With powerful Hurricane Helene nearing the Florida Panhandle’s Big Bend and “Forgotten Coast” ahead of bringing strong rain, wind and potential flooding concerns to Tallahassee, Fla.; and much of western Georgia, DirecTV has launched a Severe Weather Channel and four-channel Severe Weather Mix mosaic, with the latter featuring coverage from an array of local broadcast TV stations.
The Severe Weather Channel is on DirecTV Channel 361-2 and on U-verse via Channels 1227/227.
The Severe Weather Mix is on DirecTV Channel 361-1, 71-1, 200-1, and 307-2 but not on U-Verse.
Participating stations include those owned by Cox Media Group, Fox Television Stations, Gray Television, Sinclair Broadcast Group, and TEGNA.
According to DirecTV representative, the channels shown on the mosaic will depend on where the storm is at any time. “Right now we’re lining up stations in about 6-8 DMAs in the path,” the spokesperson said. “As the storm passes, a group of three or four for one DMA will then give way to three or four from the next DMA.”
Here are the current stations already onboard based on their location:
| DMA | Call Letters | Affiliation | Owner |
| Albany, GA | WFXL | FOX | Sinclair Broadcast Group |
| Atlanta, GA | WSB | ABC | Cox Media Group |
| Atlanta, GA | WAGA | FOX | Fox Television Stations |
| Atlanta, GA | WANF | CBS | Gray Television |
| Atlanta, GA | WXIA | NBC | TEGNA Inc. |
| Gainesville, FL | WGFL | CBS | Sinclair Broadcast Group |
| Macon, GA | WGXA-D2 | ABC | Sinclair Broadcast Group |
| Macon, GA | WGXA | FOX | Sinclair Broadcast Group |
| Nashville, TN | WSMV | NBC | Gray Television |
| Nashville, TN | WKRN | ABC | Nexstar |
| Nashville, TN | WZTV | FOX | Sinclair Broadcast Group |
| Tallahassee, FL-Thomasville, GA | WCTV | CBS | Gray Television |
| Tallahassee, FL-Thomasville, GA | WTWC-D2 | FOX | Sinclair Broadcast Group |
| Tallahassee, FL-Thomasville, GA | WTWC | NBC | Sinclair Broadcast Group |
| Tampa-St. Petersburg, FL | WTVT | FOX | Fox Television Stations |
| Tampa-St. Petersburg, FL | WWSB | ABC | Gray Television |
| Tampa-St. Petersburg, FL | WFLA | NBC | Nexstar |
| Tampa-St. Petersburg, FL | WTSP | CBS | TEGNA Inc. |
“Often, the owners will have other stations nearby, and so as the storm moves, we will go back and ensure they are amenable to rolling those stations into the rotation too,” the DirecTV spokesperson told RBR+TVBR. “This first group is only limited based on geography rather than willingness, and we continue to reach out to others as the hurricane path grows.”
At 1pm, DirecTV confirmed the following additional stations that would be added to the mosaic:
- WALB-10 (NBC) and WALB-10.2 (ABC) — Albany, Ga.
- WCJB-20 (ABC) — Gainesville-Ocala, Fla.
- WMGT-41 (NBC) — Macon, Ga.
WALB and WCJB are owned by Gray Television; WMGT is owned by Morris Network.
The Severe Weather Mix uses the Severe Weather Channel as its anchor, adding around-the-clock live coverage from the Weather Channel, AccuWeather, and CNN.
