The Weather Channel goes up for sale

The Weather Channel, one of the last cable channels in America to be privately owned, is being put up for sale.

According to The New York Times, NBC Universal, News Corp and cable operator Comcast have all expressed an interest in acquiring the channel.

It is understood that it could be worth up to $5bn, in part due to its near-universal availability on basic cable.

In addition to its widespread availability, its key strengths include a popular website - which averaged 36m monthly unique users in the year to August - and its relatively ad skipping-proof programming formula, with viewers less likely to record a weather forecast and skip through ads than they are to do the same with programming on an entertainment-focused channel.

The channel, which was launched in 1982, has also broadened its appeal in recent years by scheduling more long-form programming, including documentaries examining extreme weather conditions and climate change, alongside its regular meteorologist-presented forecasts.