FEATURE/To Go Where No Cable Programmer Has Gone Before...Mt. Everest Expedition Reaches Summit; Reports On the Weather Channel
ATLANTA--(BUSINESS WIRE FEATURES)--May 6, 1999--The Weather Channel has a new programming focus in place that is taking viewers to new heights -- 29,000 feet above sea level to be exact.
The 1999 Everest Millennium Expedition team reached the summit of Mt. Everest today and expedition leader Peter Athans became the first western climber to reach the summit of the mountain six times. The Weather Channel, airing daily reports, is one of the sponsors of the scientific expedition charged with placing advanced telemetry weather probes at four levels of the mountain to monitor weather conditions year-round.
The daily reports from Mt. Everest represent an increasingly important ingredient of programming for The Weather Channel -- live reports from throughout the country, prompted by events with which weather has a connection but does not pose a major threat. The network is increasing the portion of programming devoted to live coverage of weather-related events. In the past year, this has included on-the-scene weather updates during NASA launches and forecasts from the scene of popular sporting events.
"The Weather Channel on Mt. Everest" is presented during "Weather Center" at the top and bottom of the hour. Reports are aired from 9 to 11:30 p.m. weekdays and every hour on Saturday and Sunday. The team approached the summit of the mountain this week; about two weeks after the climb began on April 20.
Reporting to TWC are scientists on the expedition who phone in daily and also transmit digital video with sound via computer. TWC information services weather development department converts the feed into a format suitable for presentation on the air.
"This report from half way around the world and half way up the world is a remarkable leap in online and TV technology. We can give viewers a sense of immediacy and intimacy as we cover this expedition," said Sid Moore, executive producer, TWC.
The Weather Channel is one of five sponsors of the expedition made up of a climbing team and scientists from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology including graduate students who helped construct the probes. They will provide data about temperature, wind, air pressure, and snow, thus contributing to the safety and success of future climbs.
Monitoring the two-month journey step-by-step is The Weather Channel Web site, Weather.com. Besides providing video and audio from the mountain, members of the expedition team will send e-mail reports about the progress of the mission. And they will interact with users through e-mail question and answer sessions.
"This is an exciting partnership for us because we are working at the cutting edge of weather technology," said Todd Walrath, senior vice president, online services at The Weather Channel. "The difficulty of scaling Mt. Everest is not only the climb itself, but the weather. Having advance notice of what conditions are like at its highest point will contribute to the safety and success of future climbs."
BACKGROUND
The Weather Channel, launched in Atlanta in 1982, is the nation's premier provider of weather information. As the only 24-hour national weather network, The Weather Channel can be seen in over 72 million homes in the U.S. and 3.4 million homes in Latin America.
The Weather Channel Web site, located at www.weather.com, is the leading weather provider on the Web, averaging more than 125 million page views monthly and offering current conditions and forecasts for over 40,000 locations. In addition to its cable network and Web site, The Weather Channel offers 1-900-WEATHER, its interactive telephone service, supplies weather forecasts for radio and newspapers, and provides free resources to educators.
The Weather Channel is owned by Landmark Communications, a privately held Norfolk, Va.-based media company with global interests. The Weather Channel and Landmark are the leaders in weather information for the emerging convergence technologies with next generation, interactive TV (ITV) applications that include partnerships with Wink, Worldgate and WEB TV.
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The Weather Channel, Atlanta
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