Native meteorologists broadcast tearful goodbyes as Allen Media Group – which owns practically two dozen TV stations throughout the nation – changed them with a feed from The Climate Channel, in keeping with a report.
The Byron Allen-owned media firm will lay off or reassign at the very least 50 staff throughout all of its native stations – together with FOX, NBC, ABC and CBS associates stretching from California and Hawaii to Alabama and Arizona, in keeping with a CNN report.
“Kevin and I have come into your homes for decades — nearly 37 years for me,” Patrece Dayton, a information anchor in Terre Haute, Indiana, mentioned Friday, as a field of tissues sat close by.
“And more than 40 for me,” added Kevin Orpurt, the station’s chief meteorologist.
“For those of you who don’t know, both of our positions are being eliminated here at WTHI-TV,” Dayton continued. “The television business in general is changing nationwide and budget cuts are happening everywhere.”
Allen Media is constructing a brand new Atlanta-based group to guide the “cutting-edge” protection at The Climate Channel, which the corporate acquired for $300 million in 2018, in keeping with a press launch.
The brand new group will embody a number of the impacted meteorologists and will likely be led by Carl Parker, a storm knowledgeable and 20-year Climate Channel veteran, in keeping with Allen Media.
It’s the newest cost-cutting transfer after layoffs from each Allen Media and The Climate Channel final 12 months.
The corporate didn’t instantly reply to a request for remark.
The Atlanta “hub” could have the newest climate applied sciences, improved forecasting skills, extra graphics and 24/7 information protection, in keeping with the press launch.
A number of the impacted staff took to social media to start out sharing the information.
“By now most of you have probably seen the chatter about Allen media letting local meteorologists go, well I am one that will be affected by this,” Amber Kulick, a meteorologist at WAAY in Huntsville, Ala., wrote in a Fb submit. “For now I am still at the station but I am looking for my next career opportunity.”
In a Fb submit, Christina Burkhart, a meteorologist who left Flint, Michigan-based WJRT on the finish of 2024, mentioned the layoffs will impression 100 meteorologists – twice that of CNN’s reporting.
Allen Media didn’t verify what number of staff can be impacted.
“Weather forecasts will be sent from the weather channel in Atlanta,” Burkhart mentioned. “These will be pre-recorded by regional meteorologists recording hits for each Allen station. Live severe weather coverage will also come from them.”
Simply final 12 months, Allen Media issued a spherical of layoffs for an undisclosed variety of staff, citing “strategic changes.”
The Climate Channel additionally trimmed its workforce in October, and shut down its Spanish-language model as a part of “extensive cost-cutting measures.”
In the meantime, Allen, the group’s founder and chief govt, has made a handful of unsuccessful bids for main media firms over the previous few years.
Final 12 months, he provided $30 billion to take over Paramount World.
In 2023, he reportedly provided Disney $10 billion for ABC and a few of its cable networks.
He additionally reportedly thought-about making a suggestion for E.W. Scripps.
Meteorologists at rival stations have slammed the layoffs and the swap to a single climate feed.
Whereas the change “may save money in the short term,” it additionally “takes away value and credibility in the long term,” Spencer Denton, a meteorologist at rival WVLT in Knoxville, Tenn., mentioned in a submit on Fb.
“WEATHER is the number one reason most people watch a local newscast,” Denton mentioned. “These folks are more valuable than some companies realize and I am certain they will land on their feet.”
A 2019 Pew research discovered that climate was a very powerful information matter for viewers.
