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Weather Channel Taps Andrews to Boost Advertising

Cable World, Nov 18, 2002

Byline: JON LAFAYETTE

The Weather Channel has a new ad sales rainmaker.

Lyn Andrews was named president of ad sales, an upgraded position based in New York. Andrews had been president of the medical website WebMD and before that president at ABC Radio Networks. Greg McCastle held the position briefly last summer, but left the company. EVP of ad sales William Wiehe retired last May.

The economic downturn has hurt the Weather Channel's ad revenue since 2000. Revenue fell to $123.1 million in 2001 from $144.8 million in 2000, and was expected to slip to $122.7 million this year, according to Kagan World Media.

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To reverse that trend, Andrews said she planned to find more sponsorship opportunities for advertisers that go beyond simple spots. She will also look for multiplatform packages involving both the channel and weather.com.

"I plan to work mostly with the programming and marketing executives at the Weather Channel and see how we can satisfy the viewer and the advertiser in ways that haven't been explored in the past," Andrews said.

Presently, the Weather Channel sells most of its spots on a run-of-schedule basis. But Andrews said the network is looking at ways to create more differentiated dayparts. Those new dayparts could be sold at a premium - especially if the new shows attract additional viewers.

Andrews wants buyers to look beyond simple demographics of the network's audience.

"Weather affects people's lives in profound and joyous ways. We need to better communicate how that's valuable to advertisers," she said.

THE NEXT QUESTION:

*Will Weather viewers stick around during longer-form documentary programming?

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Weather Channel Taps Andrews to Boost Advertising

Cable World, Nov 18, 2002

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