“Kevin and I have been coming to your house for decades — almost 37 years for me,” Patrece Dayton, a news anchor in Terre Haute, Indiana, said Friday over a box of tissues. “And more than 40 for me,” added Kevin Orpurt, the TV 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 industry in general is changing nationally and budget cuts are happening everywhere.”
The on-air duo, who have long been known in western Indiana, bid a tearful farewell to viewers Friday after the station’s parent company, Allen Media Group, announced sweeping cuts that will result in eliminating or reassigning all of its nearly two dozen local meteorologists. stations throughout the country.
In place of local weather forecasters, there will be a national “hub” based in Atlanta and led by Carl Parker, a veteran storm and climate expert at The Weather Channel – which the Byron Allen-owned media group acquired for $300 million in March 2018. The plan will see locally produced segments replaced with a broadcast feed to individual stations on The Weather Channel, which could include some of the stations’ former meteorologists.
The layoffs at about two dozen local TV stations, from Massachusetts to Hawaii, will affect at least 50 meteorologists, according to a person familiar with the matter. The person said some meteorologists would be offered new positions at The Weather Channel in Atlanta while others would be allowed to remain in their respective markets as part of the initiative.
“By now, most of you have probably heard about Allen Media letting local meteorologists go, and well, I’m one of the people who will be affected by this,” WAAY meteorologist Amber Kulick wrote to Huntsville, Alabama, in a Facebook post. “For now, I’m still at the station but looking for my next career opportunity.”
Christina Burkhart, a recently fired meteorologist at WJRT in Flint, Michigan, described how weather reports will be processed remotely.
“Weather forecasts will be sent from the Atlanta Weather Channel,” Burkhart said in a Facebook post. “These will be pre-recorded by regional meteorologists recording the results for each Allen station. They will also provide live coverage of severe weather.
In a press release Saturday, Allen Media said the Atlanta-based operation will offer local stations new technology, improved forecasting tools, additional graphics capabilities and the ability to cover weather events 24/7 7. A person familiar with the matter said Atlanta-based personnel will also be deployed during certain weather events. The company stressed that weather coverage will remain a “top priority” for local stations, adding that the new format will “significantly improve reporting capabilities, especially in high-stakes weather situations.”
The elimination of local meteorologists marks the latest round of budget cuts at Allen Media Group, which last year laid off an undisclosed number of staff, citing “strategic changes.” The Weather Channel, which will spearhead the new hub, also reduced its workforce last year, laying off key employees in October in what the company called “continued downsizing.” Allen Media also shut down the Spanish version of the Weather Channel, citing “significant cost-cutting measures.”
Byron Allen, the company’s founder and chief executive officer, made several unsuccessful takeover bids for major media companies. Last year, he proposed $30 billion for Paramount Global, a widely publicized move. In 2023, he offered Disney $10 billion for ABC and some of its cable networks and considered a bid for EW Scripps. None of the offers were successful.
Spencer Denton, a meteorologist at Gray Media-owned WVLT in Knoxville, Tennessee, noted on Facebook that while the change “may save money in the short term,” it also “takes away value and long-term credibility.
“WEATHER is the main reason most people watch a local newscast,” Denton wrote. “These people are more valuable than some companies think and I am sure they will land on their feet.”
Even though Americans’ trust in the media has declined as the country becomes increasingly polarized, local news remains one of the most trusted forms of information. Local station meteorologists are trained scientists familiar with their community’s weather threats and vulnerabilities, providing forecasts and critical information during emergencies.
Even though traditional television networks have seen their viewership decline in recent years as more Americans turn to streaming services, weather has historically been the primary reason viewers tune in to local news . A 2019 Pew study found that weather was the most important news topic in respondents’ daily lives, with 70% of respondents “expressing a daily need for information.”
Recent weather-related disasters have also highlighted the need for local information in times of emergency. As devastating wildfires ravaged thousands of homes and structures in the Los Angeles area this month, local television stations saw a surge in viewers seeking immediate information, with audiences doubling and tripling their usual size in news programs, according to Nielsen data.
Some meteorologists warned that the loss of local forecasters across the country would come at a cost to their communities.
“Local meteorologists are essential to local news,” Sam Kuffel, a meteorologist at a Milwaukee CBS affiliate who was not affected by the layoffs, wrote on X. “Communities will suffer during major local weather events because of this decision.”
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