(Photo: Google Images)
Richard Prince of Journal-isms is reporting weatherman Al Roker’s show “Wake Up With Al” on the Weather Channel is being cancelled after a dust-up over Hurricane Katrina coverage. Prince reports that the timing may be coincidental, but Roker and David Clark, president of The Weather Company’s TV division, argued over a decision to downplay the 10th anniversary of Hurricane Katrina’s landfall.
Prince writes:
“The station decided to focus instead on the pending arrival of Tropical Storm Erika, according to a report Wednesday in the subscription-only television news site NewsBlues. The report was based on an email exchange made publicly internally.”
The network issued a statement about the matter.
“The decision to ax Roker’s show ‘was a financial one according to multiple reports,’ Jason Samenow reported Wednesday for the Washington Post. ‘It is the Atlanta-based network’s only show out of New York City, where production costs are very high.'”
Roker issued a statement through his spokesperson Heather Krug.
“I’m proud of what our Wake Up With Al team brought to the Weather Channel and completely understand the decision to move all shows to Atlanta.”
“I look forward to continuing to partner with the Channel on-air and through my production company on future traditional and digital projects.”
Read more at The Maynard Institute.
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