Weather need no longer remain at the fag end of news shows. The first ever interactive weather channel using terrestrial digital television (DTV) spectrum has recently been launched in the US.

Promoted by NJN Public Television and Radio (NJN), AccuWeather, Triveni Digital and Zenith Electronics Corporation, the channel utilizes the flexibility of the ATSC Digital Television standard. Each viewer can interact with the received content individually, while not requiring any type of back channel to a central server.

This innovative digital television application uses the Advanced Television Enhancement Forum (ATVEF) Transport B specification for sending interactive TV data over the DTV spectrum. The data is stored in the STB memory and is available for interactive retrieval using the viewer's remote control.

TV-based interactive weather information is compelling in that it provides immediate access over TV while being easy to use with frequent updates. Taking advantage of the flexible 19.4 megabit-per-second broadband pipeline that the ATSC DTV standard provides, NJN plans to expand the portal offering to include local traffic, news, and other innovative local channels from Triveni Digital.