AOL's Kelly Now 'Weather' Man

Mike Kelly/Weather ChannelIf nothing else, AOL's never-ending restructuring makes for a wellspring of fresh executive talent. Michael Kelly, former president of AOL's Media Networks, on Monday was named President and CEO of The Weather Channel Companies.

In his new post, Kelly will be responsible for the strategic direction and operations of TWCC, including The Weather Channel, The Weather Channel Interactive, The Weather Channel Mobile, as well as Weather Services International and Enterprise Electronics Corporation.

According to Kelly, TWCC is particularly well-suited to today's marketplace thanks to its strong presence across multiple platforms.

"It is the premiere weather information destination on every platform -- TV, Web, Mobile and business to business," said Kelly. "This multi-platform success will fuel our growth."

Weather.com is presently the third-most-visited news and information site online with 41.5 million monthly unique visitors.

Lisa Gersh, president of strategic initiatives at NBC Universal, has been serving as interim CEO of TWCC.

As president of AOL Media Networks from 2004 to 2007, Kelly helped spearheaded the acquisitions of Advertising.com and Third Screen Media. Under his leadership, AOL was repositioned in the media and advertising marketplace.

Since 2007, Kelly has served as an adviser to Veronis Suhler Stevenson, a media-focused private equity fund, identifying and assessing digital media investment opportunities.

He also served on the board of several digital media companies -- Eyeblaster, Visible World and American Town Network -- and as an advisor to the board of Contextweb.

Previously, Kelly served as president of global marketing at Time Warner, working with all of its companies to bring cross-platform marketing solutions to major advertisers.

1 comment about "AOL's Kelly Now 'Weather' Man".
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  1. Jim Dugan from PipPops LLC, July 21, 2009 at 4:53 p.m.

    Congratulations to Mr. Michael Kelly ~

    May I suggest that you start out by looking at your website and your mobile website.

    May I suggest that since you were involved in the Third Screen Media acquisition that you now consider GripOffs which allows the advertisers to create their own full color mobile e-coupon with barcode that is redeemable for instant savings at the point of purchase.

    So, we have a mobile site - www.GripOffs.mobi and we have a rich site on the computer - www.GripOffs.com.

    On the rich site, there is going to be a calendar of events and blog and social media connects.

    By acquiring or merging the GripOffs system with the Weather Channel would be perfect.

    It could be promoted across all of your channels, it would cause a complete shift in the way people use their mobiles. All of us.

    Why would we want to buy something without checking the companies that are offering me something of value like a two for one dinner.

    With the Weather Channel sponsoring the local mobile e-coupon program, people get up in the morning, check the weather, check the calendar, and know they have all of the local deals on their mobile devices.

    So, what else do I need - 70% of search is for retail. There would be no reason to use another search engine most of the time.

    Take a look. Let's give the people what they want.

    The advertisers want to use it and the people want to use it.

    We need to get it out there instantly because it's a chicken/egg thing right now and you can't go from city to city; it has to be instant.

    It would turn into a global story.

    The Weather Channel would be the prototype of the new media and the revenue generated from the advertising would be unbelievable.

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