top: Phil Reimer with Global’s Jill Krop
bottom: Reimer with Governor General
Jean - 2005 Grey Cup Parade
Phil Reimer
LIFE AND
TIMES - born February 18, 1941 -
First to play rock and roll on station. First song Elvis’s “Don’t be
Cruel
59-late
60 CHEK TV productions and some announcing
60-61
production CJAY-CTV Winnipeg
61-65
Sportscaster CJAY-CTV Winnipeg-covered first world hockey championships at 23
1964 --
Played one CFL game with the Winnipeg Blue Bombers as an embedded sports
broadcaster. "I just got beat up," he say
65-late
69 CBC Sports,
70-77 Out
of media worked for Cabinet in
1973 to
1977 -- Sold travel tours to Elvis Presley shows and attended 125 Elvis
concerts.
77-95 CBC
Weather-person, wrote book during this time and first to use moving satellite
pictures (we made our own animation-and first to take the weathercast on the road
into the community)
1988 to 1992 -- Producer and creator for various CBC programs,
including ‘Doctor Doctor’ and ‘Legal Wise’.
1991 --
Phil Reimer's B.C. Weather Book with Sean Rossiter.
2004 to 2006 --
1996 to
2006 -- CKNW weatherman (retired from station September 15)
***
Produced
for Television 89-92—110 episodes of 'Doctor Doctor' for CBC Network
Produced
for Television 92-93—'Legal Wise' series 56 episodes for CBC
Produced
for Television 93—'Horse Race Show' for BCTV 20 episodes
Produced
for Television 93-'
Produced
for Television 94—One hour special entitled “Ten Carrot Diamond” Children’s
Show which went on to win a bronze medal at the NY Television and Radio awards.
1969—produced
one hour special on Nancy Greene after she had won Olympics called “Sixty
Second Tiger”
1969—Produced
two hour special on Gordy Howe called “Howe and Why”
***
"It's time to move on. I'm leaving the weather part," says
temperature guru Phil Reimer, 65, his voice familiar from 10 years on air at
CKNW and decades on CBC television.
Over the years he says, he likely delivered the weather on-air at least 75,000
times.
"If it was 280 days a year that I worked, times about 30 years, multiplied
by six times a day --how many would that come to?" he says, pausing to calculate
even more numbers in silence before concluding: "That's about 75,000
weathercasts."
He adds, chuckling: "How many people blame me for the weather? About the
same amount"
Mistakes are inevitable, he says: "Weather is not an exacting science and
it never will be. You hope that you hit 70 per cent accuracy, if all goes
well."
Vancouver may be the toughest place in the world for weather reporting, since
it's surrounded by mountains, ocean and wind -- all variable factors, he says.
Despite focusing on weather for so many years, he still finds it fascinating.
"The great thing about doing the weather -- you can always talk about the
weather."
So is he the king of small talk? "I have the ability to ad lib under
pressure," he says. "That's saved my bacon over the years."
That's how he first got a break back in 1960 in
"I had a sports jacket on and the producer said 'heck, it's
The next day, he says, he was told to go out and buy some suits because he
would need them as a sportscaster, his pre-weather specialty.
Since that lucky wardrobe choice, his career has followed a winding path from
rock concerts to thunderstorms.
He's met Elvis, played in a CFL game as an embedded -- and bruised --
broadcaster, been featured on Dick Clark's TV Bloopers and Practical Jokes
(when he accidentally spoke into a burning candle instead of his microphone,
singeing his lips on-air) and he's wedged himself firmly into the public's
heart as a trusted resource for the weather.
"I like the weather because it's new every day. I'm fascinated by watching
systems -- they're ever-changing," says Reimer. "This summer was
boring . . . because it was 'same old, same old' every day."
What makes for good weather watching?
"A perfect weather day would go from sun to rain to hail to sunshine --
and watch a system roar through," he says. "Well -- maybe not
hail."
A good weather personality also needs to be able to simplify technical weather
jargon and scientific lingo, making it count to the audience, says Reimer.
"You have to relate to your audience. Don't get too scientific," says
Reimer. "Weather is probably one of the most relevant parts of any news
cast. It determines what people do for the next 24 hours."
But it's time to try new things, says Reimer, adding there's a silver lining in
the cloud. While the dynamic senior is quitting as the CKNW weather reporter
and will no longer write daily weather updates for The Vancouver Sun, he
stresses that he isn't retiring, just slowing down a titch.
"I'm only planning to cut down from a 14-hour-day to a 12-hour- day,"
he says, adding he plans to work on some new, interesting projects.
"I can only say they'll be in the public forum in the new
year."
Partly cloudy, chance of showers? Doesn't
matter. Reimer will no doubt continue to shine.
m
*** 1992
Reimer, who hails from
A keen boater and flyer, he moved his production company to
He still heads Phil Reimer Communications, which produced CBC's
Doctor Doctor and Legal-wise, and is working on a
national travel show.
He also owns the Blackcomb Beer and Wine Store, Philip's Bar and The Glacier
Cafe in Whistler.
It's not surprising that many of Reimer's outdoor pursuits are heavily
influenced by the weather.
An avid skier, Reimer fell in love with cycling after a six-day spring tour in
the Kootenays.