weather.com Unveils Extensive Site Enhancements, Evolves as Personal Planning Tool

Business Wire, Feb 12, 2001

Business Editors/High Tech Writers

ATLANTA--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Feb. 12, 2001

Top Media Website Establishes Connection Between

the Weather and Users' Lives

weather.com, the world's leading source of weather on the Web and the official site of The Weather Channel (R), announces site enhancements that deliver powerful, personal and relevant information to its users.

Based on extensive user feedback and research, the redesigned site establishes weather.com as an essential planning tool for users preparing for their daily commute, tracking flight arrival, searching for the perfect ski conditions, and more.

Since its launch in 1995, weather.com has evolved into a top five news and information site, accessible through multiple platforms (Media Metrix). Consistently ranked in the Top 30 of all Web sites by Media Metrix, the weather.com network supports an average of 300 million pageviews and 13 million unique users per month. In December 2000, the site was named the number one TV-related Web site by Nielsen//NetRating. weather.com attributes a large portion of its success to its dedicated staff. Today, the company has grown to over 150 employees led by president and chief executive officer, Debora J. Wilson.

"One thing we have learned is that our users know what they want," said Wilson. "They are our most valuable resource. We've listened to their suggestions, recommendations, and ideas and incorporated them into our final product."

Among consumers seeking news and information online, weather is the most popular topic (PEW Research Center, May 2000), and weather.com is the leader of the pack across multiple platforms. In addition to being one of the top sites on the Web, weather.com is a top ten wireless destination and is delivered to over 80 percent of Broadband customers.

"I think our users will find our site has become even more personal and relevant to their lives," said Jody Fennell, vice president and executive producer for weather.com. "We've identified a way to package weather information so that it's personally relevant to our users. We deliver forecasts specific to each user, so they can do the things that they like to do."

weather.com has relocated its navigation tools for a user-friendly experience and added several new features to help users plan their day and enjoy the weather.

What/Where Search -- In addition to entering a city name or zip code to "get a forecast," users can also specify the activity in which they are interested, such as planning for ski with the "Ski Outlook." The user will then be linked to city-specific information relevant to their specified activity.

Hour-by-Hour Forecasts -- The site now provides forecasts for each of the next 48 hours for all 77,000 locations worldwide.

Local Severe Weather Alerts -- weather.com now delivers severe weather alerts from The National Weather Service directly to the city pages of the affected areas. Users can also receive these alerts through their email, cell phones, pages or personal digital assistants -- at no charge.

Recommendation Indices -- The site hosts a family of planning indices that assign a numeric ranking to locations, such as ski resorts, to help users determine the best locations and conditions for their favorite hobbies.

Averages and Records -- weather.com now provides historical data highlighting weather conditions such as average temperatures, record highs and lows and sunrise and sunset information for each day of the year, for over 7,000 locations.

"We have the ability to create unique applications, which makes weather.com a valuable partner," added Wilson. "As companies such as America Online, Earthlink and Verizon Wireless have discovered, we've found a way to make weather information relevant to a user's life. At the same time, weather.com is

dedicated to identifying creative solutions that are tailored to meet our partners' specific needs."

To efficiently publish this new content and service weather.com's growing user base, the site has teamed up with industry leaders to rebuild its entire hardware and software infrastructure. The new site architecture combines the technology of Linux/IBM, ORACLE, IBM WebSphere, Sun, Interwoven, and Object-Oriented Programming with Enterprise Java. As a result, weather.com can now sustain up to 40 million pageviews in one day, ensuring that the site is available to users during times of severe weather -- when site traffic is heaviest.

"Our new infrastructure allows us to quickly update our content and immediately respond to the changing marketplace," said Mark Ryan, chief technology officer for weather.com. "At the same time, we're able to answer ad-serving requirements and provide speedy downloads to our 13 million unique users."

These new enhancements represent a major redesign for the premier all-weather site. weather.com will continue to rollout new products and features throughout 2001.

About weather.com

weather.com, The Weather Channel (R) Web Site, is the world's leading source of weather on the Web. weather.com is consistently ranked among the top single-content site on the Web by Media Metrix and one of the leading news and information site by Nielsen//NetRatings. Averaging 300 million page views and 13 million unique users per month, the weather.com network offers comprehensive forecasts for more than 77,000 locations worldwide and provides relevant content to help users plan for everyday life. Additionally, weather.com is the leading provider of broadband and wireless weather products accessible through high-speed Internet services, phones, pagers, Palm Pilots, and other personal digital assistants. Partnerships include America Online, ESPN.com, ABCNews.com, Sprint PCS, Nokia, AT&T Wireless, Verizon Wireless, AvantGo, and Palm Computing.