John Coleman (news weathercaster)

Infobox journalist
name = John Coleman


caption = John Coleman, KUSI News Weathercaster
birthname = John Coleman
birth_date = birth date and age|1934|10|15
birth_place = Alpine, Texas flagicon|Texasflagicon|USA
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occupation = Television Weathercaster
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gender =
status = Married
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family =
spouse = Linda Coleman
children =
relatives = Parents: Claude & Hazel Coleman
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URL = http://www.kusi.com/about/bios/weather/1838191.html

John Coleman is an American news weathercaster. He founded The Weather Channel (but is no longer affiliated with it), and presently works as an on-camera weathercaster at KUSI-TV in San Diego.

Professional career

Coleman started his career at WCIA (TV) in Champaign, Illinois,doing the early evening weathercast and a local bandstand show called "At The Hop" while he was a student at University of Illinois. After receiving his degree in 1957, he became the weather anchor for WCIA's sister station WMBD-TV in Peoria, Illinois. Coleman was also a weather anchor for KETV in Omaha, WISN-TV in Milwaukee and then WBBM-TV and WLS-TV in Chicago. [http://wmbdblog.blogspot.com/2006/08/former-wmbd-tv-on-air-staff.html "Former WMBD-TV On-Air Staff"] from " [http://wmbdblog.blogspot.com/ The WMBD Blog] ", retrieved 2006-09-05]

At WLS, Coleman was teamed with Fahey Flynn, Joel Daly and Bill Frink to form the "Eyewitness News Team", creating a news brand name and establishing a highly successful new local news format dubbed "happy talk" by a local television columnist. This style of local news has been widely copied. The team dominated Chicago television news ratings for more than a decade. During his time at Chicago's WLS-TV, Coleman was one of Chicago's most popular weathercasters, famous for his amusing and irreverent style. It was then that Coleman became the original weathercaster on what was then the brand-new ABC network morning program, "Good Morning America". He stayed seven years with this top-rated program anchored by David Hartman and Joan Lunden. [http://www.kusi.com/about/bios/weather/1838191.html John Coleman] biography on KUSI-TV web site, retrieved 2006-09-05] He would describe Thunderstorms and thundery showers as "Thorms" and "Thowers" respectively.Fact|date=June 2008

He then founded The Weather Channel, serving as its CEO and President during the startup and its first year of operation. After being forced out at TWC, Coleman became weather anchor at WCBS-TV in New York and then at WMAQ-TV in Chicago, before moving to Southern California to join the independent television station, KUSI-TV in San Diego, in what Coleman fondly calls, "his retirement job".

Views on global warming

In fall of 2007 Coleman described the current concern over global warming "a fictional, manufactured crisis, and a total scam." [ [http://icecap.us/index.php/go/joes-blog/comments_about_global_warming/ Comments about global warming] ] His postings assessing the science behind global warming can be read at [http://www.kusi.com/weather/colemanscorner www.kusi.com] . In 2008 he gave a speech of the same tone, before the San Diego Chamber of Commerce, blaming the "global warming scam" and environmentalist lobby, for rising gas and food prices. He also declared the scam "a threat to our economy and our civilization." [ [http://www.kusi.com/weather/colemanscorner/19842304.html Global Warming and the Price of a Gallon of Gas] ]

Personal life

Coleman was born in 1934 in Alpine, Texas, the fifth child of a college professor and his math teacher wife, Claude and Hazel Coleman. He is married to Linda Coleman, and lives in a retirement community in the San Diego suburb of Rancho Bernardo.

References

External links

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