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
Weather media in the United States By the 1990s, sensationalism played a role in weather coverage. Farmers' Almanacs have published long-term forecasts for around 200 years. While almanac publishers have attributed an 80 to 85 percent accuracy rate to the publication’s annual forecasts, independent studies that retrospectively compare the weather with the predictions have not shown them more accurate than chance. Predictions for each edition are made as far as two years in advance. The "Farmers’ Almanac" publishers are highly secretive about the method used to make its predictions, only stating publicly that it is a "top secret mathematical and astronomical formula, that relies on sunspot