By RODNEY HO/ rho@ajc.com, originally filed Thursday, January 14, 2016
Sam Champion's new Weather Channel prime-time show will debut next month and will be called "23.5 Degrees With Sam Champion."
He told the New York Post in an exclusive interview: ""The reason we picked that title is I wanted something to reach out to our fans, to people who are science-based. I didn't want the name of the show to be so immediate. People who love the climate, love the environment and love space understand that the earth is on an actual tilt [23.5 degrees], which is the key ingredient to making us a hospitable planet."
He joined the Weather Channel in early 2014 and became host of "AMHQ," the morning show. Jim Cantore was added to co-host with him early last year. But by the fall, the Weather Channel shifted plans and Champion was taken off the morning show with vague plans for a prime-time show in 2016. In the Post interview, he made it sound like this was all pre-planned.
Since he left "AMHQ," Stephanie Abrams has returned from New York to Atlanta to co-host with Cantore.
The new Champion show will be weekly and he'll have studios in both New York and Atlanta. He told the Post he will split time between the two cities.
Champion is subbing in for Ginger Zee this week while she is on maternity leave on "Good Morning America," his home for seven years before the Weather Channel. He said he isn't trying to maneuver his way back to GMA either.
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