The Weather Channel - Hardcover

Batten, Frank; Cruikshank, Jeffrey L.

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1578515599 ISBN 13: 9781578515592

Publisher: Harvard Business Review Press, 2002

Synopsis

Former Weather Channel Chairman and CEO Batten recounts the first twenty years of the popular cable network, discussing the business, technological, and meteorological innovations responsible for its success.

About this title

About the Author

Frank Batten is the retired Chairman and CEO of Landmark Communications, Inc., a private media company that owns newspapers, specialty publications, television stations, and The Weather Channel.

From the Back Cover

"Despite gusts of widespread skepticism and downpours of derisive one-liners, The Weather Channel found an audience. Severe-storm coverage became riveting, breaking news, and the channel's meteorologists became minor celebrities. But The Weather Channel had a far more profound influence on mainstream culture. It didn't just feed farmers, pilots, and weather enthusiasts who had been hungry for more information. It created weather consumers by convincing ordinary people that they needed more weather information than they had been getting."

-Chuck Salter, Fast Company

"Whether it's tracking a hurricane or pinpointing severe weather or just predicting the daily parade of high- and low-pressure systems, The Weather Channel has become a grand master of the weather game."

-David Laskin, Smithsonian

Reviews

With the recent spate of books documenting the failure of hundreds of Internet startups, it's refreshing to read about the successful launch of a business in what was once a fledgling industry itself: cable television. The Weather Channel was born on May 2, 1982, less than two years after Good Morning America weatherman John Coleman brought his idea about a 24-hour channel dedicated to nothing but weather to Frank Batten, then chairman of Landmark Communications. In his comprehensive account of the channel's history, Batten details the many financial, technical and management obstacles the Landmark team overcame to get the service on the air and keep it there until it became profitable. As documented by Batten, the Weather Channel reached its low point in mid-1983 when, racked by losses, Landmark came within days of shutting down the operation, only to be saved by the cable system operators who agreed to pay subscriber fees to keep the service running. Given some breathing room, the Weather Channel steadily improved its programming and technology and, as Batten acknowledges, rode the wave of the explosive growth of cable television to the point where in 2000 the Weather Channel generated revenues of $320 million and attracted millions of loyal viewers. While the Weather Channel encountered some stormy times, its ultimate success proves that a sound business concept, hard work and a little luck can turn an idea into a national institution. Batten's book offers valuable business lessons that many entrepreneurs can learn from. 23 color photos.
Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

Edition details

• Publisher: Harvard Business Review Press
• Publication date: 2002
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1578515599
• ISBN 13: 9781578515592
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 304