Local on the 8s


Local on the 8s is a program segment that airs on the American cable and satellite television network The Weather 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 "Local on the 8s" comes from the timing of the segment, as airs at timeslots that end in "8" ; 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 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 the summer of 2020, the segments air in 30-minute intervals, usually at approximately :18 and :48 past each hour.

History Of Local on the 8s

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. 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 market, as CBS Corporation's television and radio combination of WCBS-TV and WCBS use "traffic and weather on the 8s" to refer to the combined traffic and weather segments featured on those stations.
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 the vertical blanking interval of the TWC video feed and from data 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 uniformally 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.
Despite the name, the segment occasionally airs at times that do not end in "8", particularly during original long-form programming and weekday morning forecast programs, such as AMHQ and the now-defunct Wake Up With Al.
As of the summer of 2020, the segment airs, regardless of programming, every 30 minutes – at approximately :18 and :48 past each hour.

Weather Star systems

The majority of cable operators use the IntelliStar, the sixth-generation and second-most recent STAR model, which was released in 2002. The IntelliStar platform can also generate graphics for Weatherscan, The Weather Channel's 24-hour localized weather network that is available on select cable and satellite systems. With an IntelliStar, in addition to current weather conditions for a given area, surrounding areas, and a specific region; 24- and 36-hour, daypart, and seven-day forecasts; and almanacs ; cable viewers can also see air quality and health reports; specialized school day and activity forecasts; in coastal areas, tides and marine forecasts; and, in the past in certain large media markets, traffic conditions supplied by Traffic Pulse. The most recent STAR model, the IntelliStar 2, which was released in 2010 and is the seventh-generation model, generates weather data for The Weather Channel HD, the channel's high definition simulcast feed.
Both the IntelliStar and IntelliStar 2 have an audio feature, known as Vocal Local – a function that assembles pre-recorded tracks for narration of the current temperature and sky conditions, descriptive forecasts and introductions to certain forecast products. This function is similar to a narration feature in the WeatherSTAR 4000 that was used from 1990 to 1995; the narration, voiced by Dan Chandler, was used only to introduce products in the forecast segment.
The IntelliSTAR 2 and the IntelliSTAR 2 Jr are the only STAR models that are currently in operation.
Three other STAR systems were used sporadically until June 2014: the WeatherSTAR 4000 is the oldest and was the first in the series to be capable of producing graphical local forecasts and radar images. The Weather Star Jr. is a budget model introduced in 1994 that was very uncommon from its introduction, and is similar to the now-discontinued WeatherSTAR III in terms of products and appearance, although it uses the typeface of the 4000.
The WeatherSTAR XL, introduced in the fall of 1998, is an IRIX-based machine, a major leap from the 4000 systems in terms of capabilities and graphic generation; it was used for Weatherscan until 2003.
All STAR systems are capable of generating a crawl, which runs a series of scrolling text advertisements that appear at the bottom of the screen during each forecast segment.
As satellite television is broadcast to a large area, this localized weather model must be adapted for its viewers. The satellite forecast segment includes national weather headlines, daily forecasts and composite satellite/radar loops for the respective regions of the Northeastern, Southeastern, Central and Western United States. Until 2008, the satellite forecasts also featured four-day forecasts for 30 U.S. cities, regardless of region.
IntelliSTARs are installed at the primary uplink sites respectively used by DirecTV and Dish Network, but they run a different lower display line graphic and sidebar at all times even during commercial breaks. This cycles through current conditions and daypart forecasts for major U.S. cities. The current time, based on time zone, and a news ticker displaying weather-related headlines appear above the LDL.
On November 8, 2006, Dish Network viewers began to be able to view local weather conditions and radar on The Weather Channel on DISH HOME Channel 100, based on their billing ZIP code, along with access to weather information in other cities. DirecTV viewers can receive local forecasts by ZIP code, which works through the "interactive" function of later receiver models.
Although IPTV services are wired services, allowing for the use of WeatherStar systems, AT&T U-verse also does not provide localized forecasts through the aid of an IntelliStar computer ; as such, U-verse subscribers also see the satellite forecast segment during the "Local on the 8s" segments.
During The Weather Channel's "Storm Alert" mode, specifically when a dangerous hurricane prepares to make landfall, the number of local forecasts seen throughout each hour was reduced from six times to four – at :18, :28, :48 and :58 past the hour.
As of the summer of 2020, the number of local forecasts seen each hour throughout the day, regardless of programming, has been reduced to two times – at approximately :18 and :48 past each hour.

Lower Display Line (LDL) and sidebar

The Weather Star systems also utilize weather information in the form of a Lower Display Line ; the LDL displayed by Weather Star systems from Weather Star Jr. and earlier were strictly text-based, and therefore contained no graphical background, and also only included current weather observations and monthly precipitation totals.
The Weather Star XL included a semi-translucent background for the LDL and added local weather forecasts, while the IntelliStar system includes current conditions and forecasts for four nearby areas and until March 11, 2010, included air quality indexes, travel forecasts for three cities in the region, traffic information and almanac data.
Time data was included on the LDLs as well as the full-screen local forecast graphics since the initial Weather Star system and the current date was also included on systems from Weather Star XL and earlier.
With the addition of a national LDL during national programming on March 11, 2010, cable headends still using the Weather Star 4000 and Weather Star Jr. now overlay the text-only LDL over the national LDL due to the lack of a background on the 4000 and Jr.'s LDLs; the XL's LDL stopped receiving a signal to cue as well after this update. However, on extreme, rare conditions, the 4000 and/or Jr.'s LDLs will cue and remain on for a period during the day it gets cued.
In recent years with the inclusion of original programming such as Storm Stories and Full Force Nature to The Weather Channel, the local forecasts began airing only for four times an hour during long-form entertainment-based programs and some forecast programming on the channel. Local weather information was provided during the other "8"s on the Lower Display Line during these programs. The standard "Local on the 8s" segment airs during non-forecast programming once every half-hour; until November 11, 2013, at about :18 and :48 minutes of each hour, an L-bar displaying localized weather observations and forecasts aired during a live national forecast update performed by one of the channel's on-camera meteorologists, running in a simultaneous picture-in-picture format. On November 12, 2013, The Weather Channel began to display the Lower Display Line full-time, throughout commercial breaks and telecasts of its long-form programs.
The graphical revamp resulted in other changes to the on-air display; the LDL was replaced on the "Local on the 8s" segments by a combined segment rundown/progress bar display, with time data being moved to an upper-third graphic. A sidebar was introduced, appearing on the right third of the screen on The Weather Channel HD, which unlike the LDL, is removed during commercial breaks and is only shown during the channel's forecast programming; the satellite version of the sidebar displays major airport delays, temperature and precipitation extremes for the current or previous day around the U.S., snowfall reports for major ski resorts, as well as a rundown of the segments within the program and weather information to be featured in the center portion of the sidebar. For cable and IPTV subscribers, the IntelliStar 2 generates arrival and departure delays for area airports; visibility, dew point and barometric pressure data not included within the current observations featured on the LDL; almanac data ; and air quality forecasts on the center of the sidebar.

Music on Local on the 8s

and smooth jazz music is regularly played during the "Local on the 8s" segments; the music that is heard over the national feed's forecast segments is also transmitted over the localized segments generated by the STAR headend units. The Weather Channel released its own Smooth Jazz CD in 2007, ', based on collections of popular music played during the "Local On the 8s" segments. It peaked at #1 on Billboard's Top Contemporary Jazz charts that year. Artists included on this CD are Joyce Cooling, Dave Koz, Paprika Soul, Four 80 East, Jeff Lorber, Pieces of a Dream, Chick Corea, Jeanne Ricks, Ryan Farish, Mark Krurnowski, Najee and 3rd Force. In 2008, a second compilation CD containing the channel's most requested music was released, titled '. Artists on this CD include Russ Freeman & The Rippingtons, Jeff Lorber, Ramsey Lewis Trio, Bradley Joseph, Bernie Williams, David Benoit, Spyro Gyra, Norman Brown, Chris Geith, Joe Sample, Charlie Parker Quartet and Eric Marienthal.
Other songs that can be heard during this segment include production music from the Network Music stock music service, and music from artists such as Trammell Starks, The Rippingtons, Moby, EKO, Pat Metheny Group, Shadowfax, Roberto Tola, Chris Camozzi, Scott Ward, Miles Davis, Robert A. Wolf, David Becker and Kent Marcum. Instrumentals performed by bands such as The B-52's, Derek and the Dominos, Devo, The Who, the Allman Brothers Band, parts of "Shine On You Crazy Diamond", "Terminal Frost" and Run Like Hell by Pink Floyd, and "Divided Sky" by Phish have also been heard during this segment. When Wake Up With Al premiered in July 2009, music from 3 Doors Down including "Here Without You" was added to the lineup, marking the first time the broadcast played music that contained lyrics. Most recently, much of the solo piano music was provided by new age pianist, Matthew C. Shuman, with his original pieces.
Other songs containing lyrics from artists such as Taylor Swift and Vanessa Carlton have been rotated into the local forecast cycle since then, though the inclusion of lyrical songs poses a problem as the ducking feature of the IntelliStar's Vocal Local function causes both the music and lyrics to be nearly muted as the narration track is played in a nearly continuous manner until the end of the 24- to 48-hour forecast segment. This is in addition to the fact that the songs will not be played in their entirety due to the variable and often limited local forecast lengths.
The Weather Channel suspends the music playlist regularly used during the forecast segments at other times when a tropical storm or hurricane approaches coastal areas of the United States, during which time it is substituted with the "Storm Alert" music. During the holiday season, the normal music is replaced with appropriately-themed music such as instrumental versions of popular Christmas carols and music from A Charlie Brown Christmas is often played during the "Local on the 8s". Music and scores from various films including Raiders of the Lost Ark, Jurassic Park, Harry Potter, Home Alone, Shaft, St. Elmo's Fire, and have also been played. On July 7, 2009, into the early morning of July 8, The Weather Channel played the hit Michael Jackson song "Billie Jean", to commemorate the memorial service held in honor of Jackson that day in Los Angeles, two weeks after his June 25 death. It was also played during the Wake Up with Al playlists in the months that followed.
Since November 12, 2013, the new music package introduced to The Weather Channel on that day also began to be played during the local forecasts, replacing the other music. Three songs from that package are being used for the local forecasts, with a fourth being used during the segments when the channel's "Red Alert" mode is ongoing, which also suspends all music during very frequent weather situations. It also used vocal music from February to May 2014 along with the music package. In September 2014, a new song was added to the package; with seven more songs added in November 2014. The channel returned Christmas songs in December 2014. Smooth jazz music returned in 2016 on pre-determined days, usually four or five days per month. In September 2016, four new Storm Alert songs were added during coverage of Hurricane Hermine, replacing the one used since 2013. However, the original track returned during coverage of Hurricane Matthew and subsequent events the following month. In March 2017, during coverage of Winter Storm Stella, another new storm alert theme was added. On July 4, 2017, and again on August 18, 2017, Weezer's newest song "Feels Like Summer" was played. On the day of the solar eclipse of August 21, 2017, music containing the words "sun", "sunshine" or "eclipse" in the songs' title were played, including "Ain't No Sunshine", "Walking on the Sun", "Let the Sunshine In"; "You Are the Sunshine of My Life" by Stevie Wonder, "Here Comes the Sun" by the Beatles, and "Eclipse" by Pink Floyd. Three new songs from Extreme Music were added to the package in August 2018.