Local TV meteorologists deliver tearful farewells as stations replace staff with The Weather Channel feed

New York
CNN
—

“Kevin and I have been coming into your home for decades — almost 37 years for me,” Patrece Dayton, a news anchor in Terre Haute, Indiana, told viewers Friday in front of a box of tissues. “And more than 40 for me,” added Kevin Orpurt, the broadcaster’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.”

The on-air duo, longtime household names in western Indiana, delivered one tearful goodbye to viewers Friday after the station’s parent company, Allen Media Group, announced sweeping job cuts that will see all local meteorologists eliminated or reassigned at its nearly two dozen stations nationwide.

Instead of the local forecasters, there will be a national “hub” based in Atlanta led by Carl Parker, a veteran storm and climate specialist at The Weather Channel — which the Byron Allen-owned media group bought for $300 million in March 2018. The plan would see the locally produced segments replaced by a feed sent to individual stations from The Weather Channel, which could include some of the stations’ former meteorologists.

The layoffs at about two dozen local television stations stretching from Massachusetts to Hawaii will affect at least 50 meteorologists, according to a person familiar with the matter. The person said some of the meteorologists will be offered new positions at The Weather Channel in Atlanta, while others will be allowed to remain in their respective markets as part of the initiative.

“By now most of you have probably seen the talk 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, Alabama, wrote in a Facebook post. “At the moment I’m still at the station, but I’m looking for my next career opportunity.”

Christina Burkhart, a meteorologist who was recently laid off at WJRT in Flint, Michigan, described how weather forecasts will be handled from afar.

“Weather forecasts will be broadcast from the Weather Channel in Atlanta,” Burkhart said in a Facebook post. “These will be recorded in advance by regional meteorologists who record hits for each Allen station. Live severe weather coverage will also come from them.”

In a news release Saturday, Allen Media said the Atlanta-based operation will offer local stations new technologies, upgraded forecasting tools, additional graphics capabilities and the ability to cover weather stories 24/7. A person familiar with the matter said the Atlanta-based staff 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 “dramatically improve reporting capabilities, especially in high-stakes weather situations.”

The elimination of local meteorologists marks the latest round of job cuts at Allen Media Group, which last year lay off an undisclosed number of employees, citing “strategic changes.” The Weather Channel, which will spearhead the new hub, also cut its staff last year, laying off key employees in October in what the company called “a continuation of the workforce reduction.” Allen Media also shut down the Weather Channel’s Spanish-language version, citing “extensive cost-cutting measures.”

Byron Allen, the company’s founder and CEO, has made several failed bids for major media companies. Last year, he offered $30 billion for Paramount Global in a widely reported move. In 2023, he offered Disney a reported $10 billion for ABC and some of its cable networks and considered a bid for EW Scripps. None of the offers came through.

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 credibility in the long term.”

“THE WEATHER is the number one reason most people watch a local newscast,” Denton wrote. “These people are more valuable than some companies realize and I’m sure they will land on their feet.”

While Americans’ trust in the news media has declined as the country becomes more polarized, local news remains one of the most trusted forms of information. Local station meteorologists are trained scientists who clearly know their communities’ weather threats and vulnerabilities, and provide critical forecasts and information during emergencies.

Although traditional TV channels have seen their ratings decline in recent years as more Americans switch to streaming services, the weather has consistently been the number one reason viewers tune in to local news. ONE 2019 Pew survey 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 news reporting during emergencies. As devastating wildfires tore through thousands of homes and structures in the Los Angeles area this month, local TV broadcasts saw a surge in viewers seeking immediate information, with audiences doubling and tripling their usual size across news programming, according to Nielsen- data.

Some meteorologists warned that the loss of local weather reports across the country will cost their communities.

“Local meteorologists are essential to local news,” wrote Sam Kuffel, a Milwaukee CBS affiliate meteorologist who was not affected by the layoffs, on X. “Communities will suffer major, local weather events because of this decision.”