Weatherscan Local by The Weather Channel Enters Into Affiliation Agreement with AT&T Broadband And Cox Communications; New Service Now Clear Market Leader.

Business & Technology Editors

ATLANTA--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Feb. 28, 2001

AT&T Broadband and Cox Communications have joined other major MSOs in entering into affiliation agreements with Weatherscan Local by The Weather Channel to provide their customers with 24-hour local and lifestyle weather information. With these new agreements, added to a major launch by Comcast Communications in late 2000, The Weather Channel's new all-local 24-hour service becomes the clear market leader in serving cable customers with round-the-clock local weather information.

"We are very pleased that Weatherscan Local's availability will be increased considerably through our new agreements with AT&T and Cox Communications," said Decker Anstrom, president and CEO, The Weather Channel. "This all-local, 24-hour-a-day service, combined with the highly valued information delivered by The Weather Channel network, provides our cable partners with an unmatched capability to offer their customers comprehensive, trusted and expert information about the weather and how it affects their lives," he said.

"Offering Weatherscan Local as the preferred all-local weather network furthers the strong relationship between The Weather Channel and AT&T Broadband. It is a significant expansion of our relationship, and builds on an earlier agreement that made The Weather Channel the branded provider for advanced interactive weather service for AT&T Broadband's next generation television services," said Matt Bond, executive vice president, programming, AT&T Broadband and Internet Services.

"As new platforms roll out in the future, we are confident that The Weather Channel will continue to be the leading provider of value-added weather content and information for AT&T customers," Bond said. "We know our customers find local weather information valuable, and we are pleased to be able to add this compelling service from a source as well-respected as The Weather Channel," he added.

AT&T Broadband has launched Weatherscan Local in multiple markets including St. Louis, Salt Lake City, Atlanta, and AT&T's recently-acquired system in Boston. As AT&T's rollout of digital services continues, Weatherscan Local will be offered to other systems throughout the country.

Cox Communications has added Weatherscan Local by The Weather Channel to the programming lineup of many of its systems including Las Vegas, San Diego, Tulsa, Oklahoma City, and Orange County, CA, and Fairfax County, VA. Cox will soon launch Weatherscan Local in Providence, RI and Cleveland, OH.

"The opportunity to provide local weather to our customers is consistent with the emphasis Cox places on offering relevant local programming to the markets we serve," said Bob Wilson, vice president, programming, Cox Communications. "The flexibility of Weatherscan Local allows us to not only co-brand the network but also to tailor the local weather and lifestyle information to each locale. Weatherscan Local provides our viewers with an all-weather service that is distinct and differentiated for each particular area."

Comcast Cable Communications is offering Weatherscan Local in over 900,000 households as a key element of the Comcast Digital Plus service launched in many systems starting last August. Weatherscan Local is available in Comcast's major market clusters that include Philadelphia, Detroit, the Baltimore-Washington area and northern New Jersey as well as in the Southeast and other parts of the country. Comcast will add Weatherscan Local in additional homes as its digital rollout continues.

"We learned from in-market trial research that Weatherscan Local was the most frequently viewed channel on our Digital Plus offering," said Andy Addis, vice president of Marketing for Comcast. "Clearly this service adds significant value to our digital offering."

Charter Communications and Time Warner Cable are among other MSOs who have already launched Weatherscan Local by The Weather Channel to provide their customers with an appealing, high-quality presentation of local weather.

Through sophisticated technology developed by The Weather Channel, Weatherscan Local customizes the content for each individual market, giving viewers instant access to the weather that hits home. The service is co-branded and its local feel is reinforced by background theme photographs appropriate to the area and the season.

Weatherscan Local by The Weather Channel includes the following information: current local conditions, observations for surrounding communities, local radar, regional radar, satellite images, 36-hour forecasts, extended forecasts, watches and warnings, and an almanac page showing sunrise, sunset, and phases of the moon.

Additionally, cable affiliates have the option of presenting tailored lifestyle information relating the weather to local sporting events, outdoor activities and other subjects of interest, such as golf, skiing, boat and beach, fall foliage, health and aviation.

For further information or artwork, please contact Connie Malko, brand manager, PR, [phone].

ABOUT THE WEATHER CHANNEL

The Weather Channel, Inc., based in Atlanta, is the nation's premier provider of weather information and reaches more than 78 million TV households in the U.S. The Weather Channel Latin America reaches over 8 million households in Latin America. The Weather Channel is owned by Landmark Communications, Inc. a Norfolk, VA-based, privately-held media company with global interests. The Weather Channel is the leading provider of weather information for emerging technologies with services for broadband and interactive TV (ITV) applications. The Weather Channel is also aligned with industry leaders in interactive TV (ITV). Partners include AT&T Broadband, DIRECTV, AOLTV, WINK, WorldGate, Liberate Technologies, Microsoft TV, Canal Plus, Source Media, OpenTV, and Sun-Java TV. The Weather Channel's Web site, weather.com, is the world's leading source of weather on the Web, averaging more than 300 million page views per month and is the Number One TV-related Web site, according to Nielsen NetRatings. 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.