on Twitter @RickMoriartyCNY and on Facebook at rick.moriarty.92.