In what might seem like a totally head-scratching move, The Weather Channel is letting one of its top stars, Sam Champion, work for its competition this week. Does this portend a more permanent move or is it simply TWC’s attempt to place Champion back in the limelight ahead of a new feature show?
Champion, who TWC snagged from ABC’s Good Morning America (GMA) in December, 2013, returned to GMA this morning, filling in for meteorologist Ginger Zee, while she is on maternity leave.
What makes the move bizarre, on the surface, is that TWC is part-owned by NBC, which is in a fierce ratings battle with ABC. Loaning Champion to GMA seems akin to a baseball team letting its franchise player go back and play for its rival, from which he was lured away, during the thick of a pennant race.
But TWC says it supports Champion’s GMA appearance as it will help promote his new interview-style show slated to launch in the first quarter of this year.
Advertisement
“We are happy GMA is looking to The Weather Channel and Sam to fill in for Ginger while she’s out on maternity leave,” Bailey Rogers, a spokesperson for The Weather Channel said. “It’s a great one time promotional opportunity for Sam’s new show on TWC.”
[Sam Champion to host prime-time, science interview show on the Weather Channel]
Watch carefully this week to see if ABC allows Champion to aggressively promote his new TWC show on GMA. If not, one might speculate the GMA reunion is greasing the wheels for a possible full-time return.
Since the fall, rumors have swirled that Champion is unhappy at TWC. A media gossip blog at the NY Daily News said Champion tried to return to GMA on a full-time basis but was told there was “no room for him.”
In a programming shake-up, Champion was pulled off the TWC morning show he co-hosted, AMHQ – which had suffered from disappointing ratings, in early November.
Advertisement
[Sam Champion moved off morning show]
At the time, TWC said that Champion would take the lead in increased primetime weather coverage, but he has seldom appeared on the network since.
Meanwhile, The Weather Channel’s digital assets were sold to IBM, orphaning the television division, which has a challenging future given declining viewership and an increase in the use of the Web and apps for weather information.
[IBM to buy digital branch of Weather Company, leaves Weather Channel behind]
Champion, who is said to be paid about $2 million annually, has moved from TWC’s headquarters in Atlanta to New York City.
What happens next will be most interesting.
Read more from the Capital Weather Gang
This ‘viral dress’ actually says a lot about what it’s like to be a female TV meteorologist
Good Morning America’s Ginger Zee: Respected meteorologist, not “a pornographer”
ncG1vNJzZmivp6x7uK3SoaCnn6Sku7G70q1lnKedZLumw9JompqomamurXnWnpitoJWneqitzaBmsKhfZ31ygo5paGhpYWTEqcWMoqpmr5WWwamx0WaaoZmeo7KtedKtmKtlo5a6bq%2FHmqSpoZ%2BjeqK8z56Yq6GenHqwuoyroK%2BZnGKuo6%2BO