Monterey station shuts down its local news operations

KION, the CBS affiliate in Monterey, California, owned by the News-Press & Gazette Company, has shuttered its news operations.

The move was announced to employees Sept. 24, 2025, after they arrived at work expecting to produce the day’s news as normal, according to sources and posts on social media.

It was not immediately clear how many people lost their jobs.

KION’s owners also own KMUV, a low-power station that serves as the market’s Telemundo affiliate.

Instead of airing locally-produced newscasts, KION will now air content from CBS-owned KPIX in San Francisco, California. KMUV, meanwhile, will discontinue the Spanish-language newscasts that KION produced for it altogether.

KION will simulcast KPIX’s newscasts. In an announcement CBS Stations committed to boosting coverage of the Central California region, including Monterey and its surrounds. 

As a smaller market, Monterey’s ABC and NBC affiliation are shared by Heart Television’s KSBW, which also produces local news. With KION’s decision to stop offering its own local news, however, Hearst is now the only local newsroom producing English-language local TV news.

Entravision Communications’ KSMS produces local news in Spanish for the market.

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It was not clear why NPG opted to shut down local news, though the move comes at a time when many local stations, particularly in smaller markets, are struggling to attract viewers and advertising revenue amid a fragmented media landscape and economic conditions. 

NPG did not comment on its decision to shutter the local newsroom.