Meteorologist John Marshall ‘Wasn’t Shocked’ by Losing Weekend Shifts at WCBS-TV

March 31, 2011 -- If you wake up early on the weekend, then you are probably aware of the John Marshall body of work. He had more than a dozen years under his belt at WNBC when they went in another direction last summer. But as fate would have it, the timing worked perfectly for Marshall. In August, Megan Glaros left her weekend morning weather anchoring at WCBS-TV for Chicago. That same month, Marshall joined Channel 2 as a per diem employee. Unlike at WNBC, Marshall, who grew up in New Jersey, was unable to get full-time status at WCBS. On Sunday, he did his final shift for the station. As we reported last week, Katie Fehlinger has been hired to take those shifts. Like Glaros before her (along with the same hair color), Fehlinger also handles weeknight feature reporting. Marshall says news director David Friend had an open-door policy with him. “I wasn’t shocked, put it that way,” Marshall admits. “Would I have loved to have stayed there full-time and really become part of the team? Absolutely.” But instead, during the second-half of his brief WCBS stint, Marshall was informed that they were “looking elsewhere.” While told upfront that the station was bringing in other candidates, the easy going Marshall believed, as the incumbent, he was the frontrunner to nail down the position. “I was one of their selections because of my name, and people knew me,” Marshall tells FishbowlNY. Despite being per diem, WCBS did feature Marshall with the Weather Team in promos. Plus, his seven-month tenure meant he was showcased during one of the city’s worst winters on record. “I did a lot of work for them during the snowstorm coverage, which I totally enjoyed.” In the end, Fehlinger, a Pennsylvania native, was brought on board from AccuWeather. “It’s subjective,” Marshall ponders. “Maybe [Friend] wanted to balance out his team.” Seeing it first-hand, Marshall knows that the business has changed drastically. “It’s not like what it was 10 years ago, people coming and going so rapidly. Of course, Marshall is hoping that it will be a rapid turnaround to his next TV gig, preferably staying put in New York. “My name is out there … I don’t know exactly where that’s going to put me, but my name is definitely out there,” Marshall admits. Marshall got his start in the business at WNBC fresh out of college as a producer for Al Roker. Today, although, he’s being proactive about TV employment, Marshall understands his future is uncertain. “I’m just going to continue trucking and moving forward,” Marshall admits. “I don’t know what that means. Literally, like I just don’t know what that means television-wise, because there’s nothing full time out there right now.” But he is not going to change his nuts and bolts style to get back on TV. “I don’t have a shtick. I’m a regular Joe,” Marshall says. “I’ll just keep putting my product out, which is a no-nonsense forecast.” Having said that, Marshall would still find time to have fun with it, especially on the lighter morning shifts. “Honestly, I think people -- the public, the viewer—know that about me, and … some people appreciate that about me,” Marshall says. That down-to-earth-style is Marshall’s since the beginning, as he remains true to himself and his family. “I love what I do. I don’t get off on being on TV,” Marshall says. “I kind of went in that direction early on in life...provided the family, and I made a decent salary.” This Sunday night, join @FishbowlNY as we live tweet the New York Emmy Awards. Follow @FishbowlNY. From photos of red-carpet arrivals to the winners, we’ll have the latest all evening with a full report Monday on FishbowlNY.

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Meteorologist John Marshall ‘Wasn’t Shocked’ by Losing Weekend Shifts at WCBS-TV

Jerry Barmash

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Jerry Barmash