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Weather Channel breaks first Web series via mobile

The Weather Channel?s Weather.com is unveiling a Web series today that draws awareness to world events and engages users on a new level.

The HD series follows six eco-heroes through their journeys and challenges across the globe. The series will be available on desktops and mobile Web.

?We have an enormous and deeply engaged audience on mobile, and it's growing fast,? said Neil Katz, editor in chief of weather.com at The Weather Company, New York.

?So we made sure to build the new Weather Films experience to run as well on mobile as it does on big Web,? he said.

?This is the future for our audience, and we're investing heavily in content they're going to love on all screens. In fact, Weather Films represents the biggest single investment in digital video this company has ever made, and from the outset it was vital to us that it played beautifully on mobile.?

The eco-heroes
All six episodes are available for free on Weather.com, and each episode follows a different story.

For example, one follows zoologist Alan Rabinowitz as he races against his own cancer diagnosis to save jaguars in South America.

The stories all tell of different challenges around the world and the brave people that try to combat such challenges.

The Web series was produced in partnership with producer Shawn Efran, and is the first of six series Weather.com will launch this year.

Weather.com will release a new series every month until the end of the year.

The Weather Films series is the Weather Channel?s largest investment in digital video to date.

Getting the word out
In order to promote this new initiative, The Weather Channel will be using multiple different medium.

First off, it will include banners and links on the Weather.com desktop site and mobile Web site. It will also advertise on its mobile and tablet applications.

Additionally, the company will promote the new series via social media, its own television network and print ads in New York publications.

Driving awareness
The Weather Channel already has a wide user base across mobile, Web and TV.

For example, The Weather Channel surpassed 10 million iPhone app downloads in April (see story).

The Web series represents an expansion of The Weather Channel?s mission. The company is going beyond presenting the weather and expanding into new roles with original content.

Weather.com has an interest in spreading awareness of environmental and ecological challenges around the world, and its users share this interest.

?We take pride in our leadership on weather news and information,? Mr. Katz said.

?We also listen to our users, and they allow us a certain amount of leeway to cover stories adjacent to weather that may interest and inform them,? he said.

?We can tell how far we can go if consumers still engage in the stories we post, and we find we?ve been striking the right balance with our users. We hope the effect will be that The Weather Channel will be viewed as a brand that cares deeply about our planet and peoples' impact on it, both good and bad.?

Final Take
Rebecca Borison is editorial assistant on Mobile Marketer, New York