''Local on the 8s'' (or the ''Local Forecast'') ( o ''Pronóstico Local'') is a program segment that airs on the American network

The Weather Channel The Weather Channel (TWC) is an American pay television television channel, channel owned by Weather Group, LLC, a subsidiary of Allen Media Group. The channel's headquarters are located in Atlanta, Georgia. Launched on May 2, 1982, the channel ...

. It provides viewers with information on current and forecasted weather conditions for their respective area; a version of this segment is also available on the channel's national satellite feed that features forecasts for each region of the United States. The name comes from the timing of the segment, as airs at timeslots that end in "8" (examples: 9:18 and 12:48); because of this manner of scheduling, the forecast segments air on the channel in ten-minute intervals. From 2006-2013, each forecast segment had usually been preceded by a

promo PROMO (Promoting Missouri) is a Missouri Missouri (''see #Etymology and pronunciation, pronunciation'') is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking List of U.S. states and territ ...

for one of The Weather Channel's programs or services, leading into the segment with the announcer stating "And now, your ''Local on the 8s''". On November 12, 2013, the promo segment was replaced by an intro that was built into the ''Local on the 8s'' segment. As of April 2018, the segment airs at approximately :18 past each hour. It also usually airs at approximately :48 past each hour during live Weather Channel broadcasts.

History

The Weather Channel has carried a local weather forecast segment since the network was launched on May 2, 1982. The segments were originally seen either every five minutes or eight times an hour at various times (airing more frequently in the morning and less frequently at night). The structure of scheduling the segments six times an hour at times ending in "8" was implemented in mid-1995. The "Local on the 8s" name was first used on April 21, 1996 to coincide with a sweeping revamp of the channel's on-air presentation; The Weather Channel filed for a trademark on the name on June 24, 1997. The name has caused confusion in the

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

market Market is a term used to describe concepts such as: *Market (economics), system in which parties engage in transactions according to supply and demand *Market economy *Marketplace, a physical marketplace or public market *Marketing, the act of sat ...

, as the now-separately owned television and radio combination of

WCBS-TV WCBS-TV (channel 2), branded CBS New York, is a television station in New York City, serving as the flagship of the CBS network. It is owned and operated by the network's CBS News and Stations division alongside Riverhead, New York–lic ...

and WCBS Newsradio 880 use "traffic and weather on the 8s" to refer to the combined traffic and weather segments featured on those stations (which appear on WCBS-TV only during its morning newscasts and on WCBS radio at all hours). Forecasts are generated by a WeatherStar machine, a proprietary hardware system in the form of a computerized unit that is installed in a headend at the facilities of local pay television providers that carry the channel. Weather information is received from a data stream encapsulated within the TWC video feed transmitted via satellite, which is then sent to the WeatherStar unit that inserts the localized data over the TWC feed. The WeatherStar systems are capable of adding or removing segments shown within the main local forecast segment, with the common exception of the extended forecast; these customized segments are referred to as "flavors," which allow variabilities in the weather graphics displayed during each local forecast segment, resulting in certain types of specialized weather data appearing only at specific times or lengths. , the length of these flavors is uniformly one minute; flavor lengths previously varied between 30 seconds and two minutes prior to April 2013 and extended flavors of three to six minutes were previously included between the late 1980s and the mid-1990s. As of April 2018, the segment airs at approximately :18 past each hour. It also usually airs at approximately :48 past each hour during live Weather Channel broadcasts. On June 26, 2023, TWC announced an hour-long feature called “Retro 8s”, which is based on the era in the 1990s. It features the same band and jazz music recently introduced, and mimics the many varieties of music back before the IntelliStar update in 2008. The remastered graphics are all inspired by the WeatherStar 4000. As of Monday, November 6, 2023, “Retro Local on the 8s” and “Twilight Live” were discontinued.

Music

Until 2013, Pop and

smooth jazz Smooth jazz is commercially oriented crossover jazz music. Although often described as a "genre", it is a debatable and highly controversial subject in jazz music circles. As a radio format, however, smooth jazz radio became the successor to e ...

music was regularly played during the "Local on the 8s" segments. The Weather Channel released its own

Smooth Jazz Smooth jazz is commercially oriented crossover jazz music. Although often described as a "genre", it is a debatable and highly controversial subject in jazz music circles. As a radio format, however, smooth jazz radio became the successor to e ...

CD in 2007, '' The Weather Channel Presents: The Best of Smooth Jazz'', based on collections of popular music played during the "Local On the 8s" segments. It peaked at #1 on

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertis ...

's Top Contemporary Jazz charts that year. In 2013, The Weather Channel switched to mostly playing production music produced exclusively for the network, and in 2023, the network switched to using music from the Transition Music Corporation's library. Music that is heard over the national feed's forecast segments is also transmitted over the localized segments generated by the STAR headend units.

Notes

References

External links

The Weather Channel
{{Commons category, Local on the 8s The Weather Channel original programming 1982 American television series debuts 1980s American television news shows 1990s American television news shows 2000s American television news shows 2010s American television news shows 2020s American television news shows

History

Music

See also

Notes

References

External links