• by April 24, 2004

The Weather Channel's "The Weather Channel Road Crew" show has a robust new online presence as the cable net seeks to deliver an engaging interactive experience for fans and impactful sponsorship opportunities for advertisers.

"Road Crew," which airs four days a week, is hosted by Kelsa Kinsly, who travels around the country to various festivals, sporting events, and celebrations. Viewers can go online and vote to select Kelsa's next destinations, and can follow her on her travels. Video and other interactive content offers viewers information about the various festivals and events chronicled on the show and the destinations.

For example, the "Road Crew" recently visited the Washington Tulip Festival and Mount St. Helens. Video from Key West, Florida was also featured. "Consumers get to select where Kelsa goes and learn about the destinations," said Paul Iaffaldano, senior vice president of network sales and advertising product development, The Weather Channel Solutions Group. "The viewers influence the programming, and from an advertiser point of view, the viewers are more involved--they can learn a lot more information online," he said. The site also offers an opt-in database marketing component whereby a viewer can sign up to receive more information from an advertiser.

"This is really the way integrated marketing is meant to work," said Iaffaldano, adding: "It's the strongest example that we've come across for how to develop deeper relationships with consumers in a way that advertisers would find useful."

The Weather Channel and weather.com are pitching "Road Crew" in the cable upfront as a joint effort. The program content is changing as Weather expands the concept to accommodate the online components.

Iaffaldano said "Road Crew" is ideal for tourism boards and major annual events such as the Kentucky Derby. He also expects the show and its Web presence to lure destination resorts, airlines, wireless companies, automakers, and hotel chains to advertising and sponsorship opportunities.

Weather.com attracted 25.3 million unique visitors in March, according to Nielsen//NetRatings. Ad revenue for the Weather Channel Interactive increased 71.1 percent (excluding search) in the first quarter, compared to the same period a year ago.