The Weather Channel's "Retro Forecast" Courtesy One theme of DTF St. Louis, definitely not its main one, is that with smartphones, there is no real need for a weatherman anymore. By this point it’s a pretty old joke (that isn’t even really a joke), but in the whodunnit limited-drama series on HBO, which reveals all on April 12, the sentiment is used to inform (some of) Clark Forest’s (Jason Bateman) mid-life aimlessness. The commonplace observation — and I’m talking well-beyond HBO and the greater St. Louis metropolitan area — is often triggered by the realization that the Weather Channel still exists.
You see kids, in a time before all of the world’s knowledge fit into your pocket, we got our weather information one of several ways: the newspaper (a bit old), the radio (every quarterhour on the hour!), and/or a dedicated minute, maybe two, on your local news. In the early 1980s, TV meteorologist John Coleman and Landmark Communications launched a 24/7 cable channel dedicated to the weather. At its peak, the Weather Channel reached just over 100 million U.S. homes. Though no longer at that level, and probably by about half, it has continued to exist and evolve this whole time.
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Well, the Weather Channel’s heyday is back, baby! Quite literally.
Weather.com has launched a “Retro” extension, available at weather.com/retro/, which brings visitors their local forecast alongside a tornado of nostalgia. The graphics are a perfect facsimile of decades-old Weather Channel telecasts, complete with a crop fit for a tube TV. The only thing better than its no-frills voiceover is the muzak. Only the actual weather information is current — it’s perfect.
It’s also a bit confusing. You see, in 2018, Byron Allen’s Allen Media Group (AMG) purchased the Weather Channel for roughly $300 million. What AMG did not acquire were digital assets like weather.com; in 2024, the private-equity firm Francisco Partners bought those, including the website. The Retro forecast is a collaboration between the two — “The companies have ongoing agreements that have been in place for many years and such things are the result of that,” a spokesperson for AMG told The Hollywood Reporter — one that’s here to stay.
“No this is not a joke,” the Weather Channel wrote on X on Thursday, the day after April Fool’s Day. “Retro Weather Channel is officially back!”
No this is not a joke…Retro Weather Channel is officially back! 🎶 Head to https://t.co/sJgpOSHVgR enjoy RetroCast Now for your forecasts in the way you know and love. 💙🎷☀️
— The Weather Channel (@weatherchannel) April 2, 2026
The saxophone and sun emojis are a nice touch.
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