The Weather Channel increases streaming subscription prices by up to $20
The Weather Channel increases streaming subscription prices by up to $20
The Weather Channel 将流媒体订阅价格最高上调 20 美元
People who pay for a subscription to livestream The Weather Channel via its dedicated smart TV app are seeing a 66.7 percent price hike. The TV app, available via Android TV, Fire TV, Roku, and Samsung TVs, used to cost $3 per month, or $30 per year. According to the Internet Archive’s Wayback Machine, those prices were valid as recently as April 2026. Now, a subscription to the streaming app is $5 per month, or $50 per year, as first reported today by Cord Cutters News.
通过其专用智能电视应用订阅 The Weather Channel 直播服务的用户正面临 66.7% 的价格上涨。该电视应用适用于 Android TV、Fire TV、Roku 和三星电视，此前价格为每月 3 美元或每年 30 美元。根据互联网档案馆（Internet Archive）的 Wayback Machine 显示，这些价格在 2026 年 4 月时仍然有效。据 Cord Cutters News 今日率先报道，现在该流媒体应用的订阅价格已调整为每月 5 美元或每年 50 美元。
In addition to livestreaming The Weather Channel’s broadcast network, The Weather Channel TV app also offers on-demand shows, local forecasts, maps, radars, and news. The app launched in May 2022, allowing people to access The Weather Channel’s reporting without a cable or satellite TV subscription.
除了直播 The Weather Channel 的广播网络内容外，该电视应用还提供点播节目、本地天气预报、地图、雷达图和新闻。该应用于 2022 年 5 月推出，使用户无需订阅有线或卫星电视即可获取 The Weather Channel 的报道。
Interestingly, the new $5 per month price matches what Allen Media Group, which bought The Weather Channel in 2018, wanted to charge for The Weather Channel Plus, which a 2021 press release described as a subscription service that would have over “50 news and entertainment streaming channels for a launch in the fourth quarter of 2021” and that its owner expected to reach “30 million subscribers in its first five years.” The Weather Channel Plus never actually became available. Instead, The Weather Channel is only getting its streaming subscription revenue from the original app, which does not include dozens of streaming channels.
有趣的是，每月 5 美元的新价格与 Allen Media Group（2018 年收购了 The Weather Channel）此前计划为“The Weather Channel Plus”设定的价格一致。根据 2021 年的一份新闻稿，该服务原计划提供超过“50 个新闻和娱乐流媒体频道，并于 2021 年第四季度推出”，其所有者曾预计在头五年内达到“3000 万订阅用户”。然而，The Weather Channel Plus 最终并未上线。相反，The Weather Channel 目前仅能从原始应用中获得流媒体订阅收入，而该应用并不包含那数十个流媒体频道。
The change in plans and subsequent price hike of The Weather Channel’s TV app shows how fickle the streaming industry can be, especially when it comes to legacy media companies’ roles. Many organizations that succeeded in the broadcast era are struggling to find the right value proposition, including prices, for the streaming era, while ensuring they have a place at the table. Even successful streaming TV providers are struggling to manage the infrastructure, app development, licensing costs, user support, and other expenses associated with running an attractively priced, always-on streaming service that can maintain profitability.
此次计划的变更及随后的价格上涨，凸显了流媒体行业的多变性，尤其是在传统媒体公司转型过程中。许多在广播时代取得成功的机构，正努力在流媒体时代寻找合适的价值主张（包括定价策略），同时确保自己能占有一席之地。即便是成功的流媒体电视提供商，也在努力应对基础设施、应用开发、授权成本、用户支持以及其他运营高性价比、全天候流媒体服务并保持盈利所需的各项开支。
The Weather Channel faces an uphill battle as people have more options for weather reporting than they did during the network’s prime. Besides local news stations, the channel is competing with, for instance, websites and free and paid-for mobile apps—including, respectively, Weather.com and The Weather Channel iOS and Android apps, which are all owned by a separate company, private equity firm Francisco Partners—and personal smart home devices.
The Weather Channel 面临着严峻挑战，因为与该网络鼎盛时期相比，人们现在获取天气预报的渠道更多了。除了地方新闻台，该频道还面临着来自网站、免费及付费移动应用（例如分别由私募股权公司 Francisco Partners 拥有的 Weather.com 以及 The Weather Channel 的 iOS 和 Android 应用）以及个人智能家居设备的竞争。
While likely facing declining advertising dollars for its broadcast channel, The Weather Channel is challenged to pay for the technology, tools, and staff needed to provide accurate, real-time weather reports, news, analysis, and additional programming on the channel and TV app. Accessing any of The Weather Channel’s rivals could be viewed, depending on the user, as more convenient than opening a dedicated app that they downloaded onto their smart TV. With a 67 percent price hike also now in tow, The Weather Channel’s niche TV app subscription may be perceived as even less convenient than before.
尽管其广播频道的广告收入可能正在下滑，但 The Weather Channel 仍需投入资金用于技术、工具和人员，以确保在频道和电视应用上提供准确、实时的天气预报、新闻、分析及其他节目。对于用户而言，访问 The Weather Channel 的竞争对手可能比打开下载在智能电视上的专用应用更为便捷。随着价格上涨 67%，The Weather Channel 这个小众电视应用的订阅服务可能会被认为比以往更加“不便”。