Copyright The Hollywood Reporter
Alongside its politics and policy coverage, the soon-to-be-named MS NOW is making a big bet on the weather. The Hollywood Reporter has learned that the channel (which will be rebranded from MSNBC on Nov. 15) has inked a multi-year deal with AccuWeather to bring its forecasts, data and meteorologists to MS NOW viewers. The deal makes AccuWeather the preferred weather source for Versant, so CNBC will also be take advantage of the company’s data and forecasts. The partnership will include daily branded segments on Morning Joe and Squawk Box, in addition to other coverage as needed. The channel also hired hired David Parkinson as senior weather and elections data analyst and Moses Small as climate reporter, reinforcing its commitment to weather and climate reporting. MS NOW has had to effectively build a newsgathering operation from scratch in conjunction with its split from NBC News, which took effect last month (Versant’s split from NBCUniversal is on track to happen early next year). The channel has had to beef up its newsgathering across politics, foreign policy and investigations, and has supplemented that with partnerships, including with Sky News for international coverage. AccuWeather is another example of utilizing a partnership to fill a coverage gap. The MS NOW studios in Times Square include a virtual reality studio with something akin to a small “Volume” LED backdrop, which is likely to be utilized for weather reporting and forecasts. “At such a groundbreaking moment for soon-to-be MS NOW, we are proud to continue to expand our reporting capabilities and offerings alongside AccuWeather,” MS NOW senior vp newsgathering Scott Matthews said in a statement. “Our network’s mission — embodied through our new name MS NOW, My Source for News, Opinion and the World — is to bring our viewers the most-trusted news that they care about. We know, at a moment of unprecedented weather events, that AccuWeather will bring top-quality data and reporting to our audiences.” “AccuWeather is proud to be the preferred weather provider for Versant, which further enhances AccuWeather’s core mission to save lives, protect property and help people and businesses make the best weather-impacted decisions,” added AccuWeather CEO Steven R. Smith. “AccuWeather’s forecasts and warnings with proven superior accuracy from its expert meteorologists will now reach millions more people with this multi-year deal on many new platforms.”
