Al Roker joining The Weather Channel July 20
When NBC Universal purchased the Atlanta-based Weather Channel, peppy “Today Show” meteorologist Al Roker quickly figured this could be a great marriage for him, too.
He approached Weather Channel executives earlier this year and suggested a show before his daily 7 to 10 a.m. stint on “The Today Show.” Called “Wake Up With Al,” the 6 a.m. show starting Monday, July 20, will be co-anchored by Roker and existing Weather Channel anchor Stephanie Abrams.
“If you have Bob Costas, why not use him for the Olympics?” Roker said in a phone interview Wednesday. “This seemed like a perfect fit. I just wanted to make sure there was a way to do it without killing myself.”
Roker said he’s already up at 3 a.m. in the morning each day: “I just have to put my pants on a little earlier.”
NBC built him a separate studio at 30 Rockefeller Center in New York City with a 103-inch high-definition interactive touch screen. (”Whiz bang technology!” he said.) Abrams will work out of Atlanta headquarters.
“He’s personable. He’s likable. He’s humorous. It’s a pretty safe venture for the Weather Channel,” said Brad Adgate, senior vice president for research at Horizon Media, an independent media services company.
Geoffrey Darby, executive vice president of programming, agreed that the move is a no brainer. “Mornings are the Weather Channel’s primetime,” he said.
The Weather Channel’s ratings are typically highest on weekends. During the week of July 6, the top-rated program was “Weekend View” on Saturday mornings with 462,000 viewers.
“First Outlook,” the current weekday 6 a.m. show, drew 185,000 to 228,000 viewers last week. (In comparison, repeats of “Married With Children” on TBS brought in between 500,000 and 700,000 viewers that hour.)
“Wake Up With Al” will, of course, focus on the weather, including the signature “Locals on the 8s.” But the network is also going to use other NBC news operations, with headline summaries from MSNBC and CNBC anchors.
Darby said the network did focus groups and found people typically flip around at 6 a.m., catching some weather on the Weather Channel, then another network for news. He hopes by providing a bit of non-weather news on “Waking Up With Al,” viewers might stick around a bit longer.
Logistically, Roker said it will take him only five minutes to walk from his Weather Channel studio to “The Today Show.” And if there’s a big breaking weather story, he said he could stay at the Weather Channel and report from there for the NBC crowd.
TVNewser got Abrams and Roker together for an interview:
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62 comments Add your comment
Jim
July 15th, 2009
2:11 pm
uh, only one problem here. Is Al a Meteorologist? Why not just put the whole frigging Today show on there, as well as the cast of Heroes and Conan. NBC is a horrible network, hence their 4th place finish in the ratings year after year. The Weather Channel will go downhill fast. Teh only good thing…he’s on at 6:00 am when I’m not up yet.
Dan
July 15th, 2009
3:59 pm
NBC is driving that place into the ground. When I used to watch the weather channel I wanted to know what the weather was going to be. I did not want to see boring retarded recorded shows about how a dog was saved from a hot car in a parking lot or how a storm 50 years ago flooded the midwest. I wanted to know my weather, not weather from 50 years ago. If the idiots at NBC think Al Roker is going to be their saving grace to salvage a floundering cable channel…. good luck.
atl1000
July 15th, 2009
8:12 pm
yea i agree with these two above posts, plus, i know heidie and spencer are not everyone’s cup of tea, but when he ‘interviewed’ them as part of the nbc series ‘im a celebrity, get me out of here’, he viciously attacked them unfairly in my opinion. i lost respect for him then, considering ’speidy’ were the only ratings that awful show brought in.
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July 16th, 2009
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JRoc
July 16th, 2009
5:03 pm
Bring back the OLD Weather Channel!
doodle & Alexis
July 16th, 2009
5:32 pm
congratulations Al. we love the today show and the weather channel. M
Callie
July 17th, 2009
12:25 pm
The Weather Channel used to be cool and funky. All of the really good on-air people are gone and we are stuck with “personalities” who yell a lot and want to scare the viewer to death. It used to be a rain storm – now it’s a rain storm with potential flooding. Geeze Louise, when did the natural weather of known time turn on us? Anyway, I watch “Local on the 8s” and then switch to anything else – even a MLS game is better than Abrams & Bettis.
tterry
July 17th, 2009
7:14 pm
everything going downhill. nothing worth watching on tv or listening to the radio.
frank
July 17th, 2009
9:03 pm
We can expect more preaching about global warmism now that Obama crony GE owns the Weather Channel. Even the weather is a tool of the left wingers now.
Jonathan
July 18th, 2009
11:27 pm
Without Sharon Resultan the Weather Channel is worthless……….
Dan
July 20th, 2009
12:25 pm
I “Woke up with AL” this morning and wish I hadn’t. It sucked rocks. Just give me the freakin’ weather, that’s all I ask.
Bob
July 20th, 2009
4:40 pm
I’ve been watching the weather channel from the first day on the air using a satellite dish. YOU think I’m kidding…NO I am not. The new show with Al is horrible, the music, the jokes, just give me my weather NBC!
Jan
July 20th, 2009
8:06 pm
I watch the Weather Channel to get weather, not to see continuous reruns of storm stories nor listen to stupid comments by the meteorologists. I also do not appreciate having all those rerun shows going on when severe weather is taking place. Wake Up With Al is a new low. I do not want to be entertained; i want detailed weather, plain and simple. My daughter is a meteorologist(not on air), and she feels your professionalism has gone down the tubes. You have lost a loyal watcher of your channel. I will now get my weather from weather.gov.
Susie
July 21st, 2009
9:21 am
We’ll make sure we ARE NOT tuned into the weather channel from 6-7 am. Al Roker may very well be ‘the most recognizable tv weatherman’, but he can’t deliver the weather.
We tune into the weather channel for the weather. If we wanted to watch news, celebrity personalities and humor, we’d turn to a ‘daily show’ format. We don’t need another ‘all purpose’ TV program.
Thanks, but no thanks.
ps ~ the celebrity ‘wake-up call’? !! Give me a break!!!!
lahnice
July 22nd, 2009
8:36 am
I do not like the new format. Just weather, please, with the real morning people who used to deliver it. IF I turn it on, I’ll turn OFF the sound.
john
July 22nd, 2009
11:15 am
well i have seen it all ,with all the phony smiles ,and firings , and now al joker ,why doesnt nbc hire clowns that juggle, and that do magic tricks.i loved the weather channel since it was started ,but as time goes by, its just another show waiting to bust.maybe if they could be more closer to accurate with the weather, they would have the ratings, its a total injustice for those who want to know the weather and instead are treated to another morning tv gossip program …….
john
July 22nd, 2009
12:56 pm
weather channel, ARE YOU READING THE POST ABOVE ! ALL WE WANT IS WEATHER
THAT’S ALL NOT AL ROPER.
Carl Nelson
July 22nd, 2009
4:51 pm
You have to be KIDDING ME!!!! I turn to the WC for information, not loud-mouth extroverts who “entertain”. Just the facts please…And WHY did you replace the :50 tropical forecast with this crap? I live in SC and when hurricane season comes (and it’s here now) I want science, not noise.
Keith
July 22nd, 2009
5:25 pm
People who want the weather don’t want MSNBC, NBC, or the personalities that come with it. TERRIBLE is the only word to describe it! Why take a station that does an excellent job of providing information about WEATHER and ruin it????? I’ve watched this station on a daily basis for years but will now find my weather information elsewhere!
Norma Raymond
July 23rd, 2009
10:46 am
I do not know when I have been so disgusted as when I tried to get a straight weather report from the brilliant, low key, personable weather reporters that I enjoy watching and listening to and got the new team of Al Roper and the poor woman who is reduced to kissing her arms in a sleeveless dress and flirting with a man whose qualifications are nil. Obnoxious is too mild for my reaction — I will have to go elsewhere for my updates. What a sad day it is when well qualified professionals are replace by THIS!!!
Donna
July 23rd, 2009
11:01 am
When I turn to The Weather Channel, I want to see information about the weather. If I wanted to watch The Today Show, I would turn to that channel. Since they insist on adding more “shows” to their program, I will start watching my local news station or the internet to get current weather. They also turn me off with the egotistical “THE Hurricane Authority”.
Weather Watcher
July 24th, 2009
6:45 am
“Wake up with Al-Bundy” would have been a more entertaining show. I have to agree with the majority here and state that Roker is annoying and a pseudo entertainer. I watch the Weather Channel for weather, not to experience some 4th rate broadcaster waste my time. NBC’s ratings are in the basement because their programming is horrible and their “star” personalities are stale. Roker, on this show, comes across as a buffoon who is straining to be entertaining. He does not translate well outside of the ‘Today Show” environment. I just hope the weather channel does not suffer too badly from this absurd programming change.
Capt. Hank
July 24th, 2009
10:53 am
Here is the contact at the weather channel Medori, Melissa MMedori@weather.com I have complained about their new format. I got a canned reply. I’m sure they are getting plenty of negative feed back. I turned it on this morning and Roker was interviewing an American Idol contestant. Please tell me what this has to do with the weather. Also, Abrams has to go.
Capt. Hank
Ft. Pierce, FL
Marian Clark
July 26th, 2009
11:45 pm
Do away with Al Roker on the weather channel. Stop trying to get ‘cute’ with your great work you have provided over the years. Get back to the basics of reporting the weather as it used to be. And, we don’t need to be yelled at to report the weather. Where is Cheryl Lemke, Kristina Abernathy and other good people.
Marge
July 27th, 2009
7:54 am
Al is fun and I think he is a nice addition early in the morning. I know even the weather channel has had to succumb to the typical tricks to keep ratings (and no one can please everyone). I am enjoying what Al brings to the weather channel and boo to you people who like to put down everything. After all there are other channels if you don’t like it–no reason to be so negative.
Mike Wright
July 27th, 2009
8:30 am
A cheap vaudeville act…..watching Al (he’s not even a meteorologist) is an insult to the intelligence of those of us who have counted on the Weather Channel for years now. Absolutely horrible….disgraceful attempt at entertainment. I DON”T WATCH THE WEATHER CHANNEL TO BE ENTERTAINED. I WATCH IT TO BE INFORMED!!!!!
john
July 28th, 2009
11:13 am
other channels? last i checked it was called THE WEATHER CHANNEL not anything else . i used to watch it too find out the WEATHER not repeats of disasters that i can see on OTHER CHANNELS. i remember florida used to have a live satellite feed just with weather facts for the day and live satellite photos , if need be do that. they wouldnt have too fire anyone or hire clowns…..
john
July 28th, 2009
11:14 am
and no need to have commercials
Karl
July 29th, 2009
10:38 am
Well I do believe that TWC has hit rock BOTTOM with this new crap. NBC, congratulations on ruining my favorite channel. Pure rubbish. Too add insult to injury they REPLAY Wake Up with AL at 10:00AM. HUH??????????? Now we get less of Heather and Carl and MORE of AL Roker. Are you kidding me? A rerun at 10 in the morning? Then in the afternoon 2 hours of “stories” about weather, not live weather. Great work, NBC, you ruined TWC.
michelle jones
July 29th, 2009
10:31 pm
Al Roker is a JOKE!! The Weather Channel must really be going down hill if they’re hiring people like Al Roker. It’s too bad, the Weather Channel used to be the best source for weather information. Now, I never watch it. They’re always running Storm Stories reruns even as severe weather is happening. And now, people up early who just want to know the weather forecast for the day are going to be subjected to obnoxious, ignorant bullsh– coming from Al Roker. What a crying shame.
John G. Linday
August 4th, 2009
10:22 am
Enter your comments here
To Al Roper,Hi,Ilive in Oswego,N.Y. 2.2 miles south of the southeast end of Lake Ontario.We have bitter cold winters with alot of snow.I’ll send you temps. and pictures.I am asking about “dew point (the formular for computing the dew point and what it is.Is a dew point guage available to purchase some where? I watch “Al in the morning”evert morning to see how I will dress for the day 0r stay insidr with the air conditioner on or keep the fire place burning.
Thanks
2
To
Al Roper
Gail
August 9th, 2009
12:54 pm
What a horrible employer. Do your job well but end up with the floating and graveyard shifts anyway. I’m speaking of the TWC’s former workday morning teams. They were professional and informative. When many of us are feeling insecure about the economy and our own employment issues, this has not been a comforting change to watch. What’s the next step for these folks–out the door? Boo NBC.
Between 6-8 a.m. I want to know what I’m going to face when I get into my car to head to the office, not idle chatter and entertainment. I don’t care what celebs are doing. I’m obviously not the demographic NBC is trying to attract–middle-aged, middle-income, working American.
Is NBC in so much trouble it needs Al Roker to try to entice folks over to the Today show? Will NBC go the way of GM? Splintered itself into so many pieces it could not do any of them well–WSNBC, CNBC, etc.
charlotte shirley
August 12th, 2009
7:44 am
Enter your comments here
charlotte shirley
August 12th, 2009
7:48 am
Whoever decided to add Al Roker to the weather channel must have been in a daze, I always have turned on the weather channel first thing in the morning but not anymore, let’s get back to weather reporting instead of someone trying to be funny and talking up a storm which amounts to nothing, send him back where he came from and I will start watching your channel again.
Rhonda
August 17th, 2009
7:56 am
Please, Weather Channel, bring back the old format. We want weather, not celebrity gossip, news, etc. We can get that from many other channels. Al Roker is awful on this show and if I here him say “WUWA” one more time I’m going to scream. It is so stupid. It is also painful to watch Stephanie Abrams stumble and bumble as she tries to “read” the weather. Please, please just give us the weather with the “old” wonderful personalities.
Clark
August 18th, 2009
5:06 pm
Al Roker has no credibility….he has no business on the WEATHER channel. He certainly has no meterology knowledge! What a joke.
Ron
August 19th, 2009
10:48 am
Come On!! Give me a break. Please! Living in Florida, I tune into the Weather channel to see the real and current weather. I don’t want it exaggerated. I don’t want to hear the sky is falling when a bird craps on your hat and Storm Stories, I’m about sick of them also. Wake Up With Al? Please! This is a new low. I don’t want to be entertained with bull; I want detailed weather, plain and simple. Somebody in Atlanta get some intestinal fortitude and tell GE and NBC to keep their hands off! I guess I’ll be looking at the weather underground and weather.gov
Karl
August 19th, 2009
6:41 pm
Wonder if the powers to be at TWC and NBC read our comments? Perhaps if we consider boycotting their sponsor’s products……………?
What do all think about that?
N. Elizabeth
August 21st, 2009
4:14 pm
I am sure Mr. Roker is a very nice man, but I do believe the Weather Channel is doing a disservice having Wake Up With Al at 6 a.m. If I wanted to watch MSNBC news updates, I would be watching MSNBC, not the Weather Channel!!! I want the WEATHER – period! I would much rather have Jim Cantore on with a morning show – he is so intelligent and interesting – that’s all we would need!! I am so sorry NBC bought the Weather Channel – bad, bad, bad!!
Linda
September 1st, 2009
5:09 pm
Mr. Roker needs to hush. He’s jabbering away as the “local on the 8’s” runs. Consequently the 1st info re: humididty and dew point is not received. I can see him anytime on his regular show. And I sure don’t watch the weather channel for his input!
Linda
September 1st, 2009
5:09 pm
Enter your comments here
Don Bennett
September 3rd, 2009
9:40 pm
What ever happened to Mike Bettis?????????????//
Sandy
September 4th, 2009
6:34 am
I love Abrams & Bettis but AL Roker?? Bring back all of the old teams. The ones that made me watch for years. I now turn it off when the loudmouth comes on. It used to be a station that we would keep on all day in the backround but now only after the loudmouth leaves. Sorry Al, You were great as a personality on the show that is structured for you but PLEASE not the weather channel
jeffrey avanzato
September 8th, 2009
6:06 pm
Al roker is totally irritating and annoying.He has always tried too hard. Looks like the weather channel has gone the same way as the food network————gaudy,neophyte showmanship instead of interesting and informative content.Stick to the basics and get rid of that fraud.
Mark
September 10th, 2009
1:29 pm
Al Roker is so annoying. I STOPPED watching TWC. I use to turn it on and leave it there all morning. I miss TWC and wish it was back to the way it was. Get rid of Al. Until then I won’t be tuning in.
Don Bennett
September 10th, 2009
7:34 pm
Anybody know what happened to Mike Bettis? The last time I saw him he was chasing tornadoes for a few weeks. He and Stefanie Abrams was fun to watch. They really clicked with each other and therefore with me. Any news on him, anyone??????????????
jason
September 16th, 2009
7:43 am
this is what i sent to them. I grew up wth my mom with this channel, it was so nice to come to it away from what was on everyother channel. Egotistical shows, blaring music, reports of death and dispare, and stupid celeberties. Now your channel is a show, it has turned into catering and acting out the above. I miss the Zen music and neutral weather reporting.
Its sad and really and discrace to see so many good people turned away that reported actual weather. Now im greeted by al roker in the morning and 50cents aspiring book writing to become a media mogul. Yale students murder? What was it 46 degrees when she was killed.? Im mean come on.
Why waste my breath, Im throwing out my damn TV and getting Wifi only. I will watch forecasts from places that actually give them. NBC is trife most TV is trife. One day somoene else will start humbly agian and you guys that sold your souls to cram stupid repeat commercials down our throats for a dollar will all get yours in the end.
Karl
September 16th, 2009
10:57 am
Wow, WELL said, Jason. You nailed it. On top of all that Jason said, what really, really gets me is the frigging REPEAT of Wake up with Al at 10:00. Talk about selling out………………..
Randy
September 22nd, 2009
7:41 am
I hate the changes! Hate them! Just another example of the “dumbing down” of the formerly great nation known as America, and most of the dumbing-down can be blamed on the media and the continued hypnosis of the (formerly) great American people. Hey – we stick a McDonald’s anywhere don’t we, so why not “stick” us with Al? Watching is painful! Al, The News, Fluff, Tripe, Doggies & Mindless Cable TV Crap – the NEW(?) programming at The Weather Channel? I removed the channel from my TV’s memory, and I won’t return. This is the regard they have for the former audience? Al, please go away, you’ve ruined my mornings!
Sharon
October 16th, 2009
2:20 pm
I totally agree with the majority here. The Weather Channel was my favorite for many years, and would I leave it on for hours. They always have nice, well mannered, good folks and their voices are calm and comforting. Then came Al, and blew us all away, like a cat. 5 hurricane, so after seeing a couple shows that was enough for me and I stopped watching. I felt sorry for poor Stephanie,she is so sweet and having to deal with that. I do hope things go back to the old format, that’s what the people want…give us what we want, and keep it that way!
I love them all at the weather channel, except Al (sorry, but not on this channel) this is weather not low entertainment and besides we should take the weather seriously, sometimes it can be deadly.
Jim
October 24th, 2009
9:04 am
Enter your comments here
Oh brother. I can’t wait until they bring back another of their stellar entertainers–Willard Scott. Sheesh.
Capt. Hank
October 25th, 2009
11:47 am
The sad thing, I really don’t think NBC cares what we think about Al. I was preparing a list of the sponsors, would you believe most of their commercials are geared to hawking this A$$?
NBC has ruined a once stable tv station, forever. By the way, I must be on email block, Ms. Medori doesn’t reply to any of my emails. So be it….!
Capt. Hank
cyoti
October 26th, 2009
12:44 pm
Enter your comments here
cyoti
October 26th, 2009
12:48 pm
And I thought I was alone….. I left NBC because of Al Roker,, NOW he’s on the Weather Channel.
I don’t want to/ will not–”Wake up w/AL”– it’s morphing into a “Mini-NBC”,, what a shame.. This AM I got to watch someone play the piano,, not anymore, I’m after weather.
Karl
October 26th, 2009
12:57 pm
I’ll say it again, an added insult is having a REPEAT of Al @ 10:00AM…………….a disgrace and an insult to us viewers. Or former viewers that is.
JJ
October 26th, 2009
4:37 pm
Abrams is obnoxious. Roker is obnoxious. I can’t stomach it. I am back to watching my local news for weather. Yuck. The “news” breaks from CNBC and MSNBC (yuck, yuck, yuck!) are even more annoying than having to listen to Abrams yacking and Al trying waaaay too hard to be witty. Eww. Bad move Weather Channel. Bye.
Justin R.
November 3rd, 2009
10:55 pm
I agree. Abrams and Roker are both complete douchebags. When I wake up in the morning, I want the weather, not some comedy wannabe. I wish they would bring back the Weather Channel that I remembered and enjoyed from the late 80’s through the 90’s. I thought Cantore was the biggest tool, but now I know it’s Roker. What a joke.
Randino
November 4th, 2009
12:07 pm
Thank goodness for my DVR! I can wait until a couple of minutes past one of the “Local on the Eights” in the morning, then turn Weather Channel on and back through to the beginning of the segment–thus getting my local weather AND avoiding Al altogether! Programming Director please note: I’m also turning the TV off immediately AFTER viewing the recorded “Eights” segment, so I hope you didn’t have any commercials you wanted me to see…’cause it ain’t happening! The new format is–as has been stated MANY times in the foregoing posts–a travesty.
Roy Wolin
November 13th, 2009
3:40 pm
Al Roker is useless. You can tell that he spends more time watching prompter than the other on air personalities. He tries to be funny, but is boring.
Bring back Dave Schwartz, Sharon,Cheryl, Kristina and others who have more talent.
Casey
November 18th, 2009
11:19 am
Get rid of roker…what a joke…what happened to the weather channel that we all loved…where you could actually get the weather…anytime day or night…I’m loving my weather bug…I can actually get the weather and NO roper there…what the hell is the weather channel thinking or lack of…we want weather plain & simple…no storm stories or roper and what the hell is this on friday nights…MOVIES…you have got to be kidding me…weather channel you have hit an all time low…won’t be watching anymore I can’t stand it…yuck.
Randum
November 23rd, 2009
7:56 am
Haven’t watched the Weather channel since Roker became a part of it.
I was a loyal fan,the Weather channel Was my screen saver.On 27/7.
Capt. Hank
November 23rd, 2009
7:57 pm
Melissa doesn’t reply to my emails. I’m now looking for the next layer above her. Maybe, they will reply.