Michael Kelly to Lead The Weather Channel Companies

ATLANTA: Michael J. Kelly, the former president of AOL Media Networks, has been appointed president and CEO of The Weather Channel Companies (TWCC), which includes the cable net The Weather Channel, available in 99 million homes.

Kelly will be responsible for the strategic direction and operations of TWCC, which also houses The Weather Channel Interactive and weather.com, The Weather Channel Mobile and Weather Services International and Enterprise Electronics Corporation. TWCC is owned by a consortium made up of NBC Universal and the private equity firms The Blackstone Group and Bain Capital.

Most recently an advisor to Veronis Suhler Stevenson, a media-focused private-equity fund, Kelly has also served on the board of several fast-growing digital media companies—Eyeblaster, Visible World and American Town Network—and as an advisor to the board of Contextweb. Kelly served as president of AOL Media networks from 2004 to 2007.

In a joint statement, Lisa Gersh, the president of strategic initiatives at NBC Universal, who has been serving as interim CEO of TWCC; Michael Chae, the senior managing director of the Blackstone Group; and Ian Loring, the managing director of Bain Capital, said, "Mike Kelly is a seasoned media executive who will lead TWCC in reaching the great potential envisioned when NBCU, Bain Capital and Blackstone came together to purchase the company last year. He understands how to reach our viewers and users and partner with our advertisers in order to maximize the growth of the business on a cross-platform basis."

"The Weather Channel Companies is a unique organization; it is the premier weather information destination on every platform—TV, web, mobile and business-to-business," added Kelly. "This is a remarkable and exciting opportunity to be part of a powerful media brand which delivers consumers the information they want where and when they want it while offering advertisers cutting edge cross-platform solutions. This multiplatform success will fuel our growth."