Weather Channel Gives Sam Champion His Own Morning Show

The Weather Channel is giving managing editor Sam Champion his very own morning.

The former Good Morning America anchor is hoping people will start heading to their televisions instead of their tablets or phones for early morning weather reports. America’s Morning Headquarters with Sam Champion will reportedly put Champion in direct competition with his former employer.

Starting at 7 am, The Weather Channel will devote three hours to Sam Champion’s broadcast. However, the managing editor won’t have to go it along; meteorologists Mike Bettes and Maria LaRosa will join Champion on the new morning show. The program kicks off on March 17.

According to The Associated Press, America’s Morning Headquarters will provide viewers with a mix of news and weather reports. Although the show will also tackle such topics as sports and pop culture, everything will have a weather-related angle.

“When you wake up, you get your first news, texts and updates on your smartphone and laptop, not television. What you need from TV is a very thorough understanding of what’s going on in your environment. Your weather needs become, ‘What’s it like right now, and every hour through the day for me and my home team as we’re heading out into the world?'” Champion told the outlet.

To accommodate everyone in the country, Champion said each hour of the show will focus on a different timezone. No matter where you live, The Weather Channel managing editor hopes American’s Morning Headquarters has something informative to offer its audience.

“No matter what’s going on, it all starts with the weather. Weather information is what colors all of your planning, all of your decision-making, for the day to come,” Champion added.

After the DirecTV debacle earlier this year, the folks over at The Weather Channel insist that they’re dedicated to providing viewers with live weather updates. DirecTV CEO Mike White said his company received a lot of complaints that the channel was too focused on reality television programs.

“The vast majority of our investment is in the live hour… improving the live hour. The bulk of our talent investment and marketing is in live television. I see the live weather getting better and better. At a minimum, every time you turn on The Weather Channel, you will get weather,” Weather Channel CEO David Kenny recently told the Washington Post.

Are you looking forward to Sam Champion’s new morning show on The Weather Channel? Do you think the network is still devoted to live weather coverage?