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Leading-edge marine weather observation
and forecasting service
from industry leaders available onboard via satellite
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Fort Lauderdale, FL, October 29, 2003 - The Weather
Channel and WSI Corp. today announced plans to deliver a sophisticated
data broadcast weather service via satellite to professional
and recreational mariners at sea. Named "The Weather
Channel® Marine," the new service will
continuously broadcast marine-specific, real-time, graphical
weather observation data and forecast information direct to
vessels equipped with a special purpose marine antenna, receiver,
and proprietary software. The Weather Channel Marine equipment
and service will be marketed through a network of authorized
marine electronics dealers with the assistance of Radio-at-Sea,
a recognized expert in marine satellite communications, information
and entertainment services.
"For years, viewers with recreational and professional
marine interests have asked The Weather Channel to develop
a marine-specific weather service for use by boaters while
underway. We knew we needed a strong partner to ensure our
successful entry into the marine electronics industry,"
said Bill Burke, president and CEO of The Weather Channel
Companies. "We found a natural partner in WSI, a company
we acquired in 2000. WSI's expertise is in developing mission-critical
weather systems and information and forecast services, and
they have an outstanding record of service and support with
thousands of high-profile and highly demanding commercial
customers - including The Weather Channel." he added.
According to Peter Gruol, President of Radio-at-Sea, "We've
looked at just about every marine weather application and
service available. I am convinced that The Weather Channel
Marine will lead the industry in terms of marine weather forecasting
and real-time observation, service reliability and customer
support. It's provided by two of the most respected names
in the weather business - The Weather Channel and WSI Corp."
The Weather Channel Marine will automatically deliver the
most reliable, up-to-date marine weather information and near-term
marine forecasts, targeted to the precise location of any
commercial or recreational vessel equipped with a special
purpose marine antenna, data receiver and proprietary software.
The graphical marine information offers WSI's full color,
animated NOWrad® weather radar, sea state conditions,
storm tracking and, most importantly, coastal and offshore
forecasts. Forecast precision is aided by marine data gathered
from a proprietary network of marine buoys, as well as island
and coastal-based aviation weather forecasts.
"This product is ready to roll. It uses the same WSI
technology that today delivers WSI's aviation weather to the
cockpit - a system that has been tested over land and water,
is fully certified by the FAA, and just won the prestigious
R&D100 award as one of the most technologically significant
products introduced in 2003," said Lynne Wilson, Executive
Vice President of WSI's Aviation and Marine Business Group.
"The Weather Channel Marine is great service extension
that overlays highly specialized marine weather and forecasts
onto sophisticated marine and land-based navigational maps
- to provide a superior service for mariners," she added.
Pricing and Availability
Commercial release of The Weather Channel Marine is scheduled
for December 2003. List price for The Weather Channel Marine
equipment and display software is $1995, plus an annual or
seasonal subscription fee for unlimited access to the up-to-the-minute
graphical weather data-broadcast service. Dealers interested
in becoming an authorized dealer may contact Radio-at-Sea
at 1-800-556-3911. Customers interested in subscribing or
learning more about The Weather Channel Marine products and
services may contact WSI Corp. at 1-888-442-8732 or visit
www.weather.com/marine.
About The Weather Channel
The Weather Channel, a 24-hour weather network, is seen in
over 85 million U.S. households. Its Web site, weather.com,
attracts over 450 million page views per month, and is now
ranked the 11th largest site on the web. The Weather Channel
also operates Weatherscan (local weather 24/7 for digital
cable), The Weather Channel Radio Network, The Weather Channel
Newspaper Services and is the leading weather information
provider for emerging technologies. This includes broadband
and interactive television applications, with wireless weather
products accessible through high-speed Internet services,
phones, pagers, Palm Pilots, and other personal digital assistants.
The Weather Channel is owned by Landmark Communications, Inc.,
a Norfolk, Virginia-based, privately held media company.
About WSI Corporation
WSI Corporation is the world's leading provider of weather-driven
solutions for professionals in the aviation, media and energy
markets and multiple federal and state government agencies.
WSI is headquartered in Andover, Massachusetts with offices
in Birmingham, England, and is a wholly owned subsidiary of
Landmark Communications. The company can be found on the World
Wide Web at www.wsi.com.
About Radio-at-Sea
Radio-at-Sea, a division of Mobile Internet Access, Inc.,
is a leading provider of satellite radio products delivering
information and entertainment services to the maritime industry
via satellite data-broadcasting services.
For more information, please contact:
David Laubner
WSI Corporation
(978) 983-6735
dlaubner@wsi.com
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Peter Gruol
Radio-At-Sea
(781) 829 6556
info@radio-at-sea.com
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Angela Fisher
The Weather Channel
(770)-226-2897
afisher@weather.com
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