For more than three decades, he had been a staple meteorologist and storm specialist at The Weather Channel, sticking with the MVPD-distributed offering through ownership that included NBCUniversal and, as of today, Byron Allen’s Allen Media Group.
Now, Mike Seidel is fueling FOX’s upstart weather-focused rival.
With Hurricane Debby funneling through Northeast Florida and Georgia’s Coastal Empire, Seidel made his debut on FOX Weather during the weekend, with live reports from the region as the storm brought flooding and wind damage to the Southeastern U.S.
Sharri Berg, who serves as FOX Weather President, couldn’t be more thrilled. “His decades of experience will prove to be invaluable as we continue to grow our best-in-class weather network,” she said.
Seidel added, “I’m looking forward to continuing my passion for storm coverage on FOX Weather, especially with the forecast of a very busy hurricane season.”
Seidel began his career at his hometown WMDT-TV in Salisbury, Md., before moving on to NBC-affiliate WYFF-TV in Greenville-Spartanburg-Asheville. He returned to Maryland’s Eastern Shore as a meteorologist for WBOC-TV until joining The Weather Channel in 1992.
Additionally, Ari Sarsalari departed The Weather Channel App team to join the FOX Weather team. He’s also been a meteorologist at WAAY-TV in Huntsville, Ala.
FOX Weather launched in October 2021 and is a free ad-supported streaming television offering that on August 1 was added to Pluto TV.
Berg said of the new outlet for FOX Weather, “As we head into the heart of an already unprecedented hurricane season, we are thrilled to bring FOX Weather’s premium live weather news service to Pluto TV users at this critical time. With this new partnership, FOX Weather is now available on all major FAST platforms with more live programming than any other weather network to keep our viewers informed, prepared and safe.”
