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AWS Convergence
Technologies, Inc.

12410 Milestone Center Drive
Suite 300
Germantown, Maryland 20876
Phone: 301-250-4000

Press Releases

Press  >  February 13, 2006 Release

WFAA-TV and WeatherBug® Partnership Offers Dallas/Fort Worth Area Viewers the Only Live, Neighborhood-Level Weather Reporting --On-air and Online

News 8 Chief Weathercaster Troy Dungan, and WFAA Meteorologists Pete Delkus, Greg Fields and Steve McCauley Launch WeatherBug Broadcast Program, Accessing More Than 150 Dallas/Ft. Worth Area and More Than 8,000 National WeatherBug Tracking Stations

Dallas, TX and Germantown, MD – February 13, 2006 – WeatherBug®, the leading provider of live, local weather information services, and WFAA-TV (Channel 8), north Texas’ most-watched station for local news, today announced the two companies have entered an exclusive, three-year partnership agreement. WFAA is now the only local Dallas/Ft. Worth area television news station to offer viewers access to WeatherBug’s up-to-the-second, live, neighborhood-local weather conditions from 150+ WeatherBug Tracking Stations and 25 WeatherBug Cameras in the Dallas/Ft. Worth area. (Other local stations typically rely upon data from area airport stations that can be up to an hour or more old.)

WeatherBug Tracking Stations are located mainly at area schools throughout the north Texas region, local business organizations and landmarks, such as Children’s Medical Center of Dallas.

The WeatherBug Program offers broadcasters the competitive edge in weather reporting and forecasting on-air and online. WeatherBug owns and operates the world’s largest weather network - over 8,000 WeatherBug Tracking Stations and more than 1,000 cameras nationwide - to deliver live, truly local weather content. Broadcast partners are able to showcase live weather conditions right from their viewers’ neighborhood. In addition, broadcast meteorologists are automatically warned of severe weather alerts or dramatic changes in weather conditions – increased wind speed, for instance – providing their viewers precious extra time to prepare and react. In addition News 8 will also offer viewers WeatherBug reports via their website. As an integral facet of News 8’s advanced web weather content, the following is now available to website visitors:

  • Live Maps - an area map that shows all live weather stations and cameras across the entire Dallas/Ft. Worth viewing area, with links to each weather station and camera.
  • Up-to-the-Second Live Weather Readings – live weather information from neighborhoods or across the country at the click of a mouse. See local readings and forecasts or check out another location for a mini-vacation.

“Providing our viewers accurate and up-to-date weather information is a significant part of the WFAA mission. We like the idea of using technology to better connect with our viewers, and WeatherBug provides just such an opportunity,” Mike Devlin, WFAA vice president and station manager. “Adding this technology gives News 8 an even greater reach in the community, and will help us provide more information on developing weather situations to our viewers.”

“WeatherBug is proud to add Dallas/Ft. Worth’s leading news station, News 8, to our broadcast family,” said Andy Jedynak, WeatherBug GM and senior vice president. “We look forward to working with the station and Troy Dungan’s entire weather team. Whether it’s helping folks plan a family outing or advance warning to take shelter from severe weather, we look forward to working together to make life more fun and the weather forecast more reliable for all the folks in the WFAA viewing area. We know this is only the beginning of a long-term relationship.”

WeatherBug has established a variety of ways for consumer and business users to access its rich, proprietary weather information. This includes free and premium versions of its downloadable software application WeatherBug, as well as SMS alerts, a Windows Mobile™ Smartphone application, and on-air distribution through broadcast partnerships with over 100 local television station affiliates.

WeatherBug, available at www.weatherBug.com, had 16.5 million unique visitors in December, 2005, according to comScore Media Metrix. It is the #2 ranked news and information property, in terms of daily reach, and ranked among the top ten properties overall in terms of days visited per user per month, which is a key indicator of consumer loyalty. To subscribe to WeatherBug, go to www.weatherbug.com.

About About WFAA-TV

WFAA-TV is part of Belo Corp., one of the nation’s largest media companies with a diversified group of market-leading television, newspaper, cable and interactive media assets. A Fortune 1000 company with 7,600 employees and $1.5 billion in annual revenues, Belo operates in some of America’s most dynamic markets in Texas, the Northwest, the Southwest, Rhode Island, and the Mid-Atlantic. Belo owns 19 television stations, six of which are in the 15 largest U.S. broadcast markets.

The Company also owns or operates seven cable news channels and manages one television station through a local marketing agreement. Belo’s daily newspapers are The Dallas Morning News, The Providence Journal, The Press-Enterprise (Riverside, CA) and the Denton Record-Chronicle (Denton, TX). The Company also publishes specialty publications targeting young adults, affluent populations and the fast-growing Hispanic market, including Quick and al dia in Dallas/Fort Worth, and the d, El D and La Prensa in Riverside. Belo operates more than 30 Web sites associated with its operating companies. Additional information is available at WFAA.com or by contacting David Muscari, Vice President/Product Development at 214.977.6490.

About WeatherBug®

WeatherBug ensures that individuals, schools, businesses and government agencies receive the most precise live weather information, the most relevant weather reports, and the earliest weather warnings to safeguard property, lives and to plan with confidence. With 8,000 WeatherBug Tracking Stations and over 1,000 cameras primarily based at neighborhood schools and public safety facilities across the U.S., WeatherBug maintains the largest exclusive weather network in the world. The live, local weather conditions are delivered to millions of consumers via the Internet and mobile devices, more than 100 state and local government agencies including the National Weather Service, and to broadcast television stations, schools, and businesses. As such, WeatherBug is the #1 distributor of severe weather alerts to the public. WeatherBug data is unique as it is the only live, neighborhood weather available anywhere. WeatherBug is a brand of AWS Convergence Technologies, Inc.

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Press Contacts:

Debra Eisenberg
WeatherBug
301-250-4017 - Office
301-523-9224 - Cell
Deisenberg@weatherbug.com

Alyce Menton
WeatherBug
301-250-4127 - Office
301-648-5102 - Cell
amenton@weatherbug.com

Davie Muscari
WFAA-TV
214-977-6490
dmuscari@wfaa.com