Former HLN Morning Express meteorologist Bob Van Dillen is going to New York-based Fox Weather.
Van Dillen said he will be starting there Monday, July 10.
He lost his job at HLN after more than 20 years in late 2022 when Warner Bros. Discovery disbanded what was left of the HLN news operation in a cost-cutting measure. He worked with host Robin Meade for nearly her entire 21-year run there.
Fox Weather, launched in 2021, is Fox News Media’s free ad-supported streaming weather service, which can also be seen on the app. It’s a direct rival to Atlanta-based The Weather Channel.
“His relatability and conversation-focused style is a perfect fit for Fox Weather and the Fox Weather team,” said Fox Weather president Sharri Berg in a press release.
Van Dillen said he plans to live in both New York, where he will work, and Atlanta because his wife is a local realtor and his daughter is still in high school. “We’ll be going back and forth,” he said in an interview with The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. “We’ll keep our Georgia house. We love Atlanta. We aren’t going to leave.”
At the same time, he said he grew up in New Jersey so this will be a homecoming of sorts. “I can start surfing again,” he noted.
He is excited to work for a start up. “I’ve been watching nonstop for eight months,” Van Dillen said. “The product is great. The meteorologists are fantastic. The app is super user-friendly. It’s an exciting time to be there.”
Van Dillen said he felt lucky and grateful for his time working with Meade, who led a tight-knit news team that built a loyal viewership, sometimes beating the ratings of CNN’s morning show. But they were ultimately victims of changing viewing habits that have eviscerated many cable networks.
“Robin made us all look better,” Van Dillen said. “We really gelled. We did stuff after work. We’d go to Topgolf. We had parties. We still talk to each other. What you saw on the air was actually going on. We didn’t have huge egos. It was a true team.”
He said he was planning to go to Meade’s July 4th festivities but had to go to New York for his new gig.
Over his two-decade run at HLN, Van Dillen covered hurricanes such as Matthew, Michael and Harvey, as well as Superstorm Sandy and many communities ravaged by tornados. He also got to fly with the Blue Angels, ice climb on a glacier in Alaska and cover numerous Macy’s Thanksgiving Day parades.
Before coming to Atlanta in 2002, Van Dillen worked at stations in Albany and Syracuse, New York and Charlotte, North Carolina.
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