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Weather Channel debuts 'Wake Up With Al' July 20

By April MacIntyre Jun 29, 2009, 1:54 GMT

Al Roker will host his own morning program on the Weather Channel. Roker is America's most recognized weatherman, and has been named host of Wake Up With Al, a new weekday morning program on The Weather Channel. Roker will join The Weather Channel’s Stephanie Abrams, who will serve as his co-host. © Janet Mayer / PR Photos

Roker is America's most recognized weatherman, and has been named host of Wake Up With Al, a new weekday morning program on The Weather Channel. Roker will join The Weather Channel’s Stephanie Abrams, who will serve as his co-host. © Janet Mayer / PR PhotosRoker is America's most recognized weatherman, and has been named host of Wake Up With Al, a new weekday morning program on The Weather Channel. Roker will join The Weather Channel’s Stephanie Abrams, who will serve as his co-host. The announcement was made by Lisa Gersh, interim CEO of The Weather Channel. The one-hour program will air weekdays from 6-7 a.m. ET and premiere this summer. “Simply put - Al Roker is synonymous with weather. He has an energy and a style that jumps off the screen, and we already know that people want to wake up with him in the morning,” said Gersh. “We have spent months coming up with the right way to integrate Al into The Weather Channel’s programming, and I think, alongside Stephanie, we’ve come up with the perfect formula with this announcement.”"Wake Up with Al" will explore weather, utilizing Roker’s warm style with the accuracy, dependability and expertise of The Weather Channel. "Wake Up With Al" will air live from both New York City and Atlanta. He will appear both in the studio, interacting with guests and viewers, and in the field, reporting on the most compelling weather stories of the day."Over the years, I have been out covering the same snowstorms, hurricanes and tornado aftermath as the folks at The Weather Channel. It is really exciting to be working on The Weather Channel, bringing the best weather information to people as they start their day,” said Roker. “And now I get free baseball caps and fleeces from two of the best information networks in the world.”An experienced meteorologist and host, Abrams will report from Atlanta from the state-of-the-art TWC HD studio, equipped with a 37-foot wide video screen and true HD weather graphics that have revolutionized TV weather presentation. Roker will remain in Rockefeller Center in addition to offering live remotes. On most days following his "Wake Up" shift, he'll continue with his "Today" responsibilities.Roker and Abrams will analyze the day's weather events, as well as personality profiles and issues involving consumers traveling to different areas of the country.NBC Universal bought the Weather Channel in July from Landmark Communications for approximately $3.5 billion. The network's website, weather.com, is hugely popular and helps add to NBCU's digital growth.He is a recipient of the American Meteorological Society’s prestigious Seal of Approval and has been a pioneer in the use of computer graphics for weathercasting.

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Morning Show ViewerJun 30th, 2009 - 18:01:18

After Marshall S retired, you had Nicole Mitchell and Kevin Robinson as the tandem meteorologists which was the best team and I watched every day because they were so personable and relateable to me and everyone I know who would wake up to them anywhere in the country. Then you brought in the caffine-driven tag team and we stopped watching. With all due respect, CELEBRITY MEDIA MAN Al Roker is also not the answer; let him stay put with ABC, CBS, or NBC. Again, my vote is for Mitchell and Robinson.

Thanx

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craigJul 9th, 2009 - 18:00:10

The attraction of the Weather Channel was always the fact that it was everything the big networks weather was not - weather and weather related stories, weather facts and information. People watched because it wasn't populated with the likes of Al Roker, an admitted weather/feature reporter.
NBC is slowly ruining the weather channel with its shuffling/releasing of popular on-air personalities, with these jokey fringe reporters - The first comment was correct, Celebrity is not what is needed, next the show will have a cooking segment and we can watch Al eat a 2nd breakfast like he does now on NBC. Not worth watching.

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Temple Football ForeverJul 11th, 2009 - 21:10:14

Does this mean Roker is quitting NBC? No mention of that in story.

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Storm ChaserJul 24th, 2009 - 13:36:56

“Wake up with Al-Bundy” would have been a more entertaining show. I have to state that I find Roker annoying and grating. 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 (save a couple of shows)is horrible and their “star” personalities are either too old, too stale, or just not worth the 'title'.
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.

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SuzanneJul 28th, 2009 - 15:03:38

Thanks a lot NBC. You've taken the one un-biased, factual channel out there and turned it into another stupid entertainment, ratings-based show. TWC used to be a place I could go for reliable information or just a place that would provide a 'get-away' from the rest of the fluff out there. You took away the likes of Dave Schwartz and replaced him with Al Roker????

I replaced my TWC favorites button with my local radar....

So Long TWC...you will be missed.

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george from georgiaJul 29th, 2009 - 12:18:18

It got old after the first week. Bring back a duo who is calm, cool, and collected to go with my morning coffee. I do not watch any of the early entertainment shows, I just want weather and nice personalities to go with it.

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Jon W.Aug 4th, 2009 - 07:36:13

My sentiments exactly (as stated above)! TWC hardly needed Al Roker and his buffoonery-schtick. He is annoying and perpetually gets under my skin with his insistence on being an attention hog. They should team him up with Paula Deen, Gina Neely, and Guy Fieri, his birds-of-a-feather friends from Food Network, and send them all off on a forever 'Road Tasted' expedition across all of Asia. Can't stand these overly-manic selfish morons we're force-fed daily. Take them and the endless slew of pharmaceutical commercials and get rid of them all!

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bsevenAug 6th, 2009 - 10:39:31

This show is bad. As soon as I heard Al using the worlds moola swag I stopped watching. I'm only 32 and even at that age trying to use slang from generation Y is more then lame. I want my old TWC back :-(

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TWC down the toiletAug 6th, 2009 - 15:42:31

Well obviously the programming genius who has taken the NBC network down the toilet now is attemtpting to do the same thing with The Weather Channel. The Al Roker show is the most rediculous thing I have seen since TV news departments tried to do 'Happy News' years ago. Roker is a joke on this show. I have turned it off as I have turned off most of the other programming on NBC. TWC used to be reliable weather when you needed it. Now they fill a good part of their time with repeats of old weather shows. They are bouncing around forecasters like a bouncing ball, obviously trying to take the forecasters who have been with TWC the longest, (read highest salary) and moving them to graveyard shifts in an attempt to get them to quit. A once reliable, serious cable channel becoming becoming a VH1/MTV style has-been. RIP the weather channel.

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Weather Channel debuts 'Wake Up With Al' July 20

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