CRANSTON – Ten “highly valued” employees of WJAR-TV NBC Channel 10 were laid off due to economic conditions, in what station Lisa G. Churchville described as a sad day for the station. More local layoffs are expected in March.
“We are in a continuing business recession, and we are deeply affected by significantly lower spending in key advertising categories,” Churchville told the Providence Business News on Jan. 30. “Our audiences are larger than ever and we are very proud of serving our viewers very well. However, we do have to make some cost cuts.”
The layoffs came one day after newspaper and broadcasting giant Media General Inc. (NYSE: MEG) – the Richmond, Va.-based parent of WJAR-TV – posted a $631.85 million loss for 2008, compared with a 2007 profit of $10.69 million. (READ MORE)
The 10 people affected included one part-time news reporter and nine workers who held “off-air” positions, Churchville said. Full-time employees were offered severance packages.
“These were very difficult decisions,” she said. Those laid-off are “highly valued employees who had made very strong contributions to the company,” she said.
The number of employees who will lose their jobs in March has not been determined, Churchville added. Those staff reductions, she said, will be the result of “a technological upgrade to our studio operations.”
The new cuts follow company-wide staff cuts last year, totaling about 11 percent of the Media General work force, which included seven jobs in Cranston. (READ MORE)
Cranston-based WJAR-TV/DT Channel 10 – an NBC affiliate and the most-watched television station in the Providence-New Bedford market – is a property of Media General Inc. (NYSE: MEG), a Richmond, Va.-based television and newspaper company. For additional information, visit www.MediaGeneral.com or www.TurnTo10.com.
