Sam Champion Preps New Show

Sam Champion is preparing his new show on the Weather Channel and he says  "I think it's something you haven't seen before."

Hmmmm?

Could it be Weather? That's something you don't see much of on the Weather Channel anymore.

The new showed called America's Morning Headquarters with Sam Champion," or, for short, "AMHQ" will launch March 17th and run from 7-10AM.

"When you wake up, you get your first news, texts and updates on your smartphone and laptop, not television," Champion tells the AP. "What you need from TV is a very thorough understanding of what's going on in your environment. Your weather needs become, 'What's it like right now, and every hour through the day for me and my home team as we're heading out into the world?'"

The traditional TV news shows can't do that, he argues. For them, the news takes top priority and the bulk of available air-time.

"I may get 30 seconds, I might get a minute-20. I might be 17 minutes into the show," said Champion, citing past experience at "Good Morning America." "But I think weather is a high priority for the audience. No matter what's going on, it all starts with the weather. Weather information is what colors all of your planning, all of your decision-making, for the day to come."

While giving weather a national and even global perspective, each successive hour of AMHQ also will target a different time zone, with its final hour, which begins at 6 a.m. Pacific time, devoting special attention to Western viewers.

"By then, we'll have gotten the East Coast and Middle America out the door," Champion explained. "That third hour will focus on what the West Coast needs to know as it wakes up."

He spoke of his long workdays (and a few nights spent at the Weather Channel studios) while acknowledging that show time for AMHQ was just a short month away.

"But I've been given the ability to create something with an excited team of people," he said. "Everybody's in a room with a bunch of great ideas, and no one's saying 'no' to each other. They're saying, 'Why CAN'T we create something great?'"