'The television news business in general is changing, and budget cuts are happening everywhere'
A pair of local meteorologists in Indiana bid an emotional goodbye on camera last week as their jobs were eliminated in company-wide layoffs, amid a "changing" television news business.
Patrece Dayton worked at WTHI-TV for nearly 37 years, while Kevin Orpurt, the station's chief meteorologist, was there for 40.
"Both of our positions are being eliminated here at WTHI-TV," Dayton said on TV. "The television news business in general is changing nationwide, and budget cuts are happening everywhere."
"After four decades of dedication to WTHI and to the Wabash Valley, we had both hoped to go out on our own terms to celebrate, but that's not the case," Orpurt added.
Both Dayton and Orpurt were affected by the layoffs at Allen Media Group, owner of WTHI-TV, which impacted meteorologists in the company.
The layoffs come as Allen Media announces that its newly acquired The Weather Channel in Atlanta will start producing content for local stations across the country, the National Public Radio reported.
As a result, local meteorologists in local stations, such as Dayton and Orpurt, are getting laid off, while some are being redeployed in Atlanta.
Amber Kulick, WAAY-TV meteorologist, also said she was affected by the layoffs.
"I never imagined I would finally work in Huntsville only to have my time cut short, but I’ll land on my feet, I always do," Kulick said in a Facebook post. "Let me say this, I know my management team has done everything they can to make this better, but this is at a corporate level so please don't bad mouth [them] on this post."
Josh Franson, a meteorologist under KWWL, also said he is one of those impacted by the layoffs.
"I wanted to share that our station is one of those impacted. It was an honour to forecast the weather for Eastern Iowa," he said on Twitter.
Christina Burkhart, a meteorologist in ABC12, said there were nearly 100 meteorologists under the Allen Group across its 20 stations in the US.
"Please keep these local meteorologists in your thoughts as they navigate big changes in the coming weeks, and their stations as they learn how to provide coverage without them," she said on a Facebook post.
The layoffs of meteorologists under Allen Media follow the job cuts it carried out across all divisions of its business last year.
The number of reductions was not disclosed, but a statement to the Los Angeles Times attributed the decision to "making strategic changes to better position the company for growth."
"We are aligning these changes to drive future business opportunities and support our growth strategies in our rapidly evolving industry," the spokesperson told The Times.
Allen Media is not the only media organisation carrying out layoffs across its business. According to various reports, here are some of the major media layoffs in 2024 and so far in 2025: