While most of the US was forced to deal with the sub-freezing temperatures of the polar vortex, the Weather Channel was cooking up record results.
The network, owned by NBCUniversal and private-equity powerhouses Blackstone Group and Bain Capital, captured new corporate advertising sponsors for its storm coverage. And it added tourism-category advertisers on TV and its websites — as warmer locales looked to tempt viewers hoping to escape the frigid climes.
For example, battery maker Duracell jumped at the opportunity to advertise to viewers swamped with news of electrical blackouts.
While executives at the network declined to discuss how much added revenue it booked because of the prolonged and widespread cold weather, they did say the network’s ratings beat news channels for the No. 1 slot during the storm.
The ratings during January’s first week were the best in six years.
The network reached 56 million households and hit the top 20 of all cable networks. TWC was the top-rated news network in the weekday 6 a.m. to 11 a.m. time slot.
Insurance companies State Farm and Travelers booked their ad spots early, capturing the additional traffic for their dollars.
They put their money down for storm spikes during the annual up-front talks.
The network told The Post that Travelers and Duracell extended their deals given the huge interest in the record-breaking cold that had New Yorkers suffering in below-zero temperatures after the wind chill.
The Weather Channel also noted that its iPhone App broke an all-time high record on Jan. 5 and Jan. 6.