ABC 7 hires Weather Channel ‘whiz’ as morning producer

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Jesse Hamilton

Jesse Hamilton

Jesse Hamilton, executive producer of prime time hours at The Weather Channel in Atlanta, has been hired as executive producer of WLS-Channel 7’s morning news.

Starting September 22, he succeeds Doug Whitmire, who was promoted to executive producer of the ABC-owned station’s 10 p.m. newscast. “Excited to make Chicago my new home & work with a talented news team!” Hamilton tweeted Friday.

In his nearly four years at The Weather Channel, Hamilton has been responsible for 13 hours of live programming during the week, according to his bio.

“He’s a whiz at showcasing, breaking coverage and social media, all skills that will translate well to our morning newscasts,” Jennifer Graves, vice president and news director at ABC 7, said in announcing Hamilton’s appointment. “He’s also a strong content manager and storyteller, having honed those skills in local television newsrooms.“

A native of Sapulpa, Oklahoma, and graduate of the University of Oklahoma, Hamilton previously worked as a producer at KOCO-TV, the ABC affiliate in Oklahoma City, and KNXV-TV, the ABC affiliate in Phoenix.

Here is the text of Graves’ memo to the staff:

I’m happy to announce the latest addition to our news management team.

Jesse Hamilton will join us next month as our morning newscast Executive Producer.  Jesse is currently Prime Time Executive Producer at The Weather Channel in Atlanta, Georgia, where he manages live programming between 2pm and 3am.  He’s a whiz at showcasing, breaking coverage and social media, all skills that will translate well to our morning newscasts.  He’s also a strong content manager and storyteller, having honed those skills in local television newsrooms.  Before joining the Weather Channel, Jesse was the late news Executive Producer at KNXV-TV, the ABC affiliate in Phoenix, where his team focused on investigations.  Jesse started his news career at KOCO-TV in Oklahoma City, where he worked for nine years, starting as an associate producer and working his way up to 10pm senior producer.  Jesse is a graduate of the University of Oklahoma.

Jesse is familiar with Chicago and is thrilled to be making our city his new home.  His first day will be September 22.  Please join me in welcoming Jesse to the ABC 7 Eyewitness News Team!