Weather Channel returns with fewer reality TV shows

The Weather Channel is returning to DirecTV with a significant compromise that affects all of its viewers: it promises to focus more on the weather.

After a three-month dispute with DirecTV that saw the channel dropped to some 20 million U.S. viewers, the two sides came to a new deal that will restore service on Wednesday.

The biggest change to its programming will affect all Weather Channel viewers, not just DirecTV subscribers. It said it will reduce its reality programming by half on weekdays. That means fewer airings of TV shows like “Coast Guard Alaska” and “Hurricane Hunters.”

Number of job openings jumps up 7.7 percent

U.S. employers posted more job openings in February, a sign that hiring will likely improve in the months ahead.

The Labor Department said Tuesday that employers advertised 4.2 million job openings, up 7.7 percent from January. That’s the highest number of postings since January 2008, when the Great Recession was just beginning and the economy had yet to suffer the full shock of the downturn.

There are roughly 2.5 unemployed Americans for each open job, the report shows.

Energy Department says gas will drop by a penny

Drivers will get the slightest of breaks on gasoline prices this summer, according to the Energy Department. The national average price is forecast to fall – by just one cent – to $3.57 a gallon between April and September, the months when Americans do most of their driving. Still, that would be the lowest average summer price since 2010.

For the year, the department’s Energy Information Administration expects gasoline to average $3.45 a gallon, down from $3.51 last year and also the lowest since 2010.

– From news service reports