# The Weather Channel: Who Started It?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-weather-channel-who-started-it/175896>\
**Category:** Cafe Society\
**Created:** [May 17, 2003, 2:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-weather-channel-who-started-it/175896 "2003-05-17T14:48:15Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 2\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Quasimodem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/e274bd/32.png) [@Quasimodem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quasimodem)\
**Post date:** [May 17, 2003, 2:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-weather-channel-who-started-it/175896/1 "2003-05-17T14:48:15Z")

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I think it was a former weather-caster from **Good Morning America** , but his name escapes me. Help, please?

Thanks

Q

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**Author:** ![Walloon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/fbc32d/32.png) [@Walloon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walloon)\
**Post date:** [May 17, 2003, 4:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-weather-channel-who-started-it/175896/2 "2003-05-17T16:22:55Z")

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In 1980, _Good Morning America_ weatherman John Coleman brought his idea about a 24-hour channel dedicated to nothing but weather to Frank Batten, then chairman of Landmark Communications. The Weather Channel went on the air on May 2, 1982. Batten has written a book about it, titled _The Weather Channel: The Improbable Rise of a Media Phenomenon_.