To answer the question that was so innocently teased in the headline: No, that's not the Chief Meteorologist at Channel 5. It's actually Jennifer Zeppelin. She's a back-up weatherperson at KTUL Channel 8 in Tulsa and is temporarily filling-in at KOCO Channel 5 until they're finally able to coerce someone into accepting their open Chief Meteorologist position. We know this because it's what Channel 5 told us yesterday during their 10pm newscast.
However, that didn’t stop the Ogle Mole Network from informing us that a random new face was playing around with the First Alert Doppler and reviewing the seven-day forecast. Check out some emails we got last night:
It looks like Channel 5 has hired the new chief meteorologist. Her name is Jennifer Zepplin. Not bad looking.
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I bet you guys are all over this. 5 has a new weather chick named Jennifer Zeppelin. I thought David Payne was taking Rick's spot.
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New cougar on channel 5 weather and not a word from TLO. Slipping.
I'm proud of a lot of the things we've accomplished here at The Lost Ogle, but becoming the apparent go-to source for Oklahoma City weather gossip is not one of them. Yes, I know we've brought it upon ourselves with the coverage we give to the local media and weather deities, but I still think it's kind of strange. I mean it's okay if someone sends us pictures of Emily Sutton singing or dancing or dreaming about me, but reporting on news like this makes me feel silly.
All that being said, I'm going to feed the beast on this and pass along the rumors I've heard about Channel 5's ongoing search for the next third place weatherman in the Oklahoma City market. After that, I'm then going to drink heavily and cry.
• Channel 5 wanted David Payne, but either the price wasn't right or David Payne wasn't interested. Payne is a hot commodity in this market. He's so dominant in the ratings that I heard Channel 9 considered going after him as a replacement to Jed Castles, but Gary England wouldn't allow it.
• Other names being considered or tossed around are KOCO morning weatherman Damon Lane, Tulsa weatherman and Mike Morgan nemesis Dan Threlkeld and possibly former KWTV 9 nice guy Zach Daniel, who is the current chief at WTVR in Richmond. One of those people may have been offered the job, but turned it down because, according to a mole, "the pot wasn't sweet enough."
• Dean Blevins is reporting there's a 50% chance that Stoops takes the job.
• This isn't related to Rick Mitchell's departure, but Jim Gardner has finally started over at Channel 9. This is something we reported over a year ago. His chopper is being sponsored by Bob Mills. Now all we need is Channel 5 to get their own chopper and go after Bob Howard for a sponsorship.
Anyway, that's all I "know" about the Channel 5 stuff. I have no clue if any of it's true or not, but let's hope it is. Then I can say things like "You heard it here first."
