Local meteorologists broadcast tearful goodbyes as Allen Media Group – which owns nearly two dozen TV stations across the country – replaced them with a feed from The Weather Channel, according to a report.
The Byron Allen-owned media company will lay off or reassign at least 50 workers across all of its local stations – including FOX, NBC, ABC and CBS affiliates stretching from California and Hawaii to Alabama and Arizona, according to a CNN report.
“Kevin and I have come into your homes for decades — nearly 37 years for me,” Patrece Dayton, a news anchor in Terre Haute, Indiana, said Friday, as a box of tissues sat nearby.
“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 building a new Atlanta-based team to lead the “cutting-edge” coverage at The Weather Channel, which the company acquired for $300 million in 2018, according to a press release.
The new team will include some of the impacted meteorologists and will be led by Carl Parker, a storm expert and 20-year Weather Channel veteran, according to Allen Media.
It’s the latest cost-cutting move after layoffs from both Allen Media and The Weather Channel last year.
The company did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The Atlanta “hub” will have the latest weather technologies, improved forecasting abilities, more graphics and 24/7 news coverage, according to the press release.
Some of the impacted employees took to social media to start sharing the news.
“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 Facebook post. “For now I am still at the station but I am looking for my next career opportunity.”
In a Facebook post, Christina Burkhart, a meteorologist who left Flint, Michigan-based WJRT at the end of 2024, said the layoffs will impact 100 meteorologists – twice that of CNN’s reporting.
Allen Media did not confirm how many employees would be impacted.
“Weather forecasts will be sent from the weather channel in Atlanta,” Burkhart said. “These will be pre-recorded by regional meteorologists recording hits for each Allen station. Live severe weather coverage will also come from them.”
Just last year, Allen Media issued a round of layoffs for an undisclosed number of employees, citing “strategic changes.”
The Weather Channel also trimmed its workforce in October, and shut down its Spanish-language version as part of “extensive cost-cutting measures.”
Meanwhile, Allen, the group’s founder and chief executive, has made a handful of unsuccessful bids for major media companies over the past few years.
Last year, he offered $30 billion to take over Paramount Global.
In 2023, he reportedly offered Disney $10 billion for ABC and some of its cable networks.
He also reportedly considered making an offer for E.W. Scripps.
Meteorologists at rival stations have slammed the layoffs and the switch to a single weather feed.
While the change “may save money in the short term,” it also “takes away value and credibility in the long term,” Spencer Denton, a meteorologist at rival WVLT in Knoxville, Tenn., said in a post on Facebook.
“WEATHER is the number one reason most people watch a local newscast,” Denton said. “These folks are more valuable than some companies realize and I am certain they will land on their feet.”
A 2019 Pew study found that weather was the most important news topic for viewers.
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