Credit: Rodney Ho
Credit: Rodney Ho
By RODNEY HO/rho@ajc.com, filed January 26, 2015
David Chandley, a long-time mainstay on Channel 2 Action News until last summer, is joining rival Fox 5 as chief meteorologist. He officially starts today at 5, 6, 10 and 11 p.m. newscasts.
The official announcement was made on YouTube at 6:43 a.m. with Joanne Feldman. "It's finally here," he said on the video with the hashtag #WelcomeDavid. "I'm just so happy to be here. I'm just so blessed to be here. This is going to be a whole lot of fun." At 6:47 a.m., Feldman introduced Chandley on "Good Day Atlanta."
After thanking God, he said, "This is my home town. This is my state. My people!" Later, in an interview, he repeated what he has said on the air: "I'm living the dream."
Chandley, who worked at WSB for nearly 26 years, said he loved working there but wanted to become a lead meteorologist, a responsibility he had never held before. "It's being front and center when there's a big weather event, dictating the tone and coverage," he said. "I've always wanted to be the messenger and navigate the ship."
At WSB, Glenn Burns has been chief meteorologist for 30 years and has no near-term plans to retire. As a result, Chandley said he wasn't sure he'd ever get his shot there.
Fox 5's Ken Cook retired last summer after 35 years at the station, leaving an opening Chandley thought he could fill.
It's unusual for on-air staff to leave WSB, the long-time leader in the market in ratings, for another station in the same market.
Chandley had a six-month non-compete clause that expired January 10. He wasn't able to start negotiating with any Atlanta TV station until after that date.
WSB, which has been running billboards espousing its weather team as a whole and Burns individually, has the biggest unit among the four local Atlanta stations with five full-time meteorologists. Katie Walls and Brian Monahan were hired last year. The other stations have three or four.
There has been a marked turnover in meteorologists in the Atlanta local news market this past year. Last year, 11 Alive dropped Mike Francis and boosted Chris Holcomb to chief. CBS46's Markina Brown left in November, replaced last month by Jim Kosek.
WSB is part of Cox Media Group, which also oversees The Atlanta Journal-Constitution and ajc.com.
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