The Weather Channel Airs Sneak Peek of New Series WEATHERPROOF August 9

New Series Will Premiere on The Weather Channel Beginning January 2010

ATLANTA - Can lightning knock a plane out of the sky? Can you drive a vehicle through raging floodwaters? To help find these answers and more, The Weather Channel® introduces WEATHERPROOF, a revealing new series exploring the “what ifs” of extreme weather conditions. A full-episode sneak peek of the show airs Sunday, August 9, at 9 p.m. ET. Six episodes produced by Peacock Productions will debut in January 2010, but this preview episode airs during “Hurricane Week: Extreme Impact” August 9-15, a themed week with new programming on TWC.

WEATHERPROOF is an hour-long series shot in high definition and hosted by meteorologist Stephanie Abrams and “weather tester” Newton Wimer. The fun, fast-paced show puts ordinary items such as cars, windows and doors to the test for consumers to see what stands up to the full force of severe weather. During intense testing, products will be pushed to their ultimate breaking point to see how long - or even if - they can survive the world’s most extreme weather.

“WEATHERPROOF looks at the science behind weather in a fascinating, high-energy format complete with explosions, catapulting cars and catastrophic conditions,” said Geoffrey Darby, executive vice president of programming at The Weather Channel. “WEATHERPROOF provides viewers a way to really visualize the weather while revealing its power and the need to prepare for its impact.”

WEATHERPROOF will simulate real-world weather situations using special effects equipment such as jet engines, dump tanks, high-powered fans and air mortars. The “weather testers” will go anywhere - wind tunnels, lightning labs and tornado, avalanche and hurricane simulators - to find the answer. Multiple cameras, sometimes up to seven at once, will present both the most exciting and dramatic footage and the most educational and exacting slow motion shots.

“The goal of this exciting series is to help viewers ’weatherproof’ their lives,” said Sharon Scott, senior vice president of Peacock Productions.

Stephanie Abrams is a well-recognized face in the mornings on The Weather Channel. She can be seen weekdays on Wake Up With Al hosted by Al Roker at 6 a.m. ET and on Your Weather Today with Mike Bettes from 7-10 a.m. ET. An experienced meteorologist and host, she has covered first hand the most significant storms of the last decade.

Newton Wimer will be the lead “weather tester” on the show. With more than 20 years of industry experience, he works on special effects in the film industry and has worked on many major feature films. Wimer is an expert at product construction, underwater rigging, welding, vehicle chassis building and much more.

Peacock Productions is NBC’s award-winning nonfiction production company. Original TWC programming produced by Peacock includes episodes for the popular Storm Stories series and specials such as Tornado! and Hurricane Force.

To learn more about the show and other TWC programming, visit www.weather.com/tv.

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About The Weather Channel Companies
The Weather Channel, a 24-hour weather network, is seen in more than 98 million U.S. households. The Weather Channel reaches more than 38 million unique users online per month through weather.com and products including The Weather Channel Desktop, making it the most popular source of online weather, news and information according to Nielsen//Net Ratings. The Weather Channel also operates The Weather Channel HD; Weatherscan, a 24-hour, all-local weather network; The Weather Channel Radio Network; and is the leading weather information provider for emerging technologies. This includes broadband and interactive television applications and wireless weather products including the most popular content site on the Mobile Web. The Weather Channel Companies are owned by a consortium made up of NBC Universal and the private equity firms The Blackstone Group and Bain Capital. For more information, visit www.weather.com/press.

About Peacock Productions
Peacock Productions is NBC’s award-winning nonfiction production company that combines the editorial expertise, technical resources and seasoned production talent of NBC News to offer a wide range of programming to broadcast, cable and digital entities with worldwide reach.