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Sam Champion Re-Joins WABC


Roadgeek Adam

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9 minutes ago, Roadgeek Adam said:

Official announcement. June 3, 2019. 

 

 

Wow. This really surprises me. But if they want ratings to go up (I don't know if they were ever down), this is definitely the way to do it. 

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Just now, RealNews18 said:

Guess I WASNT so crazy when I mentioned this on another thread.. this is awesome news.. wow. 

 

I mentioned in my other post I have to eat some crow, cause I didn't think that was going to happen. 

 

 

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This is a significant career trajectory fail.  You leave the station, go to network and become wildly popular, play hardball in contract negotiations (and they didn’t meet his demands right), go to basic cable and then return where you started in a lower position than before. 

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27 minutes ago, rkolsen said:

This is a significant career trajectory fail.  You leave the station, go to network and become wildly popular, play hardball in contract negotiations (and they didn’t meet his demands right), go to basic cable and then return where you started in a lower position than before. 

Uh, that's pretty harsh. Sure, he could have stayed at GMA. Can you blame the guy for taking a risk and going to TWC to host his own show?

 

 A lot of people on TV in positions analogous to his takes such risks, fail, and fall into oblivion. Sam's going to be the weather anchor on the number one local station in the nation. 

 

No, his path didn't follow the cookie cutter ladder of TV meteorologists , but he's maintained his popularity (and now a salary). And he's more successful than almost any other TV meteorologist, even so. 

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There's merit to note a fall in ranks. That said, Bill Evans carried a "senior" forecasting title, versus Lee's chief moniker, and Sam could certainly fill the same title. Sam pops up on the 8am hour of GMA will frequency, and he can continue in such a role, even being a fill-in guy for the network. Also, let's face it, as someone pushing 60, this isn't a bad arrangement, at all. Barring budget cuts, he's a big fan favorite, so this job should be his as long as he wants it. All in all, a good deal for both sides.

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29 minutes ago, rkolsen said:

This is a significant career trajectory fail.  You leave the station, go to network and become wildly popular, play hardball in contract negotiations (and they didn’t meet his demands right), go to basic cable and then return where you started in a lower position than before. 

 

I mean, there is always worse. One could always be Vince DeMentri.

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Sam came to WABC in 1988 as a kid (25) from Paducah, Kentucky with practically zero experience (two years in Jacksonville at WPSD) He had to work in the #1 market in the country for television and work with a lot of people we now refer to as legends. In a market where we've seen so much change, he stayed at WABC for 18 years.  I mean seriously, we've seen much more experienced people come to NY and flame out, especially at this exact station (*cough*Susan Roegsen*cough*). Sam Champion went from a local name to a household name throughout the country. 

At this point, he and his husband have made enough to money to do whatever the hell they want. Sam wants to work and if he wanted to come back, there was an agreement made. Can you ask for any more? It's not a fail. 

 

Also, I have this from The Paducah Sun on March 13, 1988. 

 

img?institutionId=0&user=533606&id=42688

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WOW. 😀

 

But i'm super excited to see him back! A class-act veteran is making a return back home! I grew up watching Sam on Channel 7 and quite frankly he's the reason why i have such a fascination with the weather and why I almost even went to school for Broadcast Meteorology.

 

Sam really has come full circle especially with WABC starting in the number one market in the country as a 25 year old and working hard to get the experience he needed and soaring all the way to the top at The Weather Channel with his own show AMHQ, and also working at from time to time at GMA, and even ABC World News Tonight, as a weather reporter for one of the highest rated news programs in the country, he really deserves it, its kinda uncanny Sam didn't even cross our minds. I know some of us may think its a "fall in the ranks", but it really is absolutely not at all. Not in the very least. So I really disagree with you rkolsen on that statement. It really just means that WABC hires the best in the business. He started there, so it makes sense he ends there. Sam is a pioneer of sorts really with his style of delivery. A lot of stations took on his style. We all know Sam very well and what he's done in the past and we know what he's capable of. Can't wait to see how he interacts with the team in the mornings!

 

Yay welcome back Sam! 

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1 hour ago, rkolsen said:

This is a significant career trajectory fail.  You leave the station, go to network and become wildly popular, play hardball in contract negotiations (and they didn’t meet his demands right), go to basic cable and then return where you started in a lower position than before. 

 

 

The man is the #2 most successful weather broadcaster in history. Al Roker, him, and what maybe Jim Cantore. 

 

There are only so many national morning slots - he's doing what he loves and frankly this is understudy on Ginger Zee. I can see Sam getting pulled back to GMA at some point if her contract goes another direction. 

 

 

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2 hours ago, rkolsen said:

This is a significant career trajectory fail.  You leave the station, go to network and become wildly popular, play hardball in contract negotiations (and they didn’t meet his demands right), go to basic cable and then return where you started in a lower position than before. 

 

There are a decent amount of people who would argue the mornings are a better growth spot right now than the evenings...

 

That aside, I suspect he WILL appear on GMA from time to time. They'd be fools not to.

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3 hours ago, rkolsen said:

This is a significant career trajectory fail.  You leave the station, go to network and become wildly popular, play hardball in contract negotiations (and they didn’t meet his demands right), go to basic cable and then return where you started in a lower position than before. 

It is a fall in the ranks, sure. He took a risk being a "big shot" he is (who wouldn't in his position?) but god forbid, i'm sure isn't returning to "jay leno-ing" lee goldberg out of there. This works in two ways, he's a household name, more recently known in the mornings (GMA, AMHQ) than evenings in the past. Speaking of, GMA is just a crosstown away. If necessary, he'll appear. Think about it, if WABC is powerful as is being #1, wait until Sam reappears. Ode to be working at EWN with a new news director these days.

 

2 hours ago, Roadgeek Adam said:

... I mean seriously, we've seen much more experienced people come to NY and flame out, especially at this exact station (*cough*Susan Roegsen*cough*)...

Don't forget *ahem* Charles Perez. Remember him? Forget the industry, the drama left him persona non grata in life. BTW Anyone can recall how Susan Roegsen fared here in NY + where she came from + did after?

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3 hours ago, rkolsen said:

This is a significant career trajectory fail.  You leave the station, go to network and become wildly popular, play hardball in contract negotiations (and they didn’t meet his demands right), go to basic cable and then return where you started in a lower position than before. 

 

You are confusing his career trajectory with Josh Elliot, his former GMA colleague/best friend (and Liz Cho’s husband).  

 

Sam was offered to be the face of The Weather Channel, a show built around him, appearances on NBC platforms, etc. It was a dream job.  ABC couldn’t compete with that offer, gave him a very positive on-air send off, allowed him to promote his new job on ABC air, and sent out glowing press about him and his move to The Weather Channel.  

 

Josh, on the other hand, played hardball, was not allowed to give an on air goodbye, had a short send off tucked into a broadcast he wasn’t present for, and the network put out in the press that he was playing hardball and refusing their generous package. He then ended up on a limited role with NBC Sports, then on CBSN, and now hosting one off specials for random cable networks.  

 

This is about Sam having the money and flexibility to do what he wants in his life. 

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15 minutes ago, wabceyewitness said:

Sam was offered to be the face of The Weather Channel, a show built around him, appearances on NBC platforms, etc. It was a dream job.  ABC couldn’t compete with that offer, gave him a very positive on-air send off, allowed him to promote his new job on ABC air, and sent out glowing press about him and his move to The Weather Channel.  

And Sam couldn't help the disaster that was The Weather Company breaking everything apart to highest bidder clients at the time, along with whatever the hell TWC called a 'programming strategy' (for all we were skeptical about Byron Allen buying it, he's put the focus back on the weather first and the reality stuff is now back to mainly being non-prime time filler for the most part). He happened to come onto the network at the worst possible time with the worst possible executives. Nothing he could do there except grin and bear the situation.

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2 hours ago, justin2kx said:

Don't forget *ahem* Charles Perez. Remember him? Forget the industry, the drama left him persona non grata in life. BTW Anyone can recall how Susan Roegsen fared here in NY + where she came from + did after?

 

Susan Roesgen (I always misspell her last name) came to WABC from KFMB Channel 8 in San Diego in 1990. She was not pleased with her time there. She replaced Kaity Tong. However, there was supposedly internal strife between Roesgen and Beutel and she was gone on August 1. She has since worked at National Geographic, CNN and now is working in New Orleans for WGNO (Channel 26). Also: 

 

 

 

img?institutionId=0&user=533606&id=46984

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Good for Sam, it’s a nice homecoming...but I feel like I remember his GMA departure being slightly less amicable than some are leading on. Either way, it’s amazing to me how quickly that “dream team” fell apart and both of the departing members who thought they were the key to success have floundered, while GMA has maintained its status for the most part.

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People, relax. It’s just my opinion. Fail may have been to a strong of a word probably best reserved for Josh Elliott but this is a clear career 360° in a lesser position than before.

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  • CircleSeven changed the title to Sam Champion Re-Joins WABC
14 hours ago, sfomspphl said:

 

 

The man is the #2 most successful weather broadcaster in history. Al Roker, him, and what maybe Jim Cantore. 

 

I'd say there are several others that would be ahead of Sam Champion. Sam's predecessor, Spencer Christian, would be one... and Spencer's predecessor, John Coleman (who went on to start a little channel called The Weather Channel.) I'd add Tom Skilling to the list, despite being only a local meteorologist. But I'll stop there to avoid this turning into a list thread.

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11 hours ago, Roadgeek Adam said:

Bill Beutel got a promotion in 1975 for AM America. it failed, he came back to WABC, had a career for another 31 years. I wouldn't call going up and falling back a bad thing. 

Likewise, Bill Ritter was reporting for 20/20 and anchoring GMA on the weekend, and then went "down" to WABC.  

 

Careers are rarely linear.  

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14 hours ago, rkolsen said:

People, relax. It’s just my opinion. Fail may have been to a strong of a word probably best reserved for Josh Elliott but this is a clear career 360° in a lesser position than before.

Isn't Josh gonna resurface as the host of some live first responders show on fox later this summer?

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