• by Erik Sass , September 3, 2009

Westwood One will serve as the exclusive affiliate and advertising sales representative for the Weather Channel Radio Network.

The three-year deal gives 5,000 Westwood radio station affiliates access to Weather Channel branded-content, including live severe weather updates, drawing on the expertise of 30 radio broadcast meteorologists and 100 meteorologists and experts in Weather Channel's cable operations.

Mike Pons, the vice president and general manager of the Weather Channel Radio Network, said the deal will "bring the most depended source of weather information to an even larger radio audience."

Before the deal with Westwood, WCRN's distribution included roughly 700 radio stations nationwide, giving it a presence in 42 of the top 50 markets. Previously, WCRN was represented by Dial-Global, which used some of its content on its "Adult Power Network."

The WCRN deal complements some of Westwood's other syndicated content offerings, including traffic, local news and sports reporting delivered by its Metro Traffic division to about 2,200 of its 5,000 affiliates.

In addition to radio broadcast programming, Westwood provides digital and cross-platform delivery of its content portfolio of more than 150 programs, which include talk shows hosted by Bill O'Reilly, Fred Thompson, Dennis Miller and Dr. Phil.