KEY POINTS:
Former TVNZ weatherman Jim Hickey says he may have a few butterflies in his stomach when he returns next week as TV One's new weather presenter following a four-year break.
After much speculation, TVNZ confirmed yesterday that Hickey would be returning as a weather presenter alongside Karen Olsen, who has been part of the weather team since 1994.
He replaces Brendan Horan, who accepted redundancy this month.
Hickey, who was TVNZ's senior weathercaster from 1988 until 2003, told the Herald yesterday he was looking forward to the new challenge.
"I'm going to have to spend a few days in training because some of the newsroom presentation and the graphics and technology is a little more advanced than when I was last here, so I'm going to have to brush up on that."
Hickey, who lives in New Plymouth, said he would commute to Auckland, but would reassess his living arrangements next year.
Hickey, who left TVNZ in 2003 to return to Taranaki to look after his parents, said he might get a few butterflies being back in front of the camera.
"But I can handle it. I've been kicked around by the best of them."
TVNZ spokeswoman Megan Richards said Hickey was chosen for the role because he was widely acknowledged as the top weatherman in the country.
"We considered a number of options ... but he was an obvious candidate."
Asked if the network hoped his appointment would help its falling ratings, Ms Richards said: "We hope that people will watch."
And she was confident his return would go down well with the public.
"Indications from people who have been speculating are that it will be well received and we hope that's right."
Hickey would begin presenting some time next week, depending on how his training went, she said.
One News editor Paul Patrick said Hickey and Olsen were New Zealand's premier weathercasters.
"New Zealanders tell us that they place a high value on authoritative weather coverage, and climate change is one of the biggest news issues of our time. Karen and Jim have the skills and experience to interpret this specialist field, and they share a strong practical understanding of how the weather affects New Zealand's geographically diverse communities," he said.
New Zealand Broadcasting School head Paul Norris, who first hired Hickey in 1988 when he was TVNZ's controller of news and current affairs, said yesterday that it was a good move to bring Hickey back.
"I know that he was always very popular. He's obviously a character, a personality, and very warm.
"It's certainly true that weather is one of the areas that people feel strongly about and if you ask people what they most value about the news, often they will say the weather, so it's a very important element of the news programme and may well influence viewers as to whether they watch One News or 3 News."
BREAKFAST RATINGS BATTLE
TV3's new breakfast show Sunrise and new midday news bulletin Newsday will go to air on Tuesday, October 2.
Sunrise, which will screen weekdays from 6.30am to 8.30am, will be presented by Carly Flynn and James Coleman with Sacha McNeil presenting news bulletins every half hour. TV3 sports reporter Rod Cheeseman will present the sports news.
The new 30-minute noon bulletin will screen Monday to Friday and will go head to head with One News At Midday.
McNeil, who currently co-presents the weekend news, will be Newsday's newsreader.
Rebecca Singh will take over the weekend news co-presenting role.
