Lights out for Weather Channel for Verizon FiOS customers

Verizon has dropped The Weather Channel on its FiOS TV service and is instead carrying the new AccuWeather Network.

Verizon wants to cut down on content costs and said that customers are increasingly getting their weather information on phone apps and online.

Verizon Communications Inc. said in a notice on its website that The Weather Channel's contract ran out and was not renewed for its 5.6 million FiOS TV customers.

The company behind The Weather Channel said Tuesday that it was disappointed that the channel was pulled while it was negotiating a contract renewal with Verizon. It said Verizon has "made it clear to us" that it doesn't want to negotiate further. It pressed FiOS customers to complain.

The Weather Channel said it was popular in February because of its live coverage of winter storms. But FiOS subscribers still have weather news options: The AccuWeather Network on one channel and the FiOS mobile app and from a WeatherBug "widget" on another channel.

Even after being dropped from FiOS, The Weather Channel remains widely available. It said it has recently renewed agreements with Cox and Time Warner Cable, two of the country's biggest cable providers.

And it's come back to channel lineups after being kicked off before. Last year, DirecTV brought The Weather Channel back after a three-month dispute. DirecTV also kept on the channel it picked to replace it, WeatherNation.

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