The Retro Weather Channel may be the best thing you can watch on non-TV devices

One topic of DTF St. LouisThe main thing, certainly not, is that with smartphones, there’s no real need for a meteorologist anymore. At this point, it’s a pretty old joke (and it’s not even really a joke), but in the HBO drama limited series, which reveals all on April 12, emotions are used to inform (some) aimless middle-aged Clark Forrest (Jason Bateman). The common observation — and I’m talking beyond HBO and the greater St. Louis area — is often due to the realization that The Weather Channel still exists.

You see, kids, in a time when all the world’s knowledge wasn’t in your pockets, we got our weather information in one of many ways: newspaper (a bit old-fashioned), radio (every quarter hour on the clock!), and/or an allotted minute, maybe two, on your local news. In the early 1980s, television meteorologist John Coleman and Landmark Communications launched a 24/7 dedicated weather cable channel. At its peak, The Weather Channel reached just over 100 million homes in the United States. Although it is no longer at this level, perhaps by about half, it has continued to exist and develop throughout this time.

Well, the Weather Channel’s peak is back, baby! In every sense of the word.

Weather.com has launched a “Retro” extension, available at weather.com/retro/, that brings visitors their local forecast along with a tornado of nostalgia. The graphics are a perfect replica of the Weather Channel’s television broadcasts from decades ago, complete with proper tube TV cropping. The only thing better than a no-frills voiceover is mezz. Actual weather information is the only current one, it’s perfect.

It’s also a little confusing. You see, in 2018, Byron Allen’s Allen Media Group (AMG) bought the Weather Channel for roughly $300 million. What AMG He didn’t do that Acquisition of digital assets such as Weather.com; In 2024, private equity firm Francisco Partners bought those sites, including the website. The Retro Expectations are a collaboration between the two – “the companies have ongoing agreements in place for many years and things like this are a result of that,” said an AMG spokesperson. Hollywood Reporter – One is here to stay.

“No, this is not a joke,” the Weather Channel wrote on X on Thursday, the day after April Fools’ Day. “The Retro Weather Channel is officially back!”

Saxophone and sun emojis are a nice touch.