As the feud between The Weather Channel and DIRECTV enters its third week, TWC president David Clark says his network’s coverage of the winter storm in the Deep South gives him confidence that they will ultimately win the battle.
In a note sent Thursday night, Clark thanked staffers for their work covering the severe weather in Atlanta and elsewhere, noting that many Weather Channel employees reporting on the storm were also affected by the storm.
I know people are tired. We are asking a lot of ourselves right now in general, even before we get to storm coverage. I don’t need to tell you what a critical time this is for this team and our network, and how many Americans are counting on us to pull through. The way we win and protect our future is by putting out great TV every day. And like all of you, I intend to win. It is easy to be confident when you work with this team.
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In other Weather Channel news, Sam Champion’s new show, which will debut in March, gets a name: “AMHQ,” short for “America’s Morning Headquarters.” Champion announced the news on Twitter this morning.
Clark’s full note is after the jump.
Team,
After every major weather event we cover, a very sincere and always insufficient ‘thank you’ note goes out to the whole team. As it should, we are at our best in these moments.
But this time was different. We lived the story we were covering, and it impacted us just like it impacted millions arounds us. The challenges we face in putting on great coverage usually do not include 10-20 hour commutes, long walks in freezing temperatures, sleeping on conference room tables, or not at all, dealing with stranded family members – you know the stories, you just lived them. One is more remarkable than the next. (Prize winner so far (?): We had a colleague fly in from our London office, take a 12 hour taxi ride from the airport that included crashing into an ambulance and sleeping in a CVS.)
And yet if you were watching at home you would have never known of the craziness behind the scenes. If we thought there was a limit to what people on our team will go through to get the job done, well – we still haven’t found it.
This extends to all the incredible support we received beyond the newsroom, to the team at The Front, the Facilities and Security team, the tireless PR team and way way more – everyone in TV is humbled that so much help just showed up. (When David Kenny offered to run a camera or write scripts I knew it was game on.)
I know people are tired. We are asking a lot of ourselves right now in general, even before we get to storm coverage. I don’t need to tell you what a critical time this is for this team and our network, and how many Americans are counting on us to pull through. The way we win and protect our future is by putting out great TV every day. And like all of you, I intend to win. It is easy to be confident when you work with this team.
So, thank you, and well done. Never have those words been so sincere, and so insufficient.
David