Samuel James Champion (born August 13, 1961) is an American weather anchor who is best known for his combined 25-year career on the

ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script known as the alphabet. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Broadcasting * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial U.S. TV broadcaster ** Disney–ABC Television ...

flagship station

WABC-TV WABC-TV (channel 7) is a television station in New York City, serving as the flagship of the ABC network. Owned and operated by the network's ABC Owned Television Stations division, the station maintains studios in the Lincoln Square neighbor ...

and ''

Good Morning America ''Good Morning America'' (often abbreviated as ''GMA'') is an American morning television program that is broadcast on ABC. It debuted on November 3, 1975, and first expanded to weekends with the debut of a Sunday edition on January 3, 1993. Th ...

''. He formerly co-anchored '' AMHQ: America's Morning Headquarters'' and ''23.5 Degrees With Sam Champion'' on

The Weather Channel The Weather Channel (TWC) is an American pay television channel owned by Weather Group, LLC, a subsidiary of Allen Media Group. The channel's headquarters are in Atlanta, Georgia. Launched on May 2, 1982, the channel broadcasts weather forecas ...

. After December 4, 2013, his final day with ABC, he became the

managing editor A managing editor (ME) is a senior member of a publication's management team. Typically, the managing editor reports directly to the editor-in-chief and oversees all aspects of the publication. United States In the United States, a managing edito ...

of The Weather Channel, beginning on January 1, 2014. Champion also appeared on the ''

Today Today (archaically to-day) may refer to: * Day of the present, the time that is perceived directly, often called ''now'' * Current era, present * The current calendar date Arts, entertainment, and media Films * ''Today'' (1930 film), a 1930 A ...

'' show on

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an Television in the United States, American English-language Commercial broadcasting, commercial television network, broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Enterta ...

. After leaving NBC and the Weather Channel in 2016, he returned to ABC on a fill-in basis and returned to become the weekday morning and noon weather anchor at WABC-TV in June 2019.

Early life and education

Champion was born in

Paducah, Kentucky Paducah ( ) is a home rule-class city in and the county seat of McCracken County, Kentucky. The largest city in the Jackson Purchase region, it is located at the confluence of the Tennessee and the Ohio rivers, halfway between St. Louis, Missour ...

, to Sylvia and James H. Champion on August 13, 1961. He has one sibling, sister Teresa. His father, who died October 25, 2010, was a lieutenant colonel in the U.S. Marine Corps who served in Vietnam. He graduated from Fairfax High School in

Fairfax, Virginia The City of Fairfax ( ), colloquially known as Fairfax City, Downtown Fairfax, Old Town Fairfax, Fairfax Courthouse, FFX, or simply Fairfax, is an independent city (United States), independent city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth ...

in 1979. He has a B.A. in broadcast news from

Eastern Kentucky University Eastern Kentucky University (Eastern or EKU) is a public university in Richmond, Kentucky. As a regional comprehensive institution, EKU also maintains branch campuses in Corbin, Hazard, Lancaster, and Manchester and offers over 40 online un ...

, and interned at

WKYT-TV WKYT-TV (channel 27) is a television station in Lexington, Kentucky, United States, affiliated with CBS and The CW. The station is owned by Gray Television, and maintains studios and transmitter facilities on Winchester Road (US 60) near I-75 on ...

Lexington, Kentucky Lexington is a city in Kentucky, United States that is the county seat of Fayette County, Kentucky, Fayette County. By population, it is the List of cities in Kentucky, second-largest city in Kentucky and List of United States cities by popul ...

Career

Champion worked at

WPSD-TV WPSD-TV (channel 6) is a television station licensed to Paducah, Kentucky, United States, serving as the NBC affiliate for Western Kentucky's Jackson Purchase region, Southern Illinois, the Missouri Bootheel, and northwest Tennessee. Owned by ...

, and WJKS (later

WCWJ WCWJ (channel 17) is a television station in Jacksonville, Florida, United States, affiliated with The CW. It is owned by Graham Media Group alongside independent station WJXT (channel 4). Both stations share studios at 4 Broadcast Place on the ...

) in

Jacksonville, Florida Jacksonville is a city located on the Atlantic coast of northeast Florida, the most populous city proper in the state and is the largest city by area in the contiguous United States as of 2020. It is the seat of Duval County, with which the ...

. He became a weather presenter for

's ''

Eyewitness News ''Eyewitness News'' is a style of television news presentation that emphasizes visual elements and action video, replacing the older "man-on-camera" newscast. History Pioneered by Westinghouse The earliest known use of the ''Eyewitness New ...

'' in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

in 1988. He went on ''

'' at a salary in 2004 of $1.5 million per year. On April 7, 2008 he debuted as host of '' Sea Rescue'', an educational and informational program in

Litton's Weekend Adventure Weekend Adventure (originally known as ABC Weekend Adventure and Litton's Weekend Adventure) is an American syndicated programming block that is produced by Hearst Media Production Group, and airs weekend mornings on the owned-and-operated stati ...

that focuses on the rescue, rehabilitation, and in many instances release of animals back into wildlife. In August 2006, ''Good Morning America'' announced Champion would join that show and ABC News, effective September 5, 2006. Champion announced his departure from ABC on December 2, 2013, to become an on-air presence at and managing editor of

. His last day on ''Good Morning America'' was December 4, 2013. He was immediately replaced by

Ginger Zee Ginger Renee Colonomos ( née Zuidgeest; born January 13, 1981), known by her pseudonym Ginger Zee, is an American television personality. She is the chief meteorologist for ABC News, after having been the network's weekend meteorologist. Earl ...

. He had occasionally appeared on ''

Live with Kelly and Ryan ''Live with Kelly and Ryan'' (or simply ''Live'') is an American syndicated morning talk show hosted by Kelly Ripa and Ryan Seacrest. Executive produced by Michael Gelman, the ''Live with...'' show formula has aired under various hosts since ...

'', the daily talk show produced by WABC-TV, and

CNN CNN (Cable News Network) is a multinational cable news channel headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, U.S. Founded in 1980 by American media proprietor Ted Turner and Reese Schonfeld as a 24-hour cable news channel, and presently owned by the M ...

's ''

Larry King Live ''Larry King Live'' was an American television talk show hosted by Larry King on CNN from 1985 to 2010. It was the channel's most watched and longest-running program, with over one million viewers nightly. Mainly aired from CNN's Los Angeles s ...

''. He often begins his 30-second weathercasts by saying, "Let's get to the boards." His catchphrase when breaking for weather reports from local

stations is, "That's the weather around the nation. Here's what you can expect this morning." Immediately following his departure from ''GMA'', it was announced that Champion would join

to host his own morning show, titled ''

America's Morning Headquarters ''America's Morning Headquarters'' (formerly ''Your Weather Today'', ''Morning Rush'' and ''AMHQ'') is an American morning television program on The Weather Channel. Airing every morning from 6 a.m. to 12 p.m. Eastern Time, the program ...

'' which debuted on March 17, 2014. In September 2015, it was revealed that Champion would leave ''AMHQ'' to serve as a contributor to its primetime programs. In December 2016, Champion and The Weather Channel decided not to renew their contract. As a result, Champion left the company on December 27, 2016. He returned to ABC as a fill-in weather forecaster on ''Good Morning America'' during the maternity leave of Chief Meteorologist Ginger Zee, his replacement. On May 22, 2019, it was announced that Champion would be returning to WABC-TV's morning and noon newscasts and contributing to ABC News, beginning June 3, 2019. On September 8, 2022, Champion was announced as a contestant on season 31 of ''Dancing with the Stars''. He is partnered with

Cheryl Burke Cheryl Burke (born May 3, 1984) is an American dancer, model, and television host. She is best known for being a professional dancer on ABC's '' Dancing with the Stars''. She was the first female professional to win the show and the first prof ...

Personal life

Champion is active in many charitable organizations in the

area. He was the Grand Marshal of the Multiple Sclerosis Society Fall Bike Tour, the chairman of the 25th annual

March of Dimes March of Dimes is a United States nonprofit organization that works to improve the health of mothers and babies. The organization was founded by President Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1938, as the National Foundation for Infantile Paralysis, to comba ...

NYC WalkAmerica, and master of ceremonies of "Stopping AIDS Together," a part of Sunday by the Bay. He hosted the New York City Anti-Violence Project's 2002 "Courage Awards," along with movie critic Frank DeCaro. Champion had a

basal cell carcinoma Basal-cell carcinoma (BCC), also known as basal-cell cancer, is the most common type of skin cancer. It often appears as a painless raised area of skin, which may be shiny with small blood vessels running over it. It may also present as a raise ...

removed from his skin in May 2010 while on air, after previous bouts with the disease. He said he wanted to raise awareness about

skin cancer Skin cancers are cancers that arise from the skin. They are due to the development of abnormal cells that have the ability to invade or spread to other parts of the body. There are three main types of skin cancers: basal-cell skin cancer (BCC) ...

during Cancer Awareness Month. Champion and his partner of several years, Rubem Robierb, were married on December 21, 2012.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Champion, Sam 1961 births Living people ABC News personalities Eastern Kentucky University alumni Gay men American LGBT broadcasters LGBT people from Kentucky LGBT people from New York (state) Television anchors from New York City People from Paducah, Kentucky Weather presenters The Weather Channel people Managing editors

Early life and education

Career

Personal life

See also

References