NEW: James Spann launching Alabama Weather Network
Reading time: 9 minutes
If James Spann is announcing something, people in Alabama will usually listen.
On July 15, Spann took to social media as he so often does to announce his next adventure: launching the Alabama Weather Network.
“I love this state. I know it better than anyone, having traveled the back roads for four decades. I know the people, the culture, our geography and our micro climates. For years, one of my dreams is to provide weather for all of Alabama with a statewide network. I’m absolutely thrilled to announce my dream is coming true.”
James Spann, ABC 33/40 Chief Meteorologist
Keep reading to learn more about the weather network + when you can start following along.
Alabama Weather Network
The network focused solely on Alabama weather will officially launch Aug. 11 but you can already follow them across social media channels including:
The network will work as a streaming service, available to watch across platforms like Roku, Apple TV, Chrome Cast and more.
Spann says there will be a team of meteorologists, storm spotters and others at the network to provide statewide coverage.
“On a daily basis, you’ll be able to get your weather anytime you want, no matter where you live in Alabama. But when the weather turns dangerous and there is severe weather anywhere in the state, whether its a tornado, a hurricane, a flash flood or a winter storm, we will be on the air covering it live for as long as it lasts.”
James Spann
Spann, who has spent most of his 47-year broadcast career in Alabama, will remain at ABC 33/40, still providing severe weather coverage at the station for those in central Alabama.
However, it’s clear his day-to-day role at the station may be dialed back a bit to make space for his new network.
‘Every county is treated the same’
Shortly after the official announcement, James Spann took some time to discuss his project and the reasons behind wanting to start a new network. Read the full interview below.
Q: What’s the response been like since the big announcement?
Spann: It’s really been positive. Listen, if you’re going to do weather, you’re going to have haters. There’s always going to be haters but the response has been very positive, especially from rural spots of the state that have been underserved. I want to be sure that every county is treated the same. I just want people to have some level of comfort knowing that when tornadoes start flying or a hurricane is approaching, they will have what they need in terms of information in a very aggressive but appropriate way.
Q: What made right now the right time to do this for you?
Spann: Number one, I’m old as dirt. I’m 69 but I feel better than I felt when I was 30. I back squatted 200 pounds the other day, I’m strong physically and when you’re in good shape, your mental cognition is good. I’m very energized so I want to take this time in my life to build something for the next generation that want to do what I do for a living.
It’s about taking care of the whole state, that’s the other thing for me. I was born here, I’ll die here and I’ll get buried here. These are my people. I would suggest I know this state better than anybody.
Q: Will anything change for people who have watched you in central Alabama on ABC 33/40 for years?
Spann: We’ll still be on 33/40 in Birmingham, nothing changes there. I’m very happy and I’m very thankful that the management team was willing to work with me on this. Most TV stations, owners and groups would not do this but they did and I’m really, really thankful for that. It’s a great partnership.
What we have to do going forward, if you look around the nation when there’s a major tornado event, the largest audience is for people like Ryan Hall and Max Velocity. These are YouTubers. They have become the dominant force. A lot of traditional TV meteorologists have gotten their back arched and criticized these guys but why criticize them? How about we learn from them? They understand how people consume media and what people like.
What we have to do going forward is take the best of what the new world and what they’ve been doing and the best of what I’ve been doing for all these years then do a blend. That’s the approach we’re going to take. We’ll have a lot of streamers in the field, you have to have them to be successful. People want to see weather.
Q: What do you consider your biggest long term goals for a project like this?
Spann: To me, the most important part of what we do is to reach every part of this state and every people group of this state. That’s where I’ve struggled a lot with. There’s some people groups we don’t perform well with—those that don’t speak English, low-income families. We have to do better, we have to. That’s why I like to hang out at Dollar Generals and Wal-Marts where real people are. It matters what they think and what they need.
I’d like to build an operation that not only penetrates the whole state across every single conceivable platform where it’s easy to access. And we’re always there. It’s a promise. And delivering information that reaches all people groups, whether they’re a 16-year-old or a 90-year-old, whether they live in the city or the country. We’ll work real hard to make that happen.
Q: With this being a 24/7 channel, what does that look like? How often can people expect to see you when it’s not severe weather related?
Spann: On a blue sky day, I will be on twice an hour, it’ll be recorded but it will be current. I think the other cool thing I get to do is tell some stories. I know things about people, places and things that nobody else knows. With this, I’ll have the resources to tell some of these stories.
These stories will be intersperced throughout the 24-hour cycle to make it interesting on a blue-sky day. We’ll take all of this and cut it up for social media platform too but the stream will have the longer form version of that. That’s very exciting to me. I see things you won’t believe. These are Alabamians and what they’ve done, what they’ve lived through and their experiences.
Q: What’s the team going to be like and what can people expect to see on air? How exciting is it to be back with John Oldshue?
Spann: John, he was one of my first interns back in the 1990s. I’ve been with Oldshue for a long, long time. He was one of the heroes April 27, he somehow got a live stream out of Greene County 30 minutes before that tornado got to Tuscaloosa. He lives in Fairhope, with this being a statewide operation, it’s important to have a diversity of locations.
Having John on board, he’s experienced almost everything and he’s been doing this a long time, that’s really good. We’ve got Bill Murray, I’ve worked with Bill since the 90s… He’s a very good forecaster and great communicator. Having (Bill) Harnekof run the thing is a dream. He’s an incredible administrator on the business side, on the people side, he’s got a great heart. He understands the big picture. Having him as the President/CEO running the thing, it gives me this great level of comfort knowing I’m working for a great guy.
I wouldn’t do this without them. It can’t just be me.
Q: What extra resources will you have now and how specifically will that translate on air to reach more communities?
Spann: It’s really three things.
Number one, a fixed camera network. The object of the game is to have over 100 fixed cameras, sky cams statewide that we can control. Those are being installed now. People react better when they see weather, not just a radar. When people see a radar, they see a bucket of spilled paint. If we can actually show them the weather, they will respond to that much better.
We’ve teamed up with Brett Adair’s group. They are storm chasers, so we will have multiple chasers at any time. He can provide 4, 5, 6 live streams in the field at any given time and that’ll make a huge difference. These guys are storm chasers, not journalists. Nothing against journalists but you’re not trained to do weather like I’m not trained to do journalism.
And the other thing, I’ll tell you the amount of content I receive on social media is overwhelming. It’s become too much for me. On a blue sky day while we’re talking, I’ll have 100 photos and videos that have come in. This will give me the team, the staff to begin to manage that user-generated content and use it on air during live impact events. For example, during the snow we had back in January, this is not an inflated number: one day, we had 22,000 pictures and videos. There’s no physical way I can see all that but we will have people during high-impact events, their sole job is taking all of that that comes in. Some of it is critical, video of a tornado or pictures of damage. We take that user-generated content and mold that into our storytelling.
What do you think about Spann’s latest adventure? Let us know by tagging The Bama Buzz on Instagram, X, Facebook + LinkedIn.
