
Allen Media Group has reversed some of its plans to lay off more than 100 local television meteorologists and outsource regional weather forecasts to its production facilities in Atlanta, The Desk has learned.
Last week, executives at Allen Media said they intended to build a new regional TV weather forecast center at The Weather Channel’s studios in Atlanta, and invite some local TV meteorologists to apply for positions there.
The overwhelming majority of Allen Media’s TV forecasters were to be laid off as part of the plans, and some meteorologists had already received pink slips.
On Thursday, executives at Allen Media began reversing course, notifying some stations that plans to lay off the remaining local TV meteorologists were being put on hold.
Statement managers at WAAY (Channel 31, ABC) in Huntsville, Alabama and WTVA (Channel 9, NBC) in Tupelo, Mississippi were among those notified by the change. At those two stations, local TV meteorologists will continue to have a job for at least the foreseeable future.
The same is true at KWWL (Channel 7, NBC) in eastern Iowa; WSIL (Channel 3, ABC) in Harrisburg, Illinois; KEZI (Channel 9, ABC) in Eugene, Oregon and KDRV (Channel 12, ABC) in Medford, Oregon, where station officials were told Allen Media was pausing plans to lay off their TV weather forecasters.
“After receiving significant feedback across various markets, Allen Media has decided to pause and reconsider the strategy of providing local weather from the Weather Channel in Atlanta,” a sales manager at one of the Allen Media stations told The Desk by e-mail.
Less clear is whether Allen Media intends to hire back some meteorologists who were already laid off before the plans were announced. A spokesperson for Allen Media declined to comment when reached by The Desk on Thursday.
The company is still moving forward with plans to build a regional production hub out of the Atlanta studios of The Weather Channel, which Allen Media fully acquired last year.
For weeks, local TV meteorologists at Allen Media-owned companies have been posting farewell messages to their social media accounts, warning about the layoffs and raising alarm bells about the company’s plan to centralize its regional weather forecasting.
Allen Media declined to comment on the plan when reached by The Desk last Friday, but one day after our e-mail, the company issued a press release affirming its decision to produce regional weather forecasts from the Atlanta studios of The Weather Channel.
“We are proud to announce that Allen Media Group is leveraging the full resources and expertise of The Weather Channel to make our local weather news the very best,” said Tom O’Brien, the President of The Weather Channel and Weather Group. “We are 100 percent committed to delivering next-level weather news to our local television stations 24-7.”
The layoffs of local TV forecasters and the development of a regional weather forecasting hub were part of various cost-cutting moves at Allen Media, people familiar with the plans said. The announcement last week quickly captured the attention of the nation, and local and national advertisers threatened to pull their spots at stations that were affected, one source affirmed.
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Editor’s note: An earlier version of this story erroneously the location of a Mississippi TV station as “Missouri.”