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| Sam Champion |
In a statement released to the press earlier, the Weather Channel says, “While Sam will always be part of The Weather Channel family, we have mutually agreed to not enter into a new contract. As our managing editor, host of our flagship AMHQ and his pioneering work on ‘23.5 Degrees,’ Sam’s leadership has helped transform The Weather Channel into the dynamic high-quality environment it is today.” The statement added, “We are grateful for his contribution and dedication. We wish him all the best in his future endeavors.”
Champion joined the cable weather network in 2014 to anchor “AMHQ.” Despite a tremendous marketing push, the show failed to be the ratings leader the network had hoped for. The debut attracted only 207,000 viewers, representing a 12% drop for the time-slot’s 4-week average. For the 7-10am timeslot, the show ranked 80th in all of cable. The targeted news demo of adults 25-54 was just as poor; AMHQ’s average 64,000 viewers in the group marked a 14% drop from recent showings in the time slot and ranked 78th in all of cable.
In October of last year, Champion was dropped from the show, according to weatherboy.com. At the time of that change, Weather Channel head Dave Shull said Champion would focus on “primetime weather reporting and digital projects.” At the time, Shull wrote that Champion would “work to create regular primetime shows that highlight the intersection of new technologies and weather.” In March, Champion launched a new nightly show, “23.5 Degrees.” The show, named after the tilt of the Earth’s axis, was to be a venue where climate change, environmental impacts, and the weather at large would be discussed
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