History of The Weather Channel Network, and the "Forecast Earth"/environmental unit (however, certain portions of the "Forecast Earth" unit remain with TWC). The layoffs took effect on November 30 (The Weather Channel later stated it would air other environmental programs). With the shutdown of NBC Weather Plus that month as a result of NBC Universal's partial acquisition of The Weather Channel, certain meteorologists from the digital broadcast network were eventually integrated into TWC's on-camera weather staff; forecasting, radar and graphics systems used by other NBC Universal television news properties (including NBC News, CNBC and MSNBC) replaced the Weather Plus-branded banner graphics to fit The Weather
History of The Weather Channel done on the basis that "our most passionate fans come to us for the weather and the science behind the weather, not our original shows." As part of the overhaul, The Weather Company would lay off around 50 of TWC's employees (or 3% of the channel's 1,400 staff members), including production, engineering and financial staff, while overall spending for the television channel would be reduced to focus more on the company's internet and mobile properties. The channel also announced that it would launch Local Now, a localized weather, traffic and news service similar in format to Weatherscan, that is intended