KTLA Anchor, Meteorologists Hit By Nexstar Layoffs As TV Giant Seeks Merger
In yet one more shakeup within the native TV information area, various longtime anchors at stations in Los Angeles and Chicago have been laid off. The cuts come because the stations’ company dad or mum, nexstar Media Group, seeks to chop prices because it pursues a merger with rival Tegna.
Among these let go in Los Angeles are KTLA‘s longtime weatherman Mark Kriski, weathercaster Kacey Montoya, noon anchors Lu Parker and Glen Walker and reporter Ellina Abovian.
Kriski is an eight-time native Emmy winner and a fixture of the KTLA Morning Showhaving lined weather-related information on all the pieces from the latest Malibu fires to the 1994 Northridge earthquake.
Montoya can be a a number of native Emmy winner who joined the station in 2013. She did the climate and different normal curiosity segments on the KTLA Weekend Morning News.
Parker and Walker co-hosted the KTLA 5 News at 11 am, 12 pm, 1 pm and three pm He is a a number of native Emmy winner who’s been with the station since 2010. She is a six-time native Emmy winner, a keynote speaker and former Miss USA.
Abovian was a normal project reporter.
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SAG-AFTRA condemned the layoffs, which started yesterday at WGN-TV in Chicago, noting that positions impacted have been SAG-AFTRA roles. The Chicago Tribune reported that eight veteran reporters and anchors have been laid off Tuesday, and that Nexstar has been “eliminating quite a lot of positions for a number of months at WGN.
“By laying off journalists across the country, Nexstar is eroding the resources and talent that local communities rely on for trusted news. These actions highlight the risks of media consolidation and underscore the urgent need for regulators and the company to prioritize the public interest and the professionals who serve it,” stated SAG-AFTRA President Sean Astin within the launch.
The guild additionally famous the broader context of the cuts.
“These layoffs come as SAG-AFTRA is actively bargaining with Nexstar stations in multiple markets. At the table, Nexstar is pushing to gut severity pay and insert onerous provisions into the union contract that limit workers’ ability to freely negotiate the terms of their own employment,” The assertion learn. “These reductions in SAG-AFTRA talent also comes as Nexstar finalizes its multi-billion-dollar acquisition of Tegna. This consolidation makes the decision to cut local newsroom jobs particularly troubling.”
Nexstar has 201 stations in 116 native markets throughout the nation. It reaches 70% of US households.
Tegna owns 64 tv stations in 51 US markets and reaches greater than 100 million folks month-to-month throughout the online, cellular apps, streaming and linear tv.
After the merger, which had been reported as being imminent In August 2025, the ensuing firm may have 265 stations in 44 states and the District of Columbia, representing 80% of US TV households. That footprint far exceeds the longtime 39% restrict on possession of stations, which had been stored in place by each Republican and Democratic administrations over the previous three a long time.
Nexstar CEO Perry Sook has been one of the most vocal opponents of the 39% cap, calling it outdated in an period of Big Tech and diversified distribution and calling on the Trump Administration and the FCC to cast off the restrict.
Earlier this yr, President Trump apparently endorsed the dealwriting on Truth Social, “We need more competition against THE ENEMY, the Fake News National TV Networks. Letting Good Deals get done like Nexstar – Tegna will help knock out the Fake News because there will be more competition, and at a higher and more sophisticated level. Those that are opposed don’t fully understand how good the concept of this Deal is for them, but they will in the future. GET THAT DEAL DONE! PRESIDENT DJT”
A Nexstar spokesperson had the next remark in regards to the layoffs when contacted by Deadline, “Nexstar does not comment on personnel issues, but the Company is taking steps necessary to compete effectively in this period of unprecedented change.”
Dade Hayes contributed to this report.
