The Weather Channel is First Online Publisher to Offer 300x250 Mobile Web Ad Product for True Cross-platform Integration with Online Advertising

Mobile Ad Unit Makes Seamless the Transition of Creative from weather.com to TWC Mobile for Advertisers

The Weather Channel (TWC) is the first online publisher to offer advertisers a seamless cross-platform experience - between weather.com online and weather.com on mobile - with its new 300x250 advertising unit available on mobile Web for smart phones. TWC eases advertisers’ ability to use the same creative for the popular 300x250 online Web advertising unit and on mobile Web. A great innovation for mobile advertising, this expansion from online ad buys gives advertisers more access to mobile integration, easing the transition from online to Mobile Web and extending a campaign’s reach to The Weather Channel consumers, one of the largest digital audiences available at 45 million unique users a month.

A seamless TWC online and mobile buy delivers not only large audiences, but also outstanding ad awareness and purchase intent numbers higher than industry norms. TWC mobile platforms deliver a 61 percent increase in ad awareness and a 17 percent increase in purchase intent,* while weather.com online sees a 174 percent increase in ad awareness and a 62 percent increase in purchase intent.*

The new ad product automatically opens upon page load to an expanded view of 300x250 for a few seconds before collapsing into a smaller size of 300x50. Once collapsed, the ad runs in page along the top banner position across all TWC Mobile Web pages on smart phones, including iPhone, iPod touch, Palm Pre and Palm Pixi, and all Android devices. The consumer then has the option to “click to expand” and “click to close” the ad unit via a text link.

“The new 300x250 mobile ad unit is designed to inspire cross-platform campaign integration and enhance interactivity for consumers,” said Cameron Clayton, vice president of mobile at The Weather Channel. “The Weather Channel continues to demonstrate its industry-leader position by developing innovative mobile products with both the advertiser and user in mind.”

Companioned with a 300x250 ad unit online, the new mobile ad product offers advertisers an opportunity for a powerful branding message to a large audience. TWC is the No. 1 content provider on Mobile Web and the go-to weather provider no matter the device or platform, reaching more than 16 million unique users a month on Mobile Web.

Highlights of the new mobile ad unit include:

* The popular 300x250 size for online Web advertising is now transferable to mobile Web
* A 300x250 expanded intro with a collapsed 300x50 version after a few seconds
* A frequency cap of one view per user per session protects the consumer experience
* Expanded and collapsed versions are fully clickable to all standard mobile creative click actions
* TWC can create the leave-behind 300x50 ad with a click-through landing page

For more information about The Weather Channel, visit http://www.weather.com/.

* Source: Dynamic Logic, Inc., 2008 - Jan. 2010. TWC mobile ad effectiveness lifts compared to mobile industry norms.
**Source: InsightExpress studies, Dec. 03 - Feb. 09. Comparisons in percent lifts among branding study metrics for ad effectiveness campaigns on weather.com compared to industry norms.





About The Weather Channel Companies
The Weather Channel Companies (TWCC) is made up of The Weather Channel television network, The Weather Channel digital properties, and Weather Services International (WSI). The Weather Channel® is based in Atlanta and is seen in more than 99 million U.S. households. TWC also operates Weatherscan, a 24-hour all-local weather network; The Weather Channel Radio Network; and The Weather Channel HD. The digital properties of TWC, which include the weather.com® site, The Weather Channel Desktop and The Weather Channel Mobile, reach more than 45 million unique users online each month and is the most popular source of online weather, news and information according to Nielsen//NetRatings. WSI, headquartered in Andover, MA, primarily provides business-to-business weather services, particularly for the media, aviation, marine and energy sectors. TWCC is 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.