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Channel 2 Action News Won Winter Weather Coverage in January

ATLANTA — Severe winter weather rolled into North Georgia in January and Channel 2 opened the New Year in dominant fashion. Minus zero degree arctic wind chills opened the month. Paralyzing snow and ice closed it. More Georgians turned to Channel 2 Action News for their weather information than all competitive news TV stations combined.

Snow/Ice Shut Down  

Led by Chief Meteorologist Glenn Burns, Severe Weather Team 2 tracked this very fluid weather pattern as it came together in the early morning hours on Tuesday, Jan. 28.

“My hat is off to every employee here at Channel 2,” said Tim McVay, Vice President and General Manager. “From the almost 30 crews in the field to the numerous support teams at the station, all worked tirelessly to provide 29.5 hours of live over-the-air coverage and simulcast on wsbtv.com. In one stretch on Wednesday, we ran from 4 a.m. to 7 p.m. That’s 15 hours of continuous coverage.”

“Glenn, Karen, David and Brad supplied the early warning of the changing weather pattern,” said Mike Dreaden, News Director. “Their expert advice helped us position our crews in the best locations. We knew that after it began it would be difficult to relocate.

“In critical times like this, everyone at Channel 2 becomes a part of the news coverage, running our school closings system, answering the phones, sending out supplies and picking up staffers stuck at home.

“We were always up-to-the-minute on wsbtv.com and social media, putting out alerts, school closings and traffic conditions. We created a “minute by minute” storm page on wsbtv.com, tracking the unfolding story. Our team posted 102 pieces of original digital content,” Dreaden continued. “Our live video stream went off the charts with over 356,000 plays over three days. People trapped in their car tweeted their appreciation, telling us that watching it all unfold live on their mobile phone kept them in touch with magnitude of the story.”

January Monthly Report 

Over the full ratings sweep, the ABC Affiliate ranked #1 in 21 hours of the day, and won every newscast, often by more audience than the other local newscasts combined. It took first place in Prime Time, Prime Access, Daytime, Early and Late Fringe in the Nielsen weekday average of Adults 25-54.

The station attracted 58% of Adults 25-54 to Channel 2 Action News newscasts, more than the other three local news stations combined. WAGA ranked second with 25% of news viewing.

Digital Suite Report 

Year-to-year, the station’s digital suite grew its total digital visitors by 62%, video plays rose 240% and Video Live Streams climbed 170%.

WSB-TV’s iPhone and Android versions of Severe Weather Team 2 Apps hit 158,000 downloads and remained the #1 Local Weather App in the Apple Store.

Since January 1, 2013, Channel 2’s Facebook “Likes” are up 325%, currently standing at 270,000. Its Twitter followers grew 87% over the same period, now at 79,602.

Contact

Steve Riley, Director of Creative Services

1601 West Peachtree St. NE

Atlanta, GA 30309

Office: 404-897-7447

About Channel 2 WSB-TV The ABC Affiliate is part of Cox Media Group and ranks as Atlanta's number one local television station. The station also operates its website, wsbtv.com, its mobile site, m.wsbtv.com, plus News, Weather and Traffic Apps, and airs MeTV on its digital sub-channel 2.2. WSB-TV also provides news, weather and traffic on Twitter @WSBTV and on WSB-TV's Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/wsbtv

About Cox Media Group  Cox Media Group is an integrated broadcasting, publishing, direct marketing and digital media company that includes the national advertising rep firms of CoxReps.  Additionally, CMG owns Cox Target Media, which operates Valpak, one of North America's leading direct marketing companies, and Savings.com, a leading online source for savings.  The company's operations currently include 14 broadcast television stations and one local cable channel, 57 radio stations, eight daily newspapers and more than a dozen non-daily publications, and more than 100 digital services.  CMG currently operates in more than 20 media markets and reaches approximately 52 million Americans weekly, including more than 30 million TV viewers, more than 4 million print and online newspaper readers, and 14 million radio listeners.  For more information about Cox Media Group, please check us out online at www.coxmediagroup.com

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